Reply #19: The comparison to the strategic hamlet program is actually a poor one...

[ellisonz]

In the tactical sense, although it does have some strategic significance.

"Strategic hamlets" were primarly in rural South Vietnam and not in urban zones. Also the SH program was from 1961-1965, relatively early in the American phase of it, as opposed to a "last ditch" effort.

The problem with this concept is that Tal Afar was a city of 150,000 and Sadr City alone has 1 million people. So the scale they want to do this on makes no sense because 21,500 more people on top of the 50-70 thousand soldiers in Baghdad is still not enough to actually do the job of cordon in search. If they actually try to carry out this plan our troops will be sitting ducks. All you have to do is look at the map of Baghdad to see how irregularly planned the city is and then realize that there are an inumerable amount of allyways and damaged buildings, which provide excellent hiding places and passageways. It's a game of whackamole, and we're the mole. Forget the IED's, the insurgents are just going to switch back to sniping and hit and run attacks. Crud.

There is no military "solution" in Baghdad, much less Iraq.

:(