U.S. Tough
Tactics Risk Inflaming Iraq
Insurgency
Tue November 18, 2003 10:13 AM ET
By Luke Baker
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Iraq have launched their
fiercest military campaign since major combat ended in May,
but experts fear the aggressive "show of force" may inflame an
anti-American insurgency rather than douse it.
In the past 10 days, fighter jets have dropped 500 lb. (230
kg) bombs, satellite-guided missiles have been fired, and
tanks have pounded suspected guerrilla hideouts in a display
that may be spectacular but could ultimately backfire.
"I don't think this present campaign is going to produce
what the Americans want, which is security on the ground for
Iraqis and U.S. forces," said Phillip Mitchell of the
International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"It's only going to ensure that the population becomes more
allied with the pro-Saddam, anti-American insurgency... The
risk is that these sort of actions will actually inflame
hatred."
The tougher line began earlier this month, after the
downing of two helicopters -- a Chinook transporter and a
Black Hawk -- in the space of five days with the loss of 22
soldiers.
In response, the 4th Infantry Division based around Saddam
Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of
Baghdad, launched Operation Ivy Cyclone, sending F-16s to bomb
several abandoned warehouses.
At the same time, M1A1 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles
rumbled through the streets of the small city, where a curfew
has been reimposed, and a taskforce of soldiers raided a
handful of homes, rounding up some suspected Saddam loyalists.
HEAVY HAND
Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Russell, who commands the 1-22
Battalion of the 4th Infantry Division and has led many of the
raids around Tikrit, declared the new, harder line a success
and the right sort of tactics for the task at hand.
"We will not let these insurgents dance on our territory,"
he said after a midnight raid last week. "We need to maintain
an offensive stance and let the enemy know that we will come
down with a heavy hand when we want to."
Since Ivy Cyclone, U.S. forces have also launched Operation
Iron Hammer in and around Baghdad, and Ivy Cyclone Two, which
has involved firing GPS-guided missiles at suspected insurgent
camps, including one on an island in the Tigris river.
Hazy green television images of the attacks, shot through
night-vision lenses, have been broadcast worldwide and created
the impression of a bold and intense new campaign.
But there so far appears to be relatively little to show
for the new tactics in terms of the capture of high-ranking
Saddam loyalists or intelligence on the minds behind the
insurgency.
"These are operations of the 'search and destroy' type
which are very spectacular and designed primarily to occupy
television airtime for the U.S. public back home," said
Francois Gere, director of France's Institute for Diplomacy
and Defense.
"This is like using sledgehammers to swat flies. This is
not how you fight guerrillas. For that, you need inside
intelligence from the Iraqis themselves -- and these are just
the type of operations which encourage people to think they
are dealing with a brutal army of occupation," he said.
OFFICERS DEFEND OVERWHELMING FORCE
Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the newly appointed chief
spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, defended the new policy on
Monday, saying all operations had a specific military purpose
with the intention of defeating, not intimidating, the enemy.
Using tanks and other heavy equipment "provides
overwhelming fire power and gives us the capability to make
the enemy realize he is overmatched and should surrender," he
said.
But analysts say many moderate Iraqis who might have been
won over by a "hearts and minds" campaign are feeling
increasingly alienated.
"The very small percentage of Iraqis who are bent on
killing U.S. and British forces will never change their minds,
they are immune from the hearts and minds campaign," said
Ellie Goldsworthy of Britain's Royal United Services
Institute.
"If the American forces go down an openly belligerent route
there is a risk that more and more Iraqis will take up the
belligerent route. There is a risk that this will make the
situation even more dangerous for U.S. forces on the ground."
(Additional reporting by Peter Graff in London and Mark John
in Paris)
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