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IRAQ: Speed of the Essence
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
By David Isenberg
The Asia Times

According to the briefing, the prime imperative for an occupying force is to divest itself of the mission as soon as possible. According to the briefer, you need to "do everything possible to work yourself out of a job". That may mean making unpleasant compromises. Already in Afghanistan there have been instances where various factions have sought to avenge long-standing grudges. It is expected that if Saddam Hussein is overthrown in Iraq there would be substantial bloodletting as various Iraqis sought revenge for decades of oppression and terror from the military and security forces.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the possibility of a war to overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq, the logical question, not that it is raised all that much, is what happens next?

In this context, the old song "It Ain't Easy" comes to mind. That, at least, is the conclusion one draws from a briefing on post-war occupation prepared by the U.S. Army Center of Military History.

The briefing was undertaken in light of significant new troop demands in Afghanistan, previous commitments in the Balkans, and potential peacekeeping duties in Iraq. At a briefing given to this correspondent last week, an army historian from the center, located at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., made the following points.

Occupations can be defined differently, depending on circumstances and the nature of the countries being occupied. The center has studied 16 past occupations, or occupation-like missions, by US armed forces; ranging from the decades-long mission in the Philippines in the aftermath of the 1898 Spanish-American war, post-World War II experiences in Germany and Japan, to northern Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Not all occupations are the same. Aside from the "occupation per se," occupying forces might be tasked with such missions as "external defense, law and order, humanitarian relief and nation-building;" the latter being a mission that is definitely out of favor in the Bush administration, as in its view nation building is an almost unlimited mission. And, from a US army perspective, "humanitarian relief and peacekeeping are not the major focus of our missions", according to the center historian.

In both Afghanistan and Iraq, external defense against the political designs of neighbors could become significant missions, as both countries have long figured prominently in the foreign policies of neighboring states.
(More: ATimes.com News Source)
2002 © Asia Times Online Co, Ltd.

Dan