On a short note, I would like to point out a bit of hypocrisy and genius. Throughout both wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military has been shackled and hamstrung by the necessity to cause no collateral damage. The theory went that causing any “unnecessary” damage would alienate the population leading to the US losing the war. Well, at least myself and a few hundred thousand other American servicemen repeatedly tested this and found the theory to be false, but no one at the War College has mentioned it. In short, worrying about collateral damage only helps the enemy and increases friendly casualties. Oh, and did I mention we have lost every war that we employed a strategy of limited collateral damage?
To this day, I can’t even renovate my kitchen without having to have everyone move out for a bit, but the US military has been tasked with securing entire cities without damaging so much as a poppy plant or anyone having to be inconvenienced. It should come as no surprise that the US military has not been effective. However, the same Iraqis that US personnel were forced to walk on pins and needles around to avoid offending have shown they have no problem with collateral damage. In fact, as the Iraqi Army has counter attacked against ISIL/ISIS strongholds in Ramadi and Fallujah, they did something remarkably intelligent. They told the civilians to get out of the way. Can you imagine the outcry if the US demanded civilians flee an area because the attack was going to literally level the city Dresden style? Even in their own country, the Iraqis still had enough sense to know that if they were going to fight a battle, it needed to be fought to win it, which mean things were going to get destroyed. Genius.
By Guiles Hendrik
July 19, 2016
