Quote Originally Posted by BRUZ_LEE View Post
ILLOGIC OF STRATEGY vs. THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGY

Strategy is more important than tactics...
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...Today, all the invaluable COIN wisdom of Galula, Trinquier and others which has been (unfortunately too late) re-discovered will not help to turn back time, that is my opinion. (There is simply no second chance to make a good impression...)...

. . .

Just look back at the approach: "Garner as a Military Gouverner-no, doesn't work; Bremer and the dissolving of the IRAQI army- maybe a bad idea; Sanchez-mmh, not really the best man; .... lets try a COIN expert like Petraeus at last!" - Is that professional? Is that course of action the best what the greatest military superpower can show up with? Trial-and-error Strategy?

. . .

Is there anybody else who has this "deja-vu" feeling when comparing the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the US one in IRAQ?...

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Summing up, I personally think that all the debates on tactical and operational level COIN-employment (even if they are good and useful - by the way SWJ is an excellent website!) fall short of answering the real question: the question for the grand strategy for IRAQ!


My opinion: a good strategy would definitely include a really good Iraqi government and the UN...

BRUZ
From the Top, Bruz...

Depends on the situation. A creek can be an obstacle to my tank; the Battalion will ignore it. A river can be an obstacle to a Battalion; the Corps will ignore it. If I am committed in a country, that is an operational commitment and the Strategy that put me there, is by the time I arrive, broadly irrelevant -- but when I'm there tactics are very important. Strategy put us in Iraq and that strategy has not been publicly announced (for good reason). What's going on now is operational and tactical stuff.

Galula (I've got a first edition copy) is only marginally relevant. Trinquier did not have to contend with the internet. This is not a war of national liberation and the Iraqi is neither an Algerian or a Viet Namese. I'm aware that Marc and all the Psychologists will tell you there are no such things as national or group traits -- they're wrong. Pride in all three areas manifests itself differently as does religion and do fighting techniques and degree of personal commitment. If your point was the the US Army wrongly ignored counterinsurgency doctrine and training for years, we can agree -- but that's not what you said. Galula fought a very different war against a very different enemy; while some lessons are certainly appropriately lifted from him, others are not.

On Garner, Bremer et. al. Welcome to US Decision Making 101. Our government and our armed forces are a reflection of US Society. We are politically correct, sensitive and concerned for others. All People, indeed all Generals, are equally competent and we do things in strictly fair rotations. Had anyone said Sanchez was not the right man for the job, the Hispanic caucus in Congress would've gone bonkers. DOPMA Rules (Don't like it? See Congress, it's their baby). Sorry, that's the way it is. Nope, not professional but it is the American way -- Until we really get hacked off than we quickly fire half the Generals, pull Lieutenant Colonels up to two stars overnight and all are advised to get out of the way...

Re Deja Vu, Afghanistan and Iraq? No.

The grand strategy for Iraq was - (1) Muss up the ME and deposit forces in a geographically central location. That's been done. (2) Remove Saddam from power. That's been done.

Then, in early May of 2003, we had an afterthought - (3) To install a functioning secular government. We'll have to see how that goes, not done yet, that's operational and tactical squirreling around.