Major Mike--Turning Surge into Victory

MAJ Mike writes an amazingly clear piece on why we need to surge (21,000? How's about 210,000?) he explains what we need to do, why we need this surge in Baghdad, and why the Iraq man in the street seems so passive. Go read through his whole blog, it's that good.

--Chuck

"Forget hearts and minds, winning insurgencies is about winning the confidence of the general population. If you fail to build a confidence in your inevitable victory and the chances for a long lasting piece, they will waffle in support, biding their time until a clear winner emerges.

Insurgent forces are usually unimaginably brutal in their tactics, not so much to garner support, but more in their efforts to establish security around their ruthless operations. Populations paralyzed in fear, typically do not act against insurgent forces that have a hope in prevailing. Our Surge must extinguish any ray of hope that a post-US Iraq will degenerate into a vengeful free-for-all amongst all the competing political and military entities. To do so, we must crush the ability of our enemies to threaten the general population.

Secondly, we must completely isolate Iraq from any outside political, military, or any other de-stabilizing influences. This includes the harsh interdiction of Iranian, Syrian, Al Qaeda-ian, or any other foreign entity that desires to affect the outcome in Iraq."

Now go read the rest here.