Posted by Dave Price:
Square Peg, Round Hole?
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1167761519.shtml
Fred Gedrich and retired General Paul E. Vallely [1]argue that SOCOM
special operators are better suited to fighting an unconventional war
in Iraq.
To prevail, the United States has to transition from a conventional
to an unconventional war footing and make the enemy pay a heavy
price for its despicable tactics. In Iraq and elsewhere,
traditional troops, weapons and tactics are less useful than tools
of influence, covert operations and intelligence brought to the
battlefield by special operators working harmoniously with
indigenous forces and local populations. The prime objective is to
create a climate of fear within enemy ranks that breaks its will to
continue the armed insurrection against the freely elected Iraqi
government.
Special Operations Forces (Rangers, Seals, Delta Force and other
special units) leaders and troops are uniquely qualified for this
mission. Special operators played prominent and successful roles in
removing Afghanistan's Taliban regime from power and disrupting al
Qaeda's terror base. In Iraq, they have spent most of their time
searching for the infamous "deck of cards," the elusive WMD
arsenal, and high-value insurgents and terrorists.
Joint special operators (from all military branches) are also
trained in local cultures and languages, making it easier for them
to embed in local populations and Iraqi security forces and collect
information which in turn may be used to "hunt and kill" hostile
forces. In addition, they can win "hearts and minds" of local
populations through civil affairs work and performance of
psychological operations against enemies of the freely elected
Iraqi Government.
This has a lot of intuitive appeal. The conventional military did a
tremendous, even historically unprecedented, job of smashing the old
regime forces in Iraq, but they're just not well-suited to the job
they're being asked to do now, both structurally and in their [2]rules
of engagement. The insurgents know this and exploit it to the hilt.
While our ability to deploy a large number of special forces is
somewhat limited (there aren't many now, and they take years to
train), making this more of a focus could certainly help to speed
along the process of curtailing the violence by anti-democratic
insurgent groups and creating the state monopoly on use of force
necessary to establish rule of law in Iraq.
References
1. http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20061227-092444-4051r.htm
2. http://www.captainsjournal.com/2006/12/13/the-ncos-speak-on-rules-of-engagement/