How US Army trains for a different kind of war

Counterinsurgency tactics put a big premium on winning hearts and minds. For soldiers undergoing training at Fort Polk, La., it seems to be sticking.

from the June 20, 2007 edition

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Too late to change the war's course?

But if the American military now has found its groove in Iraq, some say it may be too little, too late.

Counterinsurgency work takes years and decades, not the weeks or months that many in Washington and elsewhere would like to see. That leaves little time for the American military to show success.

"The American people are not all that casualty-averse, but they're incompetence-averse," says Hammes, who has publicly criticized the Iraq campaign for lack of planning and operational naiveté. Despite the addition of another 30,000 US forces under the "surge" plan that President Bush announced in January, many analysts say that is still not enough to calm Iraq. True counterinsurgency work, they say, takes time and cannot be done with too few soldiers.

In an ideal world, Mr. Bush would ask for even more troops to get the job done right, says Hammes.

"The administration finally figured out what it had to do, but it will not go to the American people and say, 'We have to make a major effort here,' " he says.

Come September, Petraeus is slated to make an assessment of operations in Iraq, which will mark nearly three months after the last forces to arrive in keeping with the surge strategy.

For his part, Bolger says the much-anticipated September assessment will probably say that counterinsurgency efforts are on track and that progress is being made, but that more time will be needed.

"We've started to get it right. It's starting to bear fruit now," Bolger says.

A choice for all Americans

While the decision to stay or go is, in the end, up to the American people, the US military is now better prepared to do the job before it.

"That's where the American people need to make the decision: Do they think it's worth the losses we're suffering, the money we're paying, the time and effort we're putting into it, yes or no?" Bolger says. "I can't answer that for the American public."

What he can do, he says, is help to prepare forces for the work ahead if the public wants the military's mission in Iraq to continue.

"Our job as the military is to give them their options."

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