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H. Thomas Hayden
recently concluded over 35 years of service,
which included the Agency for International
Development, the Marine Corps, defense industry
and the Pentagon. His specialties are Intelligence,
Counterinsurgency Operations, Counter-terrorism,
and Joint Concepts Development and Experimentation.
His Marine Corps assignments have included
command of two separate battalions; AC/S G-2,
4th MARDIV & AC/S G-2 FMFEurope; Branch Head,
HQMC, Special Operations and Low Intensity
Conflict (SO/LIC); Special Assistant to the
Assistant Secretary of Defense for SO/LIC;
and, Senior Program Analysts at HQMC with
the Joint Staff and DoD at the Pentagon. Overseas
assignments included Vietnam, Japan & Okinawa,
Europe, Central America, Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, Somalia, Singapore, Philippines, and
Colombia. He has an MBA (Pepperdine) and an
MA in International Relations (University
of Southern California). He has written two
books and is working on a third.
Thomas
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December 27, 2004
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The USA TODAY, Thursday, December 23, 2004, by John Diamond, had a headline that is off the mark: "Attack is evidence insurgent's intel is better."
U.S. and Coalition, Military Intelligence has regularly and without embellishment reported that there are "suicide bombers" in Iraq, that they will use stolen Iraqi uniforms, and that they will use intimidation of Iraqi soldiers to force anti-coalition actions. They report that the insurgents will use "suicide bombers" against soft targets, that the insurgents have the ability to print counterfeit documents, and that the insurgents will use Islamic extremists to kill themselves in a quest for "martyrdom."
The lead paragraph stated: "The implications of the audacious (sic) suicide attack in the center of a heavily guarded U.S. military base in Mosul go beyond a failure of base security."
There was nothing surprising about the suicide bomber at the Army base at Mosul. Last count was 22 American dead, including 16 U.S. military personnel, and "dozens wounded." Condolences are to be extended to the dead Americans and the Iraqi workers. However, this should have been no surprise.
It was a failure in operational security and force protection. It was a standard insurgent or terrorist tactic that should be expected in unconventional warfare. Unfortunately, too many people are writing things about which they have no experience.
There are ample examples of lax security at American bases and the bombing of the U.S. The incident at Marine Corps command post in Beirut, Lebanon, 23 October 1983, which killed 241 military personnel, is just one.
Reuters was one of the first to report on the Iraqi militant group claiming credit for the bombing at Mosul, calling itself Army of Ansar al-Sunnah, and describe the videotape about the bombing and identifying the suicide bomber as Abu Omar al-Museli.
What is a surprise is that video film that was allegedly taken of the target before and after the attack. This is a major operational security failure.
This Mosul bombing resulted from U.S. not being prepared to deal with the Iraqi insurgency. The U.S. priorities seem to be on training Iraqis and preparing for the 30 January 2005 election and lesser concerns directed to counterinsurgency and the threat against sabotage, infiltration and force protection.
Associated Press (AP), 12 December 2004, reported: "…shadowy Ansar al-Sunnah Army has emerged from its roots as a little known militant group operating in northern Iraq to become the country's deadliest terror network, capable of carrying out spectacular strikes like last week's suicide bombing at a U.S. base and virtually eclipsing al-Qaida's (sic) cell in the war-torn nation."
Unlike al-Qaeda, Ansar al-Sunnah is believed to be made up mainly of former
Iraqi military and Ba'athist party personnel, and its apparent strategy of targeting only Americans and those viewed as collaborating with the U.S. may have increased its popular support, in contrast to other groups, like Al Qaeda, that have hit Iraqi civilian targets.
AP also reported: "Nearly five months after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, Ansar al-Sunnah's first statement surfaced on the Internet,
pronouncing itself 'a group of jihadists, scholars, and political and military experts' dedicated to creating an Islamic state in Iraq. The group's 'emir,' or leader, the previously unknown Abu Abdullah al-Hassan Ibn Mahmoud, signed the statement."
Since then, Ansar al-Sunnah has carried out numerous bombings and attacks and kidnapped Nepalese construction workers, releasing video showing their deaths. In one of their deadliest operation, Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the 1 February 2004 suicide bombings against two U.S. supported Kurdish political parties in Irbil, killing 109 people.
In the Kurdish Irbil attack, the Ansar al-Sunnah infiltrated a bomber into the Kurdish party offices and set off their explosives. Last Tuesday's attack on U.S. forces at Mosul showed similar sophistication in planning and execution.
Ansar al-Sunnah has warned Iraqis not to participate in the 30 January 2005
elections, promising to attack polling stations, voter registration offices and US and Iraqi security forces protecting these sites.
According to AP: "The group's Web site, which also has a Kurdish page, features videos of aspiring suicide bombers and footage of attacks and beheadings. Statements on the site dismiss Iraqi politicians as 'American puppets and agents' and condemns 'collaborators' in the U.S.-trained Iraqi army and police."
It was reported that in November, Ansar al-Sunnah said it collaborated in two attacks with other radical organizations, possibly the al-Qaeda affiliated group led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. However, similar announcements have not been repeated since then.
It would now seem that Ansar al-Sunnah is not linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, and they may now be competing with al Qaeda. Abu al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group have declared allegiance to Osama bin Laden, changing their name to al-Qaida in Iraq. Nevertheless, the tactical skills of the insurgents are impressive and there seems to be an increase in activities leading up to the election.
Any idea of "winning hearts and minds" of these groups, as espoused by some ill-informed U.S. military and civilian leaders shows a very big misunderstanding of the kind of insurgency now growing in Iraq.
It isn't what you know that will kill you. It is what you do not know or cannot imagine that will kill you. There seems to be a serious lack of imagination at the top levels of the Pentagon and the military in Iraq.
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