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EDITORIAL COMMENTARY
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
In My Opinion...Not That You Asked
By: Scot P. Bauer
Guerrilla Warfare, 101
By: Scot P. Bauer
The concept of guerrilla warfare has been around for centuries. Americans used it to fight against the British during the Revolutionary War, and Soviet citizens of the Ukraine used guerrilla warfare to fight the Nazi invaders of their homeland during World War II.
For a guerrilla war to be effective, certain conditions are necessary. It is not unlike when someone bakes a cake, and specific ingredients are needed. Without flour, there is no cake. For a guerrilla war to be successful, the #1 ingredient is the support of the local population. Without that, failure is guaranteed.
At the beginning of the War in Iraq, the Iraqi military (once again) proved that they are still without a clue as to how to fight a modern, mobile, high tech blitzkrieg style war. As soon the major fighting ended, diehards of the fallen regime continued to resist the simple fact that they've been trounced. Not wanting to give up their government-appointed power to dominate others, they began a guerrilla war against the allied forces.
Initially, most of the Iraqi population was more concerned about survival than politics. After a 30-year rein of the Saddam regime, I would imagine that most civilians were still somewhat scared to speak or act out against the leftovers fighting the Americans. A terrorist style guerrilla war was launched against the allied forces and the infrastructure.
After a year of terrorist activity with no success at forcing the allies to leave, the terrorists begin to lash out at everyone. In the recent months, civilians, bystanders, Iraqis looking for government jobs, and police officers are being killed with reckless abandon by the terrorists. Large amounts of personal property owned by Iraqis are being destroyed.
Any claim to be fighting a guerrilla war against the American invaders has now ended. These leftovers are terrorists, plain and simple.
Iraqis can be accused of being many things, but being stupid isn't one of them. They know the terrorists don't care about them, and the terrorists don't care how many civilians get killed in their fight against the Americans.
The guerrillas have officially lost the support of the local population.
In recent weeks, terrorist safe houses are being destroyed with large groups of fighters inside, usually by airpower. Approximately 2,500 insurgents were taken out during the battle of Faluja, and roughly 125 terrorists were encircled and killed in a residential neighborhood right before. Terrorist leadership is being whipped out, and terrorist attacks are becoming more scattered and much less effective. Why? Because the civilian population has been pointing out the terrorists to the allies. They're sick of the war, and they're sick of watching their friends and families being blown up. They may not like the fact that they're being occupied by a foreign power, but they also acknowledge that it is not the Americans that are killing them. They realize that once the terrorists stop killing people, the Americans will leave.
In the end, the terrorist's demise will be of their own doing. The Iraqi people will see to it.
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