Originally Posted by
LawVol
Okay, assuming that "winning" in Iraq means the establishment of stability (rather than US-style democracy), how do we win?
Hezbollah provides goodies to the populous and win them over. I'm sure the Mahdi army does the same. So it would appear to work, just not for us. Perhaps its the religious aspect of this fight? Our other COIN efforts have involved political ideology rather than religion. The old adage blood is thicker than water comes to mind. So if we can't win them over, what is our next move?
One other thought: if we'd have established immediate human security (i.e. freedom from crime) as Baghdad fell, would we even be at this point? In other words, would winning hearts and minds have mattered?
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