How to do counter-insurgency

[Imperial Grunt]

-Here is an interesting article that I read about Iraq:

"Poll: Troops signal desire to come home

Survey of US troops finds that 72 percent want to withdraw within a year.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

A large majority of US troops think the US should withdraw completely from Iraq within a year. Stars and Stripes reports that the poll of 944 US troops in Iraq, conducted by Zogby International, found that only 23 percent of service members felt that the US should "stay as long as needed." Although the poll, conducted in January and February of 2006, was carried out without Pentagon approval, Zogby International said they did have the approval of commanders in Iraq.

Of the 72 percent, 22 percent said troops should leave within the next six months, and 29 percent said they should withdraw “immediately.” Twenty-one percent said the US military presence should end within a year; 5 percent weren’t sure.

The poll was funded by Le Moyne College’s Center for Peace and Global Studies, which received money for the project from an anonymous antiwar activist. John Zogby, the president of Zogby International, said the donor had no imput on the content of the poll, or how it was conducted. Of those surveyed, 75 percent had served multiple tours in Iraq, 63 percent were under 30 years of age, and 25 percent were women.

One surprising finding in the poll is that 85 percent of those surveyed believe that the US's main mission in Iraq is to retaliate against Saddam Hussein for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Numerous commissions and studies have been unable to find that Iraq played any role in the 9/11 bombings. Meanwhile, 93 percent said that they did not think that removing weapons of mass destruction was the reason they were in Iraq.

"We were surprised by that, especially the 85 percent [figure]," Zogby said. "Clearly that is much higher than the consensus among the American public, and the public's perception [on that topic] is much higher than the actual reality of the situation."

In discussing the findings on its website, Zogby International said that when the troops were asked why they think that some Americans want a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq, said :

"37% of troops serving there said those Americans are unpatriotic, while 20% believe people back home don't believe a continued occupation will work. Another 16% said they believe those favoring a quick withdrawal do so because they oppose the use of the military in a pre-emptive war, while 15% said they do not believe those Americans understand the need for the US troops in Iraq."

The Financial Times reports that the poll also shows strong differences between regular troops and reservists. While forty-nine percent of reserve and 43 percent of National Guard troops said the US should pull out immediately, only 9 percent of marines felt that way.

Knight Ridder reports that some military officials questioned the validity of the survey, saying that troops in a combat zone are always going to give a more negative view of their situation.

"The poll's findings certainly aren't reflective of the attitudes we see displayed by the majority of troops, who are performing in a remarkable manner in a combat situation far from home," said Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman.

In its report, however, Knight Ridder noted that American soliders in Iraq have frequently expressed dissatisfaction with their situation. "They've cited too few soldiers to control the insurgency, a lack of equipment and pessimism about the success of the mission."

Army Times also reported that the findings in the Zogby Poll have already been foreshadowed in previous unofficial polls undertaken by military magazines.

Stars and Stripes, an independent publication produced under the auspices of the Defense Department, did an unscientific survey of thousands of troops in 2003, finding low morale and other issues. In January, the annual Military Times Poll - which surveys readers of the Military Times papers as representative of career-oriented troops - found support for the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq slipped significantly in 2005.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviewed a number of troops in its area who had served in Iraq, and found sentiments similar to the ones in the poll.

Army Master Sgt. Michelle Michalak of Elyria, Ohio, who served in Iraq from January 2004 to January 2005, said she shares the majority sentiment. "I think we should be out now," she said. "There are people there who appreciate the Americans but there are also those who don't."

She said the United States has accomplished much in Iraq but there also are problems here that need to be addressed. "We have our own people that are homeless, hungry and living on the street, and why should we provide for people over there before we provide for our own people here?" she said.

Spc. Ralph Isabella of Slippery Rock, the subject of a Feb. 20 Post-Gazette story about divorce, domestic violence and child custody cases that proceeded while he was in Iraq, said he believes U.S. troops should remain until Iraq's own security forces can handle the job of protecting it.

"I've lost friends," he said. "I think pulling out anytime sooner would be a dishonor to the men lost."

The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that Zogby said he has been asked by senior military officials to give a presentation about the results of the poll, which he says he will do soon."

-That is an interesting article. It is amazing that the Administration has not only poorly managed the national IO campaign at the strategic level, but even its own PR campaign to the average US citizen. Keeping a high level of popular support back home is a key principal of war for a democratically elected government when fighting a war, especially against an insurgency.

I read this with the perspective of someone who has been there twice and have spent a significant amount of time training Marines for their deployments over to Iraq. I just finished leading the training cadre for 3rd CAG and completed their predeployment training. The Group has many veterans returning for a second tour and many for a third. And there is a high level of optimizism, sense of purpose, and motivation to excel.

At the same time, everyone from the CAG CO and down does not have a grasp of the endstate beyond the deployment at hand. The CAG CE is struggling with supporting the MEF plan with macro-level CMO issues, which in my opinion, are so beyond the capabilities of the MEF, and the US military. The big picture of a nation is something that comes together from so many aspects and very few of them can rarely be controlled on a timeline. And it is completely dependent upon the will of the citizens that will live in this new nation.

In the meantime, the CAG can focus on something it does well, which is tactical and operational level CMO and push success upwards, hoping that something forms at the national level in Iraq. But with all the reports of the various Iraqi ministries being corrupt, the Minisitry of Defense being reported as a "den of thieves", it can be discouraging. One thing to remember is that in a US point of view, any Arab government would be viewed the same. In Arabic culture, what Americans would call "corruption" is how things get done. This is very evident with the advisor teams working with Iraqi forces. Since the Ministry of Defense is horrible at providing logistics to the Iraqi military, the Iraqi troops have resorted to the time proven way of sustaining themselves-taking things when they find it. While this outrages Americans to witness it and we worry so about the impact among the Iraqis, it is actually something that outrages us more than it does average Iraqis. Sure, they get frustrated with it, but they understand it better than we do. And when soldiers searched your house under Saddam's reign, family members disappeared, in addtion to anything else they wanted to do. So having an Iraqi soldier go through a house and steal some cash or take a pair of boots, and not abuse people and take people away to be executed, is a huge leap forward for the Iraqi citizens.

The goal of creating a Jeffersonian Iraq is almost unobtainable. But if some form of stable government can be formed that practises a free economy, then that condition will probably have the most chance of success. In my opinion, there is no need to completely secure the entire country. Secure the government, secure the natural resources, and let the Iraqis who want to improve their lives do so through a free economony and the ability to improve their lives on their own. That is one concept they do understand. Money talks. The insurgents and terrorists cannot compete with a free market economy. But this will take time.

On the big picture, Syria and Iran cannot compete with a free market Iraq, so that is something those nations do not want to occur. Iraq has the conditions for a pro-Western Arab socieity that benefits from a free economy. It has the conditions to allow its citizens to pursue happiness and a better way of life if they choose to do so. A succusseful Iraq, where families could send thier children to college and live a good life, rather than to send them to a madrasa or to serve a brutal dictator, will be a huge step forward againt the war on radical Islam and make their position untenable.

On another note, I liked the "only 9% of Marines" want to withdraw. Get some!