 Ed
Offley, Editor of DefenseWatch magazine, has
been a military reporter and defense specialist
for 22 years in a variety of journalism assignments
throughout the United States. DefenseWatch
is an online magazine that addresses military
and security issues from the viewpoint of
active-duty and reservist component personnel
and veterans.
Offley previously served as Editor-in-Chief
of The Stars and Stripes after the civilian-owned
newspaper was acquired by Stars and Stripes
Omnimedia Inc. in March 2000. A 1969 graduate
of the University of Virginia, Offley served
in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam before joining
The Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, Va., as
a reporter in 1972. He worked as an editorial
writer at three newspapers in Virginia during
1977-85 before joining The Seattle Post Intelligencer
as an editorial writer in 1986.
Offley, 55, lives in Panama City Beach, Fla.,
with his wife, Karen, and daughter, Andrea.
Contact: dweditor@yahoo.com.
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November 8, 2004
[Have an opinion about the views expressed in this article? Sound
off in the Hot Issues with Defensewatch Forum.]
By Ed Offley
It's time for some blunt talk about the imminent battle of Fallujah,
a fight that has been unavoidable for months, and is now inevitable
in the aftermath of the U.S. elections and failed negotiations between
the Baghdad government and the insurgents.
It's time for Americans here at home to realize what our troops
in Iraq have known for weeks:
American Marines
and soldiers are going to die in the city, fighting in the dust
and mud, perhaps in large numbers.
More Iraqi insurgents than Americans are going to perish in the
streets of Fallujah. Inevitably, a number of innocent Iraqi men,
women and children are going to be caught in the crossfire. If there
is any good news in the detailed news accounts coming from both
sides of the standoff, it is that most civilians in Fallujah have
already fled the city, so "friendly fire" casualties hopefully will
be held to a bare minimum.
Nevertheless, American troops will face a challenge that their enemies
willfully disdain, avoiding the accidental killing of noncombatants
at times that increases the direct risks that they themselves must
face.
The U.S. military's high-tech weapons and global command-and-control
network will contribute to success. In recent weeks, the Air Force
and Army aviation have repeatedly struck at dozens of suspected
terrorist sites within Fallujah using smart sensors and precision-guided
munitions.
However, in the end it will be the moral superiority of the American
fighting man - his training, courage and teamwork - that will ultimately
help our troops prevail over the enemy's booby traps, civilian human
shields and suicidal tactics. While prolonged training and detailed
preparation define the U.S. military's fighting superiority, it
will most likely be the improvisational skills of junior officers
and NCOs that create the smaller victories that lead to ultimate
battlefield success.
But the battle for Fallujah will not end when the fighting is over.
The killing or capture of the insurgent fighters will only signal
the end of one phase in the struggle for the city, the Sunni Triangle,
and Iraq
itself. Regaining control of Fallujah is crucial to weakening the
deadly Sunni Muslim insurgency and smoothing the road to Iraqi national
elections slated for January, but maintaining stability in a post-insurgent
Fallujah will take all of the counterinsurgency skills that the
U.S. military can muster.
A Los Angeles Times reporter accompanying the Marines near Fallujah
this week quoted one senior U.S. commander: "Even more important
than the battle is the aftermath. The Iraqis need to go in there
like the American government goes into Florida after a hurricane.
They need to be seen on the ground helping people."
Recognizing the error from the cease-fire in Fallujah last April,
when ill-trained Iraqis deserted en masse when confronted by the
insurgents, and Marines were ordered to pull back, creating a "no
go" zone in the city where insurgents flourished, U.S. commanders
are now preparing to send a larger, better-prepared force of Iraqi
personnel into Fallujah once the fighting is over. The Los Angeles
Times noted:
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"Several thousand Iraqi police, national guardsmen and army personnel
are said to be poised to move into Fallujah to help maintain order
once the Marines have secured the city. Most are not from Fallujah,
and thus are resistant to the intimidation that contributed to the
failure of the Fallujah Brigade, the special unit of Iraqi forces
set up in April to help maintain the peace. Many members [of that
unit] turned out to be insurgents or sympathizers. In addition,
tens of millions of dollars in reconstruction funds may be spent
on projects … once the fighting stops. Marine lawyers are traveling
with combat units, ready to handle compensation claims for battle
damage."
Even so, the critical "front" of the battle for Fallujah will not
be in Iraq at all. It will be in every house in America, including
the White House.
What the Iraqi insurgents have learned in the past year of fighting
is that they - like the Palestinians in Gaza, the Somalis in Mogadishu,
and the Viet Cong in the central highlands - cannot prevail against
conventional military firepower. Their strategic target is American
(and western) public opinion. Their only hope of success is that
enough televised beheadings of kidnapped civilian hostages will
overthrow public opinion and prompt an American military exodus
from Iraq.
So it is not just time for our brave Marines to gird themselves
for the battle of Fallujah. It is time that each one of us here
at home recognize the strategic importance of this battle and gird
ourselves for the hard tasks and horrific TV images to come.
Ed
Offley is Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at dweditor@yahoo.com.
©2004 DefenseWatch. All opinions expressed in this article are the
author's and do not necessarily reflect those of Military.com.
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