Saddam almost certainly planned to do just that.
He even told us so -- and we were all too dumb to pick up on it. He announced he was going to arm everyone, let all the prisoners out of the jails, many things. he told us what he was going to do and we in our stupid arrogance ignored him. He gave those two Russian Generals medals just before the invasion and I remember thinking "Boy, they didn't do you any favors, why a medal?" After a week I woke up and realized why -- they told him he'd never beat the US conventionally; let 'em in, go to ground and they'll leave. We got suckered (again).
I doubt that Downings plan would have worked, I think the fear was too pervasive and the bulk of the Iraqi Generals were loyal enough that none would have turned. Langley also espoused that idea and IIRC, there was really only one Div Cdr that flipped. Langley also thought they had a couple of insiders turned as agents. Apparently not.
Back to a point from "Eden"
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eden
Bottom line is that if our goal is to turn Afghanistan into Switzerland the reinforcements wouldn't be enough. If our goal is simply to keep Afghanistan relatively terrorist-free, what we have their now is sufficient.
I can't agree with this statement. What we have in the way of troop numbers (combat, combat support and combat service support) is NOT sufficient to keep Afghanistan relatively terrorist free. The troops there now are fighting to buy time for the Afghans, but the terrorists are the ones accelerating the struggle.
Our troops are operating at increased risk based on the slim margins that are currently accepted as the norm in Afghanistan. Lack of aviation assets for direct action missions, logistics, and medevac operations put our operations regularly at higher level of risk. Even PRT missions, and "humanitarian" efforts have to deal with this critical constraint.
Factor that with the size of the operating environment that our troops deal with and you can see that more Marines would be a good thing. In many cases platoons at combat outposts have enough personnel to conduct their own force protection mission and only periodic engagement with the villages and rural areas surrounding them. That's no way to build a rapport or collect intelligence, or assist Afghan security efforts.
A coordinated plan with MORE troops will make a difference - maybe not a Switzerland, but some place less inclined to support and produce terrorists with a global reach.