Plan B from SF
Maj. Fernando Martinez Lujan reckons political pressure will force a withdrawal, advocates Plan B thinkage, and offers his idea of what Plan B should look like. Not surprisingly, the Special Forces officer goes for a Special Forces approach.
I don’t agree with all his assumptions or all his conclusions, but he makes a serious argument worth the read on both counts. And every one of his primary suggestions should be adopted:
1) A generational approach to the Iraq War based on the idea of smaller, embedded forces and long-term institution building. 2) A massive mobilization of talent from both civilian and military society to engage with Iraqi institutions across a broad front. 3) A drastically increased focus on information warfare and the role of public opinion.
Just not in isolation. A significant combat force should remain part of the solution for some time to come, and if the military risks being broken, something it reportedly has been for several years now, then it should be built up. Iraq still needs and probably will need for some time a heavy U.S. combat component, available on a street-by-street basis. But he describes what may become the best case scenario if the political plug is pulled on Iraq. His concept of an “embedded” force, a highly adaptive combination of military and civilian special operations, may be light years ahead of what the United States government is capable of organizing.
He grabs his money quote from Cofer Black, former State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism:
“Before 9-11 we were like a fantastic football team. We could run and pass and tackle. We were invincible, and we ran through the doors of the stadium on game day ready to tear apart our opponents …. but instead of a field we found a swimming pool, and everyone was wearing goofy hats. The game was water polo, and we had no idea how to play it.”
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 1:35 am on Friday, June 1, 2007
2 Responses to “Plan B from SF”
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June 1st, 2007 at 11:03 am
Web Reconnaissance for 06/01/2007
A short recon of whats out there that might draw your attention.
June 1st, 2007 at 6:21 pm
We decided what the game was though. It’s our own fault for trying to wage a “sensitive” war, which is a contradiction in terms.