O Intermitente
(So long, farewell, auf weidersehen, good-bye)

terça-feira, agosto 26, 2003

U.S. Military Scorns Iraq's 'Miss-And-Run' Fighters

"Iraqi guerrillas waging low-level attacks on American occupying forces are poorly organized, militarily incompetent and quick to run, scornful U.S. commanders say.

"The enemy tactics are 'miss and run'," said Colonel James Hickey, whose brigade controls the restive area round Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.

"They're almost running when they pull the trigger."

Most attacks have come in the so-called "Sunni Triangle" area north and west of Baghdad. It includes Tikrit, where Saddam, himself a Sunni Muslim, came from.

The guerrillas generally lay explosive devices for patrols on roads, or spring attacks from buildings using AK-47 rifles, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) or mortars.

...Former fighters of Saddam's Republican Guard or Fedayeen troops, and prominent members of his ruling Baath party, may be organising and financing the guerrilla attacks, but do not appear to be carrying them out, the commanders said.

"They are going out and getting hired hands who do not have much experience. Normally you get two- or three- or four-men groups trying to conduct attacks, usually a couple of young guys with one middle-aged guy," Hickey said.

"I have yet to see any degree of military competence. They are not experienced fighters. They fire a mortar, then pick up and run. I think we have taken away their capacity to wage any organized resistance, although I concede they have enough structure to put guys in each main town to shoot at us."

...Their numbers appear small, the commanders said.

"Whenever we kill four of the enemy, things just drop off in that area," Hickey said. "We are winning, we have the initiative."

An attack last week on a U.S. patrol in Tikrit's busy market-place infuriated the local American officers. "The enemy is a coward," Russell said. "He continues to hide behind women, children and his own population. He refuses to wear uniform, therefore we categorise him as a terrorist."

Comentário:

1. Nos intervalos da reportagem anti-americana da Reuters, os comentários dos comandantes das tropas aliadas no terreno demonstram que a situação militar é muito diferente daquela que as notícias dos nossos jornais e televisões dão a entender. A resistência é numéricamente reduzida, incompetente e utiliza tácticas que violam as leis da guerra. A principal motivação dos "guerrilheiros" parece ser financeira (algumas notícias falavam de 5.000 dollars por cada ataque).
   
   
2. Militarmente, os ataques dos "guerrilheiros" são inofensivos. A estratégia seguida - a única que poderá ter algum sucesso -, é a tentativa de transformar o Iraque num novo Vietnam com o auxílio dos media ocidentais...e se no terreno os "guerrilheiros" "falham e fogem", nos écrans da TV e nas páginas dos jornais os "guerrilheiros" acertam todos os tiros...e estão a ganhar a guerra mediática (não foi preciso esforçarem-se muito...)
   
   A estratégia seguida, no entanto, falha num aspecto essencial: pressupõe que a opinião pública (americana) de hoje é a mesma do tempo da guerra do Vietnam. Mas ao contrário dos media, que ideologicamente não mudaram, a opinião pública americana tem até ao momento entendido a natureza desta guerra e o facto de uma guerra implicar baixas americanas. Esperemos que assim continue.

posted by Joao 3:28 da tarde