The massive manhunt for three missing U.S. soldiers continues in Iraq. New details about the initial ambush that resulted in their disappearance continue to come out, and the military is, understandably and rightly, putting in a huge amount of effort and resources to find the missing men.
The attack was defined as "complex," a term generally indicating that multiple types of weapons were used (e.g., some combination of grenades, guns, roadside bombs, etc.) by several perpetrators. It is, fortunately, exceedingly difficult for insurgents to kidnap U.S. forces in Iraq. Although military training doesn't concentrate on many of the things we're doing in Iraq, it definitely does focus on keeping soldiers out of the hands of the enemy. Force protection measures are in no small part designed to prevent this kind of occurrence, which is why, even in a country of 30 million people, such events are mercifully rare.
The reason they keep trying, however (and why we train so hard to prevent it, outside of the obvious goal of keeping our troops alive), is because having an abducted soldier is of potentially limitless value in this kind of conflict. It is the ultimate propaganda tool: insurgents can portray it as weakness in the opposition, it makes the population fear/respect the group that accomplishes it, and, perhaps most importantly, it inevitably provokes a military response that helps the insurgent cause. It gives the captors tremendous power, and the military must become reactive.
What the American public's response to this will be, I really have no idea. People are emotional and unpredictable about these things -- nearly six months ago, an American soldier went missing, and everybody has basically forgotten about it. Sadr made Maliki make the U.S. stop searching in Sadr City, and while I figured that would cause riots in American streets, nobody seemed to care. On the other hand, this continues to get tons of press, so maybe it will stay with us for longer. I certainly hope so, as I can't imagine many things more horrifying than the extremist groups holding our soldiers hostage.
I'm absolutely, unequivocally in favor of doing whatever it takes to find these men. Both from the perspective of an American who wants to keep our soldiers alive and knowing that the ethos and cohesion of the military depends on knowing that your country will do whatever it takes to find you if you're taken, it's the right thing to do. I also know that the methods for recovery are going to be brutal and will certainly harm our long-term strategic interests. From the NYTimes article (linked above):
American and Iraqi troops have focused their search on several key towns and villages around Mahmudiya, including Yusifiya, which has long been active with Sunni Arab insurgents.Not exactly a recipe for winning hearts and minds. On the other hand, it's nothing compared to the response we'll levy if these men turn up in a beheading video. I hope we find them, and soon.
"The situation is very tense right now," Jamal al-Dulaimi, 35, a truck driver in Yusifiya, said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. "The Americans are searching the area inch by inch. They search a house and return to search it again in a few hours, or the next day, and they might do it several times for each house."
Of course, our troops should no longer be in Iraq to get kidnapped. As always, no matter how many diversions he tries, the ultimate responsibility lies with the Commander in Chief.
