As some people may know, I've long maintained that the failures following the invasion of Iraq are at least partly due to the fact that the US military is very poorly equipped to deal with counter-insurgency warfare. As I've written before, this isn't exacly news to those who study this sort of thing. For years, the only people in the field who were not aware of this were the US military themselves.

For anyone who thinks I've no idea what I'm on about, here's an article from a proper journalist on the same subject. The money quote (one of several actually):

Cumulatively, the American ignorance of long-held precepts of counterinsurgency warfare impeded the U.S. military during 2003 and part of 2004. Combined with a personnel policy that pulled out all the seasoned forces early in 2004 and replaced them with green troops, it isn't surprising that the U.S. effort often resembled that of Sisyphus, the king in Greek legend who was condemned to perpetually roll a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down as he neared the top.

Worth reading in full.

Tags: News, Iraq