Dear Friends,
The issue raised in the article above relates to military tactics in the field.
War as a whole is immoral.
But the fact is that a regular army just can't win against a guerrilla army which is what is happening in Iraq right now.
The Russian army experienced similar problems in Afghanistan, and also in Eastern Europe fighting against guerilla movements, such as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.
They only got the upper hand when they brought in their own special forces such as Red Partisans who fought the anti-Soviet guerillas on their own terms.
Guerillas fight under cover and they strike their larger, better equipped foe when he is not looking and they strike hard, so as to demoralize and use the enemies' size against him.
Personally, I am surprised the U.S. hasn't used special forces in Iraq and is using its regular forces in such a big way. That is why the U.S. is actually losing the war in Iraq right now, politically, militarily and in terms of morale.
If we look at military history, guerilla-style forces seem to be key to most war victories, including the "rat patrols" of North Africa fighting Rommel's tank divisions.
That the U.S. generals have allowed their regular forces to fight a losing a situation in Iraq for so long does them no credit as military leaders.
And the U.S. said, after 9/11, that it would fight the war on terrorism on the terrorists' terms so as to be successful.
In terms of military strategy, which can be called unChristian, anti-Christian, what have you, you should have put the special forces in Iraq to fight the guerillas on their own terms a long time ago.
This indicates, once again, the failure of Americans to understand the mentality of others, something that can be ascribed to "cultural ignorance."
There you go again . . .
Alex
