What happens to the Green Zone
actually makes two tenths of no difference to the rest of Iraq and its stability. Frankly, concerns about IDF into the Green Zone are of great interest to those (largely western) people who live and work there, and of little significance to the majority of the people of Iraq going about there daily lives (except perhaps those militias who are sending down the rockets).
The Green Zone has become the modern equivalent of one of Saddam's Palaces - 'real Iraqis' know that it exists, but most do not see it and can only guess at what goes in inside it.
It is my contention that worry about the IDF problem into the Green Zone is a uniquely coalition centric problem. Focus on it in the media portrays a picture of increasing or heightened danger in Iraq that quite frankly is not reflective of many / most other places and trends in the country at the moment.
Being a glass is half full kind of a guy, I would suggest there is probably also also an upside - every time IDF comes in is an opportunity to locate and wack a few more irreconcilables. I imagine that the attrition rate for IDF protaginists vs coalition casualties in disproportinately in the blue forces favour. Whilst this does not 'win' us the COIN fight, it does address Ralph Peter's 'In praise of attrition' treatise.....:wry:
If we were really worried about the problem we would simply distribute the functions currently occuring in the IZ nodally around Iraq in the many other FOBs and COBS we have (the old defensive measure of dispersion) and use our modern communications technologies to manage the processes through a distributed network. We just choose to operate this way because we have a 19th century approach to using 21st Century technological capabilities.
Perpetuation of perpetualities...
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Originally Posted by
Mark O'Neill
actually makes two tenths of no difference to the rest of Iraq and its stability...
The Green Zone has become the modern equivalent of one of Saddam's Palaces - 'real Iraqis' know that it exists, but most do not see it and can only guess at what goes in inside it.
Which is why the occupation of all his old haunts way back when was IMO really dumbb -- with two 'b's...
No matter, we did and we're there, whether we stay or go at this point is, as you say, sorta immaterial.
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...We just choose to operate this way because we have a 19th century approach to using 21st Century technological capabilities.
I applaud your generosity. I'd have said 18th Century -- Marlborough comes to mind... :D
One thing I've noticed is that
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Originally Posted by
Rank amateur
...
(I agree with your comments on building, but there are obvious problems when you build on a weak foundation.)
when one is building in a given location, the strength or weakness of the site to support a foundation is pretty much immutable and dependent upon that site one may or may not achieve optimum results.
I don't think that means one shouldn't try...