First-Hand Update from Iraq
This past week I had another long personal visit with a soldier-friend recently returned from a 14-month deployment to Iraq. I value these conversations since they put me “on-site” (so to speak) and serve to validate or correct my perceptions and inform my understanding.
In this case, the soldier (an officer) was involved with intel gathering in the north-east corner of Iraq; essentially from Kirkuk and points east.
The area is primarily controlled by Kurds and my friend found that the Kurds were very supportive and grateful for the American presence in their country. They were also helpful in providing information about “suspicious” activities, details about conflicts and disputes between neighboring clan groups (and their often centuries-old origins), Iranian border traffic, etc.
The region under this command was also, apparently, a prime area for filling cars with explosives. Many such cars were captured or intercepted during the past year.
Kirkuk is populated by approximately 1/3 Kurds, 1/3 Sunni and 1/3 Shi’ite. Sadaam had initiated a severe Kurdish relocation program decades ago, forcing Kurds out of north-central Iraq towards Mosul and beyond. After the American Coalition invasion of Iraq many displaced Kurds have returned to cities like Kirkuk waving their property deeds and demanding their homes and land back. The Sunnis who replaced them have now lived and been settled there for a long time; some over 20 years. They are in no mood to be kicked off of what they consider to be their own property! After all, they have legal deeds, too!
Slowly but surely these disputes are being remanded to Iraqi judges to sort out. Because of the confusion of new laws and because of personal (often clan-related) bias among judges, many Iraqis would prefer to have the Americans adjudicate their disputes. It is clear that, although the United States is viewed as a foreign occupier, only the most radical of Iraqis really want the Americans to leave anytime soon.
Another interesting insight was offered concerning targeting suspected houses for armed searches. When the American troops did it the result was that often, an otherwise politically neutral family would be angered enough by the intrusion to begin leaning towards an anti-American view. House searching has now been turned over to the Iraqi security forces which has made life and community relations a lot better for our troops
Apparently the different branches of the military bring their own particular approaches to similar responsibilities. My friend said that there were four deaths among the forces that were within the area command structure (one of the more “safe” regions to be assigned to) during the 14 months of deployment. The Army’s approach was to avoid conflict and build relationships, turning opinion positively towards both the United States and the new Iraqi government. The theory of this approach was that the cultivation of willing informants and the promotion of a general tide of positive opinion would, in the long run, eventually weed out those who were doing nasty things to other people.
When the Marines replaced an Army unit that had seen zero deaths over the previous 12 months, however, the new group suffered four deaths in their first two months. My friend didn’t speculate on what the different approach might have been or why the Marines had experienced more armed confrontation than the Army troops had seen, but it was still a curious fact that was simply left dangling, unexplained.
My friend matter-of-factly stated that the Kurds did not seem to have any problem working with American female intel officers. Gender did not seem to be an issue with them. The Arabs were more cautious and hesitant but, after meeting and speaking with the women, became quite comfortable and trusting in their leadership during the months my friend was there. This odd bit of information was one of the more interesting and unexpected facts to emerge from our conversation.
Towards the end of our time together I asked my friend, based on a scale of one to ten (with ten being optimistic about the future of Iraq and one being pessimistic), what they would score, based on their personal experience.
I expected to hear something in the range of 7-8 but I was caught completely by surprise when my friend replied with an emphatic, “10!”
How this opinion squares with all of the doom and gloom media coverage I cannot figure out. Either my friend or the media is wrong….or else the truth lies somewhere in between.
I think I shall place my bets on my friend and become even more optimistic than I already am!
Given the size, diversity, history, and general political track record of Iraq in the past 30 years, the amount of violence and the number of Iraqis (& foreigners) perpetuating the current violence is remarkably small. Even the 1600 American troops killed in Iraq adds up to a relatively small number when compared to the number of folks who, for example, attend a single major league baseball game or a college football game. At Aloha Stadium, down the road a bit towards Honolulu, 1600 people would be considered a big disappointment for anything but a high school soccer game! While I do not wish to appear to diminish the sacrifice of these fine, brave soldiers (or the effect their deaths have had on their 3000 children), I simply want to assert the point that the “war in Iraq,” while diverse, complex and difficult to fight against an enemy that wears civilian clothes, drives civilian cars, stores their arms in mosques and schools and initiates attacks from medical facilities and from radio-controlled remote explosive devices and employs suicide bombers, has already been won.
The rest of this “war,” which will undoubtedly continue to involve (a declining number of) US troops for another 5-10 years, will be an ongoing game of “search and destroy,” the tightening up of the national borders and the ironing out of potentially explosive relations with Syria (which continues to support the funding, training, harboring and deployment of Baathist-related terrorists/insurgents….don’t forget that Syria’s ruling political party, led by Assad, is also the same secular Baathist party that Sadaam Hussein espoused) and Iran (which continues to fund, support and advise al-Sadr and his Shi’ite gang of hoods and ruffians as well as trying to assist in creating and expanding rifts between Shi’ites and Sunnis in an attempt to destabilize the new Iraqi government).
