Posted: 4/23/2004 2:30:20 PM EDT
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Hey all!!, So, I couldn't post last week due to the site being down, so I'll post now about what we had the pleasure of experiencing last week in my class. We had two marines come as our special guest speakers for the week, one of whom is an expert on tactics and war planning, the other is a major who has recently returned from Iraq. Both had extensive information on the situation in Iraq, not only from personal experience, but also because both hold advanced degrees from harvard and Duke, respectively, in International Relations, so we had two extremely intelligent soldiers who are also trained in analyzing political situations. A real treat, let me tell you!! The first marine was a major attached to an Irish section of the British Royal Army, and as a side note on the funny side, he said that if the war had started on St. Patrick's Day, they would have had to sit it out due to the celebration festivities........aparently, they were the only force that had brought their own bagpipes, specifically for the event!  They were also joined by a small group of chirpas from Nepal, and although their average size was about 5'1, he held them in the highest regard as far as fighting skill and ability. I had no idea that Nepal, of all places, had joined in, and was equally astonished to learn that they are highly regarded throughout the world as being one of the top fighters in the world.Our other marine gave a talk about the 3 Block War, which is aparently a model used in analyzing possible urban combat, and is trained for extensively in the marine corp. This model introduces the possible situations a unit will face in an urban environment, and is very applicable to the situations facing our troops in Iraq as we speak. This concept is pretty simple...think of a three block city. On one block you have troops engaging in peaceful activities, basic policing, helping civilians with problems, humanitarian type activities as well. Essentially, trying to spread goodwill with the people. Once you cross the street, you are in a conflict zone, which is where soldiers are at a highter state of readiness, perhaps crowd control is necessary, intel on possible insurgents in the area, even sporadic exchange of fire. Finally, you cross the second street, and are nowin full combat with known or unknown opponents, where civilians may or may not be participating in the combat. At any time, any of these three blocks can change status. This is one of the major problems facing our troops right now, the fact that these three blocks are repeated for all of our troops in every city in Iraq. This is what makes it difficult for soldiers to keep the peace. Both had very interesting insight, particularly the major, whom, I just learned, has been promoted. He recently returned from Iraq, and was surprised to hear from the media that the vast majority of the the people there hated americans. His experience was the exact opposite. He said that in general, the people there were very friendly towards him, not just right after the war, but through a few months ago as well. His assessment is that more troops are necessary, and that the battle for the peace will only come about with an overwhelming presence. When the water is running, the electricity is up, and the men are employed, the terrorists will not be able to claim any kind of major civilian support for their actions. He believes that the media is seriously overhyping the attacks and not reporting about Iraqi support for the troops on purpose, to convince the american people to call for our pullout of Iraq. Another interesting point. Neither of them believe that democracy is, at this time, possible in Iraq, due to the level of uneducation and lack of infrastructure. Both believe that a strong US presence is necessary for at least a period of 3-5 years to make sure that the transition is complete AND stable. Otherwise, things will be worse than before, and the risk of Iraq being a haven for anti-american terrorists will actually be greater than it was before. It took quite an amount of guts, if you ask me, to say that in a college classroom, given that most social science classes do tend torwards left, if not extreme left, leanings, that would make the students hostile to anyone saying such things. On a sad note, our class was supposed to have had 3 marines speaking that day, a close friend and former student of our professor. He was supposed to have come home 2 weeks ago, just in time for the class, but he was killed a day or two before going home. On my own personal rant, I'm tired of people that are still complaining about the fact that we went into Iraq and are now making it difficult, if not impossible, for our country's leaders to do what they really need to do to protect out troops, and the Iraqi people as a whole. Whether you believe we should have gone in or not is irrelevant, we are there now, lets make it a success, so no more soldiers have to die. I am tired of the witch hunt going on in the congress right now to see if the Bush Administration could have done more to prevent 9/11, it is only taking attention away that should be focused on solving the Iraq dilemma. If the liberals really mean what they say, that they want a united America, then they should shut up and give us one. Have a great day ladies! Tiff out! |