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Vietnam is all the rage of armchair QBs of the Democrat/liberal/left variety, and Tet comparisons abound. But perhaps an analogy more on the minds of planners is Jenin. No matter how surgically and carefully the IDF acted, and how, conscious of the collateral damage issue, they exposed their infantry to street fighting rather than simply bombing the hell out of the terrs, Israel still got the negative press and propaganda. I understand the political considerations that appear to underlie this course of events, but I still think we are far more worried about making them like us (an effort which may be in vain) and too little concerned with making them fear us. I know I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, but successful counterinsurgencies require a carrot and a big-ass stick.
This is also a legacy of the politics of the invasion, where we were so impressed with the quality of our technologies (and the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines wielding them) to strike surgically and avoid collateral damage, that we seem to have forgotten that the enemy's center of gravity is not his tanks and communications nodes, but his will. We left far too many Iraqis not feeling defeated, and our efforts during the occupation made us look weak in many eyes, and not magnanimous in victory, as we apparently hoped.
Also, because of the politics, especially domestic and international, we deferred on this fight and the one with al-Sadr's militias, until we absolutely had to (i.e., apparently, now). Now that the fight has come, it must be pursued vigorously, or our humanity and magnanimity will just bite us on the ass again.
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