Small Wars for the Marines?

The Commandant of the Marine Corps has been vociferously demanding that Marines be diverted away from nation building efforts in Iraq, and towards conventional combat operations in Afghanistan, adding that Marines should go wherever there is fighting, not nation building (with the undertones of counterinsurgency, I would gather).  

Which is actually quite amusing, when you think of it, as the Marine Corps was actually the first organization to draft a manual for small "Banana Wars" and counterinsurgency. 

What's old is new and something like that

When I was a cadet, my instructors had served their entire careers in a peacetime Army.  They often related to me that everything in the military had been done before--it was merely a matter of picking up the right "continuity book" or field manual and simply doing what everyone else had done.  I really never caught on to this idea, and I'm kind of glad I didn't. 

It was great advice for a military whose greatest challenge might have been planning a ball or a change of command, but it's hardly applicable now.  In a world where our military is increasingly being pitted against threats from non-traditional enemies, I often wonder if someone is digging through John Paul Jones' "continuity book" to see how we deal with 21st Century pirates.  

The great thing about lax international copyright laws

The great thing about lax international copyright laws is that you can buy DVDs of movies that were just recently released in the US.  Some may call this bootlegging, but hey, most truths that we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view.  I was able to snatch up the new 007 movie, Quantum of Solace (just when you thought they'd run out of Fleming titles to turn into movies).  

I went to the Arab market armed with at $20 bill, hoping to purchase two movies.  I thought that I would have to be a shrewd haggler to make this work.  Well, I was wrong.  I picked up both DVDs for $2 each.

I'd been waiting to see Quantum of Solace for a while, not only because I'm a James Bond fan, but also because I need to watch the movie in order to understand what Maddox is complaining about on his most excellent website, The Best Page in the Universe.  

Someone owes me royalties

Seems Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chariman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also been preaching about the convergence of American military and diplomatic policy recently--with the miltiary taking up the role of enacting most of America's foreign policy, to include diplomatic, economic and social endeavors.  It's almost as if he stole a line from a great article posted in Small Wars Journal back in October.  (Gotta love shameless self-promotion.  Of course, I also stole many of those ideas from a few other sources, but just overlook that)

Here are some quotes from Admiral Mullen in today's New York Times:

The military is engaged in deep soul-searching over the proper role of the armed forces in foreign policy. The debate has been inspired by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have forced the military to take on responsibilities far beyond combat, including tasks like economic reconstruction and political development that are often described as “nation building.”

“Our military is flexible, well funded, designed to take risk,” Admiral Mullen said in a speech at an evening ceremony of the Nixon Center, a Washington policy institute. “We respond well to orders from civilian authorities.”

Because of those traits, Admiral Mullen said, the military receives vast resources — and then is asked to do even more.

“I believe we should be more willing to break this cycle, and say when armed forces may not always be the best choice to take the lead,” he said. “We must be just as bold in providing options when they don’t involve our participation or our leadership, or even when those options aren’t popular.

Additonally, from the Los Angeles Times:  

Mullen's views are in line with the thinking of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has spoken out many times about the need for the military to work more closely with civilian agencies. 

In a series of speeches, Gates called on Congress to provide more funding for the State Department's foreign service and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

To offset the shift in U.S. approaches, the Pentagon has transferred funding to help the State Department send civilian officials to trouble spots. Pentagon officials also have encouraged military assistance for stabilization efforts.

But Mullen said efforts to shift resources to other agencies were insufficient. He argued that Congress should provide greater flexibility for the military to transfer funding during a crisis.

"As an equal partner in government, I want to be able to transfer resources to my other partners when they need them," Mullen said...

..Mullen said that changes in federal policy would encourage greater civilian risk-taking. Among needed improvements are safeguards such as life insurance and medical care for people serving in volatile regions, he said. 

Mullen said the military has much to learn about how the State Department and other agencies use such power effectively. 

"If we are truly to cut oxygen from the fire of violent extremism," Mullen said, "we must leverage every single aspect of national power -- soft and hard."

With that said, a few focus questions:

1.) To what extent should the military engage in nation-building activities?  

2.) With nation-building being placed on par with traditional warfighting functions (as per the new operations manual), what sorts of training do you see being implemented in our junior soldiers?

3.) How should the military structure itself for these types of conflicts?  Should there be a "small war" force and a "big war" force?  

