Jan
09
2009
|
The Deepest Battlefield |
|
|
|
Written by JD Johannes
|
|
Friday, 09 January 2009 |
"How do you defeat an idea? How do you defeat a dream?" Colonel Bob Chase asked rhetorically.
It was the Summer of 2005, a period of stasis in Iraq before the wheels came off in 2006.
I was interviewing him on the side porch of the Saddam era palace in Ramadi that was now the headquarters of the 2nd Marine Division.
Over the Colonel's shoulder was the Euphrates and the city of Ramadi. Eighteen months later, the battle for the city would resemble a slow moving game of tetris, as Soldier and Marines claimed the city block by block, laying down concrete barriers to hold their territory.
In the Summer of 2005, as the Operations Officer of the Division, Chase had the power of life and death. A nod from him made people, buildings and city blocks disappear.
But those kinetic operations were only part of the answer to the question Chase needed to answer.
As I watch the events unfolding in Gaza, I remember the lessons from that Summer in Anbar province--clearing Amiriyah and Ferris twice, clearing Kharmah twice, the city of Fallujah, despite being cleared in the largest set-piece siege since Hue, was slowly being re-infested.
There will be peace in the middle east when, and only when, the Arabs finally accept that Israel will not be destroyed, the Hebrews will not be pushed into the sea and the status quo of this long running conflict is no longer worth it.
The insurgency of Iraq--Shia, Sunni, Baathist and evey hybrid thereof--operated on simple strategic concept: Just get the U.S. to leave.
The key strategic metric for the insurgents was a poll number that asked the American public if the war was "Worth it." The insurgent's only hope was the fickle nature of the American people and politicians in Washington, D.C.
That was how deep they viewed the battlefield.
The tide in Iraq first turned in Anbar when the tribal leaders and their kin accepted that the Marines were never leaving, Al Qaida and their associates could not deliver anything but criminality, the dream could not be achieved and getting on with normal life was the best course of action.
Michael Yon, in his book "Moment of Truth in Iraq" has a very profound statement on war:
"The American soldier is the most dangerous man in the world, and the Iraqis had to learn that before they would trust or respect us. But it was when they understood that these great-hearted warriors, who so enjoyed killing the enemy, are even happier helping build a school or to make a neighborhood safe that we really got their attention."
The residents of Gaza, who elected Hamas, may need to learn the very hard way that Israel, with very little effort, could push them into the sea, but would rather sell them electronics and fizzy drinks.
And that is the deeper battlefield Israel needs to fight on.
General Raymond Odierno, the Commander of Multi National Forces in Iraq constantly uses the phrase "passive support." That passive support can be for the insurgents or the coalition and the Iraq government.
It is the passive support that has propped up Hamas. Elimination of the passive support is the only path to a lasting victory.
In Iraq, the coalition eventually had the advantage of fragile Iraqi government for the passive support to shift to.
Fatah is not much an alternative, but there isn't much else to choose from
The seemingly interminable conflict will not be resolved through negotiations. Negotiating with an Arab is a sign of weakness and only emoboldens them.
It will end the way all wars end, decision by the losing combatant that his goals, his idea, his dream, is lost, cannot be achieved and it is no longer worth it to fight. Some people come to this conclusion quicker than others.
When the residents of Gaza see that Israel will not stop and that no can or will stop them, and that Hamas has been selling them a fantasy, then the passive support can shift. If, at that moment, Israel can turn on a dime and offer the alternative, maybe peace can finally be had.
A dream, an idea, is defeated by showing that it cannot be achieved or the effort to achieve it is just not worth it.
In the Middle East, this is compounded because the dream is intertwined with religion and personal identity. Renunciation of the dream is on a level with renouncing the faith--and we know how apostates are treated in Islam.
But, I have seen enough Al Qaida and Jaish al Mahdi affiliates flip sides to know that it is possible for all but the most fervent to accept a different interpretation of allah's will.
|
|
