The highlights.......
EEE
location: Landscape Challenged Illinois
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registered: 2002.08.26
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Here are the highlights to that article (it goes more in depth of course. Also, it appears the Harper's article is shorter than the originally printed article). Rather than the importance of the author of this article, the important parts are items that he points out. For example:1. US forces are better at fighting massed enemies and specific items and targets, and less so at fighting insurgencies.2. That insurgencies are political activity with thrown in violence and not traditional battlefield warfare. They are covert actions and while in Iraq, many insurgents have inflitrated all aspects of the government (I hate to use the word "inflitrate" because they have always been there).3. That the particular band of insurgents live among those who are not going to provide intelligence about them and who are sympathetic to their beliefs and actions. Also, that Iraqis realize that sooner or later the US will leave and enemies will remain and it won't look good for them if it is found out they helped the Americans.4. Sunnis are are willing to take jobs offered by Americans, but are not willing to provide information about Sunni insurgents and will not raise arms against other Sunnis and will desert if asked to do so. Sunnis will also not provide information to other Iraqis - they are looking to the future. 5. That Americans in Iraq do not have the ability to tell the difference between Iraqis, Kurds and other Muslims. Everyone much looks the same and because there is very little border to border traveling, Americans are not suspicious of those insurgents entering the country when they should be. Americans control the roadblocks and cannot distinguish between accents, dialects and other demeanors of those entering Iraq, many of who have the potential to being insurgents.6. That Iraqis listen more to their respective religious clerics instead of following the concept of democracy. That they feel Americans are there to steal their territory, oil and culture. They also believe Western culture will unduly influence the behavior of Iraqi women. On their face, these might seem to be simplistic in nature, but they show how the US has vastly underestimated the differences in our cultures and that the soldiers are the ones that will continue to pay the price.
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EEE
(view)
Here are the highlights to that article (it goes more in depth of course. Also, it appears the Harper's article is shorter than the originally printed article). Rather than the importance of the author of this article, the important parts are items that he points out. For example:1. US forces are better at fighting massed enemies and specific items and targets, and less so at fighting insurgencies.2. That insurgencies are political activity with thrown in violence and not traditional battlefield warfare. They are covert actions and while in Iraq, many insurgents have inflitrated all aspects of the government (I hate to use the word "inflitrate" because they have always been there).3. That the particular band of insurgents live among those who are not going to provide intelligence about them and who are sympathetic to their beliefs and actions. Also, that Iraqis realize that sooner or later the US will leave and enemies will remain and it won't look good for them if it is found out they helped the Americans.4. Sunnis are are willing to take jobs offered by Americans, but are not willing to provide information about Sunni insurgents and will not raise arms against other Sunnis and will desert if asked to do so. Sunnis will also not provide information to other Iraqis - they are looking to the future. 5. That Americans in Iraq do not have the ability to tell the difference between Iraqis, Kurds and other Muslims. Everyone much looks the same and because there is very little border to border traveling, Americans are not suspicious of those insurgents entering the country when they should be. Americans control the roadblocks and cannot distinguish between accents, dialects and other demeanors of those entering Iraq, many of who have the potential to being insurgents.6. That Iraqis listen more to their respective religious clerics instead of following the concept of democracy. That they feel Americans are there to steal their territory, oil and culture. They also believe Western culture will unduly influence the behavior of Iraqi women. On their face, these might seem to be simplistic in nature, but they show how the US has vastly underestimated the differences in our cultures and that the soldiers are the ones that will continue to pay the price.