The question of placing stability and support operations on par with offensive and defensive operations actually leads me to my next article for SWJ, in which I will discuss our military educational system's attempts (or sometimes, lack thereof) to keep up with the latest in military thinking.  

"Tell Me How This Ends"-Discussion

General Petraeus is often quoted as saying, right after the invasion of 2003, "Tell me how this ends", in reference to the building of a stable democracy in Iraq.  

Tonight I ask the same about the situation in Gaza.  What long-term solution will military action have in Gaza on the security situation in Israel?  What will/could Israel combine with military strength in order to gain some sort of security gain in the Gaza Strip?

Deep Thoughts...

So after a flight the other day, I had to go to the restroom. While going to the restroom, I noticed that there was one of those ubiquitous "for a good time" messages on the wall. However, I think it's a sign of the times that, more and more, I see an e-mail address attached to the "For a good time" messages instead of a phone number. I think it's only a matter of time before someone starts putting up instant messenger names or Myspace URLs on the bathroom walls.

Focus: Am I the only one who has noticed this?

This of course pales in comparison to a bathroom I went to in Kuwait, where, no kidding, these are actual quotes from the graffiti:

--If God is all powerful, knowing, and good, then why is there so much suffering in the world? Is he powerless to stop it? Is he not all good? --(Reply) This argument was first brought up by the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 BCE-270 BCE), who postulated in his work...

Focus 2: Has anyone else seen deep philosophical debates on bathroom walls?

And with all this said about bathroom graffiti, I leave this for you to debate:

Life Imitates Art

While reading up on Martin van Crewald's paradox, I came across a statement on the Iraqi insurgency which reminded me of something amusing.

While we often refer to "an insurgency" in Iraq, there have actually been multiple insurgent groups, criminal organizations and militias which made up "the insurgency".  Each of these groups had its own political goals, organization, and sometimes even fought against one another.

Yes, much like the People's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Peoples' Liberation Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the dozen or so other Palestinian liberation groups found in the Monty Python movie, The Life of Bryan.  Groups who hate each other even more than they hate the Romans.  

I'm so cultured...

Romani ite domum!

4GW Links of the Day, (Plus two disturbing ones)

1. Sic Semper Tyrannis posted a great article which talks about the idocyncracies of the Israeli Army.  Foremost among these is the large reserve force which can be called into action during a crisis, but also comes from a highly productive portion of the Israeli economy.  This, of course means that Isreal cannot afford long conflicts, much like Sun Tzu advised when he wrote that "No country benefits from protracted war".  Additionally, the Israeli Defense Force does not have a non-commissioned officer corps like the US has, instead relegating NCOs to a speciality field, and forcing younger commissioned officers to fill the gap, with results that are less than optimal, as the article claims.
2. Air power as soft power?  Oh yes, it can.  
3. Global Guerillas (as well as Greg in Mexico) has shared some thoughts on the issue of increasing economic and criminal chaos in Mexico at the hands of drug cartels, which certainly represents a national security threat, possibly one of the most relevant ones to the US.   
4. Bizarre links of the Day:  The Internet Twilight Zone--a thread on the Tucker Max message board that links to a message board where one user has over 2,000 posts...and is the only poster on the board.  
5. In Virginia, a 6-year old boy drives himself to school.  When the police asked where he learned to drive, he answered "Grand Theft Auto".  Yeah, I think this actually surpasses the 8-year old who wrote to me and told me that his favorite movie was Saw III.  

The Counterinsurgency Field Manual: Afghanistan Edition

Small Wars Journal posted a link to a great article in Foreign Policy Magazine regarding COIN theory in Afghanistan--a strategic situation far more complex than Iraq due to its rural population, vastly more complex ethnic demographics, and thriving opium trade.  Not to mention that Waziristan, a province in Pakistan, serves as what T.E. Lawrence would refer to as an "unassailable base" for the insurgency in that area.  We also have some interesting new developments, such as a split between insurgent groups, with the Taliban separating from Al-Qaeda and suing for peace.

The article features commentary from such high-profile names in strategic thought such as Lt. Col. (Ret) John Nagl and General David H. Petraeus.   It also brings up this gem of counter-insurgency thinking that I actually wrote about in Small Wars Journal back in October regarding risk aversion within the military and diplomatic corps, the design of embassies, and public diplomacy.

(PS--Hey Lt. Col/Dr. Nagl, can I take your place on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart?  That's always been my dream.)

