Right Side of the Rainbow

If we’re going to send more troops to Iraq, we must first decide exactly what they will do:

What would the specific tasks be? “Restore security” is too vague — we need to identify no-nonsense objectives. And which new tactics would be authorized? Would the rules of engagement change?

How would we handle prisoners, given that a crackdown would generate tens of thousands (and the Iraqi system releases the worst offenders)? What if the Maliki government rejects our plan?

At that point, the think-tank boys give you a deer-in-the-headlights look and spurt empty generalities. Our military is supposed to figure out the pesky details.

But it’s the details that make the difference between succeeding and failing. If you don’t nail down the goals — and the methods to reach them — you’re ducking the make-or-break issues.

Retired Army Lt. Col. and New York Post columnist Ralph Peters offers these suggestions:

• Zero tolerance for weapons possession in the streets or in vehicles. The authorities must have a monopoly on force.
• Foot patrols — soldiers must get out of their vehicles and “walk the beats.” … We have to occupy neighborhoods.
• Automatic, no-early-release prison terms for the possession, transfer or transport of military weapons and related paraphernalia.
• Rigid enforcement of all public-space laws, from shutting down black markets in gasoline to enforcing traffic codes.
• Temporary movement restrictions, with passes required for any person desiring to leave his neighborhood and enter another. Identify who belongs where.
• Simultaneous crackdowns on Shia militia and Sunni insurgent strongholds. Establish the principle that we go where we want, when we want — and stay as long as we want.
• Thorough searches of every building in Baghdad. No safe havens — not even mosques (trusted Iraqis can help). Structures used as weapons-storage facilities or safe houses for armed factions to be leveled.

We must also tell Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that either we do things our way, or else we will leave him to figure out the safety of the Green Zone, as well as his own, on his own:

If we’re unwilling to take such stern measures, we won’t make durable progress, no matter how many troops we send.

Who would resist such a program? There’s the problem. The partisan Maliki government would refuse to go along with a crackdown on Shia militias. Unless we’re willing to overrule the regime we recently celebrated, none of this can happen.

As we say in Texas, it’s time to shit or get off the pot.

Technorati tags: War+in+Iraq