DUNNIGAN’S ROUNDUP

DUNNIGAN’S ROUNDUP: StrategyPage’s daily news summary depicts a war going much better than most of the TV pundits grasp. It depicts a professional “4th generation” military overwhelming their foe:

Now it becomes obvious, as it did in 1991, that the Republican Guard are not elite and well trained, but simply well paid and more loyal to Saddam. If the Republican Guards are thrown back trying to hold the line 80 kilometers south of Baghdad, many Saddam loyalists will rethink their willingness to resist.

What is particularly disheartening to the Iraqis is that they can fight the coalition, but they find it almost impossible to kill or injure their better trained foes. Moreover, Iraq is under siege, with very little getting in. Most of Iraq’s border crossings are observed, or controlled, by coalition Special Forces and commandos.

Which is why door-to-door fighting is going to be unnecessary. And there’s more:

In central and western Iraq, U.S. Special Forces have made contact with tribal leaders and won some of them over to the anti-Saddam cause. About a quarter of the Iraqi population has a strong tribal connection, and many of these have guns, legal or illegal. Iraqi tribesmen have been fighting with U.S. troops moving up from the south as well as Special Forces operating in the west.

In the last 24 hours, fast moving coalition forces, and commandos, have captured at least half a dozen Iraqi generals, along with many colonels and the like who work for some of these generals. All of these officers are being interrogated about the state of Iraqi troops and combat capability, as well as Iraqis chemical weapons.

Maybe this is what Rummy and Co. mean when they say things are going according to plan? These actions don’t show make for good television, but they win wars.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.