I didn’t attend one of the military academies, nor do advanced studies at the Naval War College. Heck, I haven’t even seen The Battle of Algiers, though I’ve read a few reviews. So, maybe I’m not qualified to judge. That said, this news troubles me:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – American forces have dramatically increased airstrikes in Iraq during the past five months, a change of tactics that may foreshadow how the United States plans to battle a still-strong insurgency while reducing the number of U.S. ground troops serving here.A review of military data shows that daily bombing runs and jet-missile launches have increased by more than 50 percent in the past five months, compared with the same period last year. Knight Ridder’s statistical findings were reviewed and confirmed by American Air Force officials in the region.
The numbers also show that U.S. forces dropped bombs on more cities during the last five months than they did during the same period a year ago. Airstrikes hit at least 11 cities between Oct. 1, 2004, and Feb. 28, 2005, but were mostly concentrated in and around the western city of Fallujah. A year later, U.S. warplanes struck at least 22 cities during the same months.
Fighting an insurgency with air power just seems, well, foolish. No matter how “precise” the munition there is going to be “collateral damage,” which in Iraq means families losing loved ones and homes and other things that might, in fact, motivate one to join the insurgency, not defeat it. This is especially true if the munition falls on a target that has nothing to do with the insurgents, because it was targetted using bad, false or inexpert intelligence. Plus, what I’ve read about defeating insurgencies suggests that key elements involve providing a sense of security for the general populace, and visible quality-of-life improvements. Having bombs and missiles dropping out of the sky and leaving lots of rubble around seems like a bad way to achieve this.
To be doing more of this, at a time when loyalties seem even more confused on the ground, well, it makes one wonder. What’s up with that?