Larry Johnson:"Go Big" Sure, but with what?

[cal04]

It is a crime that Pat Lang was not named to the Iraq Survey Group. Here's a man who established the Arabic program at West Point, who served as Defense Attache in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and who headed the Middle East Division at the Defense Intelligence Agency. There are few people in the world who know the region better than Pat. Oh well, our loss. Anyway, check out the latest post from Pat.

Senator McCain, AEI and a lot of other interested parties are now advocating a medium to large troop increase in Iraq to take more aggressive action, have a greater US presence and secure large parts of the country long enough to create effective security forces. Numbers suggested range from 50,000 to 250,000 as increases in the number of combatants we should send into Iraq. Some people are plainly advocating a policy of annihilation against the Shia militia armies. Others want to re-take Anbar Province. Others just seem to want more "street presence." Abizeid wants more US advisers (he has a euphemism) with small units. A lot of people have a variety of proposed uses for a "troop increase." Would any or all of these measures change the ultimate result? They might if the US persisted long enough. How long? Another 5 to 10 years probably would be my guess.

In any event, I will venture the thought that almost all of those talking about this do not understand the facts of the matter, the time, numbers, structures part of the problem.


People seem to think that soldiers are useful as individuals. They rarely are. UNITS are useful. Soldiers are just the building blocks that UNITS are made of. There is a reason why a soldier, when asked who he is, nearly always includes the name of his UNIT in the answer. Civilians are often puzzled by that. Reporters often refer to some "grunt" as a Ft. Bragg soldier as though his identity was wrapped up in what post his unit was last stationed at. That isn't IT folks. The man tells you what outfit he belongs to because it is in the context of the fighting team that he belongs to that he becomes significant as a component of the military's "combat power." He instinctively knows that, but the great majority of people do not.


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http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/nov/27/go_big_sure_but_with_what