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If
it Looks Like a Guerilla and Walks Like a Guerilla
July
12, 2003
By Mike Shannon
It was another bar-raising performance in the art of smug
condescension, but it just didn't go over quite as well as
it used to. As the news conference began, Defense Secretary
Rumsfeld tried valiantly to dismiss any and all charges that
the American occupation of Iraq has taken a turn for the worse.
But even this master of obfuscation could see a change in
the eyes, voices and questions of the once pliant and obedient
news corps that hangs on his every word. Whereas, not so long
ago, they would chuckle at his latest barbs and marvel at
his ease and confidence in the face of such challenges and
pressures, it had become more and more apparent that the honeymoon
was finally coming to a close. Of course, this does not mean
he will now come clean and tell the truth, it merely means
he will have to work that much harder to conceal it.
The galling highlight of this particular session of thrust
and parry was when the Secretary feigned mock horror at his
failure to look up the word "guerilla" before taking the stage.
With an ear to ear grin -- how this man can laugh while the
men and women he is responsible for face hardship, deprivation
and death on a daily basis is as inexplicable as it is disgraceful
-- he admitted that he knew someone would bring up this word
that the Bushies dare not speak.
With the outside chance that this piece might make it to
the Secretary's desk, I hope he won't mind if I provide a
little edification on the subject. The term guerilla is Spanish
both etymologically and historically. Its literal translation
is "little war". The term came into being in the early 1800's
when Napoleon invaded the Spanish peninsula. By that time
Spain's military power had long since seen better days, and
they were no match against the modern, well equipped and well
trained French. Not wishing to permit the takeover of their
homeland without a fight, the patriots of Spain took to the
hills and began a six year campaign of harassment and low
level attrition just like every other out gunned nationalist
movement has always done. And just like the Iraqis are doing
to us.
In spite of reassurances from Rumsfeld and the rest of Team
Bush that the US is not currently engaged in a guerilla war
in Iraq (the best the President could do when pressed on the
subject during a question and answer session in Africa was
to admit that "we have got a security issue" in Iraq) the
reality is that we are. Even more troubling is that there
are two primary dynamics in play that support the contention
that things will get far worse before they get any better:
The temperament/morale of the American soldier and the temperament/morale
of the Iraqi people.
First the American soldier; It is not their professionalism
that is being challenged so much as it is their humanity.
These guys are not machines. They have the same needs and
desires as anyone else. Superb training, unwavering dedication
to their duty and even extraordinary courage do not change
that fact. Anybody that is forced to live in an environment
of such oppressing heat, thousands of miles from home and
surrounded by an enemy that strikes from nowhere and anywhere
at a moment's notice would be hard pressed not to be more
than a little apprehensive, a little on edge and little pissed
off. The longer these factors are in play the more ingrained
the fear and the need to protect themselves from it will come
into play. Which means that the possibility that a soldier
will fire first and ask questions becomes that much greater
which each passing day.
Which leads to the second part the equation: how the Iraqi
people perceive their American liberators/occupiers. The Bush
administration has been adamant in portraying the Iraqi resistance
as "common criminals", "dead-enders", "Baathist diehards",
and of course "terrorists". Each of these definitions may
in fact be partially correct. But what the administration
fails to publicly acknowledge is that they may also just be
people who hate the fact that a foreign power has taken control
of their homeland.
While it appears as these insurgents are currently in the
minority (And thank God for that. If they weren't the American
casualty rates would be far higher than they currently are.)
it is a question of paramount importance as to whether their
numbers are increasing or decreasing. That will be determined
by whom the average Iraqi will hold to account for the miserable
conditions that their lives have been reduced to: the guerillas
who blow up the electrical transformers every time they are
repaired or the Americans who seem powerless to do anything
about it.
Where this is leading is anybody's guess, but there is one
thing for certain: the soldiers of the American army are not
going anywhere soon. And neither are the querilla fighters
of Iraq.
Contact Mike at shnnn613@cs.com.
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