U.S. troops struggle to ‘know thine enemy’

October 8, 2007

One of the more painful dynamics on the ground in Iraq is that U.S. troops frequently have no way of knowing whether the Iraqi carrying an AK-47 is an insurgent, a terrorist, a member of a hostile militia, or a member of an aligned militia. The results are frequently deadly.

When U.S. sentries fatally shot three guards near an Iraqi-manned checkpoint south of Baghdad, they thought they were targeting enemy fighters planting roadside bombs, according to the American commander of the region.

The shootings, which are still under investigation, underscore a new dilemma facing U.S. troops as former fighters join forces against extremists and Iraqis are increasingly forced to take up arms to protect themselves — how does one distinguish them from the enemy?

The U.S. military said the American troops shot the three civilians Thursday near a checkpoint manned by local members of a U.S.-allied group helping provide security in the village of Abu Lukah, near Musayyib, a Shiite-dominated town 40 miles south of Baghdad.

It’s hard to overstate what a nightmare this is. Iraqis can’t differentiate between well-armed Americans serving in the U.S. Armed Forces and the well-armed Americans serving in Blackwater. Americans in Iraq can’t differentiate between well-armed Iraqis serving in friendly militias and well-armed Iraqis who want to kill them. (Worse yet, Americans also can’t tell friend from foe within the Iraqi Security Forces.)

The AP added that “friendly fire killings … could threaten to undermine the U.S. strategy of seeking alliances with local Sunni and Shiite leaders to fill the vacuum left by a national police force that has been plagued by corruption allegations and infiltration by militants.”

Of course it could. As one allied Iraqi guard said, “We are trying to restore security in the area while the Americans are killing us.”

In a bid to distinguish the recruits from potential militants, the groups have been given vests with reflective stripes, similar to those worn by traffic police in many countries. Others wear brown T-shirts with Iraqi hats similar to those worn by the national army.

Capt. John Newman, 31, of Columbus, Ga., said the soldiers believe they can discern volunteers from the insurgents.

“We’ve given them their road guard vests,” Newman said. “So, he’d better be wearing that vest if I see him carrying an AK-47.”

Lynch stressed the Americans are not arming the groups because the men already have weapons, primarily AK-47s that are legally permitted in Iraqi households.

Nearly five years into the war, U.S. troops will now know friend from foe — both of whom carry AK-47s — based on vests and t-shirts, given to allied Iraqis who were trying to kill Americans up until fairly recently.

This doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for success.

This doesn’t exactly sound like a recipe for success.

It’s clearly an adaptation of a new Republican domestic strategy: If you’re wearing a flag lapel pin, you’re a patriot; otherwise a traitor.

  • Good thing the insurgents will never be able to get ahold of any reflective tape!

    Ugh.

    Slightly off topic, but this bit from Noam Chomsky is a good thing to remember in our continuing runup to war with Iran…

    The most significant consequence of the collapse of the story about weapons of mass destruction was that it changed the official doctrine. All of this is taking place in the context of the national security strategy that was announced in September, 2002. That strategy was based on the principle that if a country has weapons of mass destruction, the United States is entitled to attack it in anticipatory self-defense.

    What’s called in the press and some commentary preemptive war but that’s a total fabrication. It has nothing to do with preemptive war, it’s just a euphemism for direct aggression. As Arthur Schelinger pointed out, preemption means something and nothing like that. But that was the doctrine, whenever you think about it, the doctrine has been changed. With the discovery that there were no weapons of mass destruction, the doctrine has been changed so that now the United States has the right and authority, sovereign right, to attack any country that has the intent and ability to develop weapons of mass destruction. Okay. That’s a significant change, that lowers the wars on aggression very significantly. And in fact, it makes it universal. Every country has the ability to develop weapons of mass destruction, any country with a high school chemistry and biology lab has the capacity. Intent is in the eye of the beholder. You don’t need evidence for it. So what that’s saying in effect is everybody’s liable to attack. We have the sovereign right to attack anyone we want. That’s a significant change in the doctrine.

    http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/12/26/1451251

  • In the distant mists of time, I seem to remember that the US had a hard time distinguishing the Vietnamese friendlies from the unfriendlies.

    But of course Iraq is nothing like Vietnam.


  • OkieFromMuskogee: But of course Iraq is nothing like Vietnam.

    … ‘cept in the “good” ways.

  • Pack it in, American troops! Demand to come home NOW! Bush promised he’d never risk American lives in an Iraqi civil war. Hold him to his promise.

  • Anney, you can’t hold a psychopath to anything they say, because you’re a turnip and the yellow frog makes ballpoint pens. Their excuses will make as much sense as the previous sentence.

  • Someday soon we’ll hear Rice, Gates or Bush saying something like “No one could have anticipated the insurgents stealing vests and t-shirts from recruits and then attacking U.S. troops while wearing the stolen clothing.”

  • We struggle to know our domestic enemies. No, matter your political party affiliation, and setting aside your thoughts on issues. We all need to remember what it is to be an American Citizen. We need to make sure our elected representatives obey their Oath of Office and keep their Oath of Allegiance. See http://tinyurl.com/2znnvl Know whom you are voting for.

  • Gets more and more like Vietnam every day.

    Let’s get the inevitable over with and get out as fast as the troops can load the equipment and their gear, and get out.

    • Comments are closed.