The failure of the soft approach in Anbar

Thomas Ricks:

The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents.

The officials described Col. Pete Devlin's classified assessment of the dire state of Anbar as the first time that a senior U.S. military officer has filed so negative a report from Iraq.

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There is much more and the conclusions are hotly disputed by others. However, I have been very concerned about the soft approach being used for the last few months in this section of Iraq. I have also been concerned about the inadequate number of troops in the area. The force to space ratio has been such that the troops are strong enough to avoid defeat, but not strong enough to impose their will on the area.

When you contrast this soft approach with inadequate troops strength to the recent flood the zone approach in Baghdad, you can see the difference in not only how to control and area, but how the people react politically. Right now with too few troops in Anbar, we are losing the political battle because we do not have enough troops to protect the people from the enemy.

There is no other reason for the people to embrace this brutal enemy who will only make their lives worse if we lose.