Winning Ugly In Iraq

The logical initial response to this news from Iraq is revulsion; however, beneath the surface, I think it has significant positive ramifications on several levels for the US effort.

BAGHDAD - You hear a lot about "suicide bombers" in Iraq. But there's new information that at least some of those people are not trying to kill themselves at all. They're actually murder victims.

According to the Iraqi defense ministry, insurgents have come up with a new tactic. They've taken to kidnapping drivers. And while the victim is held in one place, his car is secretly packed full of explosives. When the driver is released, the kidnappers frighten him into taking a certain route.

Armies don't change or adapt tactics when they're winning. More importantly, religious principles, including embracing martyrdom, have been our enemy's greatest strength. It's one thing when people are readily willing to kill for an objective, a willingness to give oneself up so easily for a cause, is another. Obviously the enemy is running low on those types of hard-line resources.

Not only does the approach above put the perpetrators at greater risk of detection due to an increasing complex operation, it also strips away any mask of nobility behind which our enemy likes to hide. They start to look more like the bunch of power hungry murderers they really are - and less like religious zealots on some divine cause. The approach above isn't going to win them many hearts and minds among the general population.

I don't think it's being Pollyanna-ish to see this as an ultimately positive sign for our overall effort. The enemy is wearing down and increasingly desperate. You can't run a good jihad without the jihadis willing to die for the cause.

Comments

[Steel Turman]

The desperation aspect is right on.

But I fear these 'kidnappings' are thought to be sectarian in nature, by the general population.

The solution to that would for these news to get further dissemination.

THAT is what has me scratchin' my head.

Why in THE hell has this not been screaming from the headlines?

Surely it has the import of some piggish clown's antics at the Tower of Babel.