Paradox 2: Sometimes the more you protect your force, the less secure you may be.

2-1. The U.S. military, designed to inflict overwhelming and disproportionate losses on the enemy, tends to equate victory with very few body bags. So does the American public. The new counterinsurgency doctrine upends this perceived immunity from casualties by demanding that manpower replace firepower. Soldiers in Afghanistan must get out among the people, building and staffing joint security stations with Afghan security forces. That is the only way to disconnect the enemy from the civilians. Persistent presence—living among the population in small groups, staying in villages overnight for months at a time—is dangerous, and it will mean more casualties, but it’s the only way to protect the population effectively. And it will make U.S. troops more secure in the long run.

2-2. This imperative to get out among the people extends to U.S. civilians as well. U.S. Embassy staff are almost completely forbidden from moving around Kabul on their own. Diplomacy is, of course, about relationships, and rules that discourage relationships fundamentally limit the ability of American diplomats to do their jobs. The mission in Afghanistan is to stabilize the country, not to secure the embassy.

2-3. Counterinsurgency strategy suggests that victory requires 20 to 25 counterinsurgents for every 1,000 residents. Current troop strength in Afghanistan, including Afghan forces, are about a third of that level. The stark alternatives are to deploy more troops or to change the mission.

Starbucking

I picked the Internet moniker "Starbuck" based on the drinking, cigar-smoking, womanizing, humorous, yet somewhat responsible and lovable character on the original Battlestar Galactica (and the female Kara "Starbuck" Thrace from the BSG re-make).  I also thought it was appropriate as I hit up Starcuks in the US almost every single day.

But both the character and the coffee company took the name "Starbuck" from a character in the novel Moby Dick, who was Captain Ahab's first mate.  (In The X-Files, Dana Scully is nicknamed "Starbuck" by her father, has a dog she names "Queequeg", and has referred to Mulder as "Captain Ahab").  Based on the number of allusions to this novel I've seen, I decided to read it.  

I was actually expecting a lot more plot in this novel.  Instead, I've been innundated with pages upon pages of detailed taxonomic descriptions of whales, which are based on scientific knowledge that pre-dated Darwin.  Despite the fact that Melville spends an entire chapter claiming that whales are fish, we are now fairly certain that they're actually descended from a family of hooved mammals which gradually returned into the sea and evolved into whales.  Well, except in the state of Kansas, where I'm obliged to say that they magically appeard 6,000 years ago.

More news

It's been a busy week in Iraq.  Not because the US has been chasing down insurgents, but because so many bases are being handed over to the Iraqi Army, it's almost difficult to keep track of them.  Whearas just two years ago, Army helicopters were burning thousands of blade hours taking troops to the battle, now they're scurrying back and forth just to accomodate bases that seem to be closing every day.

Just this past week, we've seen the Green Zone turned over to Iraqi control, as well as bases on the outskirts of Fallujuah, once the heart of the Iraqi insurgency, as well as in Baquabah just yesterday.  (Baquabah was made infamous for being the city in which insurgent leader Al-Zarqawi was killed in 2006).   

Links of the Day

We've talked about Cyberwarfare before in a previous entry.  Seems that a blogger named Matt Devost has been a virtual Cassandra in the field of Cyberwarfare for over a decade.  The only difference between Mr. Devost and the mythical Cassandra, however, is that people are just now starting to listen to Devost.

Secondly, there was an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor recently about the difficulty of COIN in Afghanistan.  With over 400 ethnic groups and no democratic tradition, combatting insurgents and establishing a stable, strong democracy are major challenge.  Even General Petraeus has been hesitant to remark on what an effective counterinsurgency plan for Afghanistan would look like, given the vast differences between Afghanistan and Iraq.

Lastly, the London Times posted an article regarding the success of Predator drones in tracking down senior Al-Qaeda leaders in Waziristan.  I was going to say that I found it amusing that a cheap, unmanned drone was making more of a dent in the War on Terror than the ultra-expensive F-22 Raptor (roughly $100 million per copy), until the article revealed that a program to sell Predator drones to Great Britain cost the UK some 500 million pounds.  

Miscellaneous Musings

Life is good.  Why?  Because a Green Beans Coffee shop just opened nearby.  So now I can go back to paying $3.50 for a cappuccino every day just like I did back home.  It actually brings a tear to my eye...