Next week I will spend an hour or so each with two Army officer-friends and one Army enlisted-friend who have just returned from their 12-month deployment to Afghanistan. I will post summaries of those conversations, too.
.
In this case, the soldier (an officer) was involved with intel gathering in the north-east corner of Iraq; essentially from Kirkuk and points east.
The area is primarily controlled by Kurds and my friend found that the Kurds were very supportive and grateful for the American presence in their country. They were also helpful in providing information about “suspicious” activities, details about conflicts and disputes between neighboring clan groups (and their often centuries-old origins), Iranian border traffic, etc.
The region under this command was also, apparently, a prime area for filling cars with explosives. Many such cars were captured or intercepted during the past year.
Kirkuk is populated by approximately 1/3 Kurds, 1/3 Sunni and 1/3 Shi’ite. Sadaam had initiated a severe Kurdish relocation program decades ago, forcing Kurds out of north-central Iraq towards Mosul and beyond. After the American Coalition invasion of Iraq many displaced Kurds have returned to cities like Kirkuk waving their property deeds and demanding their homes and land back. The Sunnis who replaced them have now lived and been settled there for a long time; some over 20 years. They are in no mood to be kicked off of what they consider to be their own property! After all, they have legal deeds, too!
Slowly but surely these disputes are being remanded to Iraqi judges to sort out. Because of the confusion of new laws and because of personal (often clan-related) bias among judges, many Iraqis would prefer to have the Americans adjudicate their disputes. It is clear that, although the United States is viewed as a foreign occupier, only the most radical of Iraqis really want the Americans to leave anytime soon.
Another interesting insight was offered concerning targeting suspected houses for armed searches. When the American troops did it the result was that often, an otherwise politically neutral family would be angered enough by the intrusion to begin leaning towards an anti-American view. House searching has now been turned over to the Iraqi security forces which has made life and community relations a lot better for our troops
Apparently the different branches of the military bring their own particular approaches to similar responsibilities. My friend said that there were four deaths among the forces that were within the area command structure (one of the more “safe” regions to be assigned to) during the 14 months of deployment. The Army’s approach was to avoid conflict and build relationships, turning opinion positively towards both the United States and the new Iraqi government. The theory of this approach was that the cultivation of willing informants and the promotion of a general tide of positive opinion would, in the long run, eventually weed out those who were doing nasty things to other people.
When the Marines replaced an Army unit that had seen zero deaths over the previous 12 months, however, the new group suffered four deaths in their first two months. My friend didn’t speculate on what the different approach might have been or why the Marines had experienced more armed confrontation than the Army troops had seen, but it was still a curious fact that was simply left dangling, unexplained.
My friend matter-of-factly stated that the Kurds did not seem to have any problem working with American female intel officers. Gender did not seem to be an issue with them. The Arabs were more cautious and hesitant but, after meeting and speaking with the women, became quite comfortable and trusting in their leadership during the months my friend was there. This odd bit of information was one of the more interesting and unexpected facts to emerge from our conversation.
Towards the end of our time together I asked my friend, based on a scale of one to ten (with ten being optimistic about the future of Iraq and one being pessimistic), what they would score, based on their personal experience.
I expected to hear something in the range of 7-8 but I was caught completely by surprise when my friend replied with an emphatic, “10!”
How this opinion squares with all of the doom and gloom media coverage I cannot figure out. Either my friend or the media is wrong….or else the truth lies somewhere in between.
I think I shall place my bets on my friend and become even more optimistic than I already am!
Given the size, diversity, history, and general political track record of Iraq in the past 30 years, the amount of violence and the number of Iraqis (& foreigners) perpetuating the current violence is remarkably small. Even the 1600 American troops killed in Iraq adds up to a relatively small number when compared to the number of folks who, for example, attend a single major league baseball game or a college football game. At Aloha Stadium, down the road a bit towards Honolulu, 1600 people would be considered a big disappointment for anything but a high school soccer game! While I do not wish to appear to diminish the sacrifice of these fine, brave soldiers (or the effect their deaths have had on their 3000 children), I simply want to assert the point that the “war in Iraq,” while diverse, complex and difficult to fight against an enemy that wears civilian clothes, drives civilian cars, stores their arms in mosques and schools and initiates attacks from medical facilities and from radio-controlled remote explosive devices and employs suicide bombers, has already been won.
The rest of this “war,” which will undoubtedly continue to involve (a declining number of) US troops for another 5-10 years, will be an ongoing game of “search and destroy,” the tightening up of the national borders and the ironing out of potentially explosive relations with Syria (which continues to support the funding, training, harboring and deployment of Baathist-related terrorists/insurgents….don’t forget that Syria’s ruling political party, led by Assad, is also the same secular Baathist party that Sadaam Hussein espoused) and Iran (which continues to fund, support and advise al-Sadr and his Shi’ite gang of hoods and ruffians as well as trying to assist in creating and expanding rifts between Shi’ites and Sunnis in an attempt to destabilize the new Iraqi government).
Next week I will spend an hour or so each with two Army officer-friends and one Army enlisted-friend who have just returned from their 12-month deployment to Afghanistan. I will post summaries of those conversations, too.
.
posted by Bird of Paradise at 4:58 PM
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