Changing The Counter-Insurgency Paradigm

The political Right make much of always trusting the words of the troops at the sharp end more than the armchair pundits at home, and probably rightly so. (Although they then like to carefully select which troops or veterans to listen to - only those who are on message please, no dissenters like OpTruth.) So it's pleasant when those very same veterans back my armchair generalling - as has happened by accident from two commenters over at the blog run by my UPC colleague RightWingSparkle:

I served with the Brits in Afghanistan and we always took them for a bit of a joke. NOT ANY MORE. I have spent nearly 20 years in the USMC and was stunned at their professionalism. The British Royal Marines cleared the Toro Bora cave by hand - no guns and they didn’t loose a single guy. The didn’t even get hyped up and excited or even scared, they just seemed to just go and do it as though it was just another chore.
But the amount of damage we've done to the Brits in both gulf wars is nothing short of a disgusting embarrassment and we have so much to learn from them too. Our guys find it impossible to swap from a fighting role to a policing role – but the Brits just do it. One minute they’re in a ferocious fight, the next they’re peace keeping and playing with children.
LKBTS | 06.04.05 - 12:17 am

Yeah I worked with the British army, they really check their fire well. Even under threat of their own lives they checked their fire. I was extremely impressed with them. They rarely needed direction from their officers. I agree we much to learn, just look at the lack of trouble they get in the south now. They really have the hearts and minds situ worked out.
Al Ohio | 06.04.05 - 12:26 am

Its nice to hear some other folks who seem to think it would be a good idea if the US troops took some advice from the Brits. The reason they do so well at switching from firefight to "hearts and minds" is that they've been doing it for a couple of generations in Ireland. Every officer, every NCO and most of the squaddies have been thru NI at some stage and it all gets passed along.

I have argued in the past (and so have British Generals) that the US has adopted the Israeli model of counter-insurgency through firepower and oppresion but would be better adopting the UK model. After all, the bombs and shootings in Ireland are now likely to pretty much remain in the past. Personally, I would spread the Brits as training cadre among the Iraqi troops and pull the US soldiers back into isolated bases as firemen. That would play to both nations strengths and help end the insurgency faster.

Yet another example of this administrations inability to admit and learn from mistakes.