Investigative report will follow in the next few days.  Yes, my friends, your dear Starbuck will yet again make some sort of witty title involving coffee.  

Mail Bag (Sort of)

With Christmas season nearly over, it's time to take a look at some of the Christmas cards that we got.  Students at one elementary school sent us dozens of hand-made Christmas cards.   Most of them say something to the effect of "Dear Soldier, thank you for protecting our country", with varying degrees of proper spelling.  One card, however, stood out among all the rest.  I think I'm going to frame this one...

You may need to click on the picture to get a better view of it, but it says:

Dear Soldier,

My name is [redacted].  My favorite movie is Saw III...

WTF?  Who lets their kid watch Saw III?  More importantly, what kid feels the need to tell a complete stranger that he/she likes Saw III?  I almost hesitated to make fun of this letter, for fear of some psychopathic 8-year-old unleashing a vicious killer mime puppet that was going to hack me up with a buzzsaw.  But then I realized that this is the price I pay for being famous on the Internet, so I went ahead with it.  The story of my life--as warped as it may be--needs to be told, as few people run into sheer level of bizarre I encounter every single day.

2009 in Iraq

I always thought that being in Iraq would give me a much more heightened awareness of American foreign policy and Middle Eastern politics.  Now, to be certain, I wouldn't have happened across the conversation I had with the Kurds had I been back in the US, but I actually had to work to make that opportunity happen.  I actually had to know a great deal of Middle Eastern history to glean the nugget or two that I did out of that discussion.  

In all actuality, I find myself actually quite far from relevant news in Iraq.  If I didn't have a massive amount of RSS feeds about Iraq on my Google Reader page, and links from CNN and the Wall Street Journal on my home page, I'd be pretty clueless as to what's going on.  One of the strange paradoxes of the US military in a wartime environment can be summed up by a quote from General David Petraeus, who said something along the lines of "officers put their nose to the grindstone so much that they don't take the time to look up".  

Indeed, much is the same about the day-to-day life in Iraq.  Concentrating on one flight or one roadside bomb causes a sense of tunnel vision and limits the focus we, as military professionals, have on the big picture of American foreign policy--a skill very critical to Fourth Generation Warfare. 

And judging by the news stories, there's a lot happening in Iraq right now--much of it positive.  As I walk around, I find that popular opinion seems to have it that the US will remain in many of its bases for decades to come--which is now highly contrary to what is actually happening in the cities of Iraq.

A series of news stories I picked up this morning highlight a drastic improvement in the security situation in 2008, with even greater opportunities for 2009.   One news story comes from the New York Times and it discusses the closure of a Marine base on the outskirts of Fallujah, the center of the insurgency during 2004. 

As part of the reduction of United States troops from Iraq, by Thursday there will be few marines left in or around this mostly Sunni city of about 300,000 people. The closing of Camp Falluja is one of the most prominent symbols yet that America’s presence in the country, which at times had seemed all encompassing, is diminishing.

As recently as a year ago, the base closing was cause for alarm. The calm that seemed to have taken hold here was fragile enough that both Iraqi and American officials feared the potential consequences of the marines’ departure.

Today they look forward to it.

“That will make our job easier,” said Col. Dowad Muhammad Suliyman, commander of the Falluja Police Department. “The existence of the American forces is an excuse for the insurgents to attack. They consider us spies for the Americans.  [ed. note:  And here we find that, by withdrawing troops, we adhere to the COIN principle of giving the host nation legitimacy]

The second article worth reading comes from CNN, and it regards the Iraqification of the Green Zone.

Article three comes from the New York Times again, and it discusses how utterly quiet (relatively) Iraq has gotten.  So quiet, in fact, that news coverage for the Iraq War during the nightly news on the big three networks decreased by almost 75% from 2007 to 2008.  Now, unfortunately for us as Americans, this is also partially due to the fact that the economic woes on Wall Street have a much greater relevance to the average American than the war in Iraq.  The decrease in concern with Iraq is also partially responsible for the fact that only a minority of Americans know that over 4,000 troops have been killed in that country. But, nevertheless, fewer reporters generally means that there's fewer explosions to cover, and that can only be good, right?

Focus:  What are your predictions for Iraq in 2009?  Is the timeline set forth in the SOFA a practical timeline?  Will violence increase or decrease?  How do you see the upcoming Iraqi elections affecting the security situation?