Walking Beats Bombs in Iraq

In June, when PBS' News Hour asked DANGER ROOM pal and Iraq vet Owen West how the IED problem could be solved, he said: Have the troops get out of their Humvees, start walking the streets, and get to know the locals. It's a tactic I saw work in Iraq in September. And *USA Today *is witnessing similar results today. Here's a clip from "Troop patrols -- not technology -- help revive war-torn neighborhoods." (Sound familiar?)

*Sgt. Joseph Franklin, 25, walked streets that once were killing zones for U.S. troops. On June 28, he saw five friends killed when an IED obliterated their Humvee; he helped carry out 13 wounded. *

"Here I am getting grenades thrown at me while
I'm carrying my guys with all their gear," says Franklin of
Victorville, Calif. "That was probably the longest day of my life. Was
I scared to go out the next time? You bet I was."

Yet soldiers from the Baker Company of the 2nd
Battalion, 12th Regiment went out — again and again — to offer 24-hour coverage of their neighborhood.

*Their presence showed residents that Americans were committed to their safety and willing to take chances on their behalf, Franklin says. Soldiers also developed proficiency at finding roadside bombs before they detonated. Franklin found five. *

The approach owes little to gadgetry and much to the counterinsurgency strategy. "Technology's great but most of it is just getting out of your Humvee and doing your … job," says Pfc.
Jonathan Burton, 23, of Louisville.

*Now, Franklin says, residents call in tips on where to find roadside bombs. *

(Check out the larger, companion piece, too.)

The question is, can the American military keep on sending the troops needed to keep walking the beat. Retired General Barry McAffrey, just back from Iraq, says no. While his *Small Wars Journal *"After Action Report" is extremely optimistic, overall -- noting that violence is "down dramatically" and that Al Qaeda in Iraq is "tactically defeated" -- the general believes that...

The U.S. Army is too Small and Poorly
Resourced to Continue Successful Counterinsurgency Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan at the Current Level - An active counter-insurgency campaign in Iraq could probably succeed in the coming decade with twenty-five US Brigade Combat Teams. (Afghanistan probably needs two more US combat brigades for a total of four in the coming 15 year campaign to create an operational state--- given more robust NATO Forces and ROE).
We can probably sustain a force in Iraq indefinitely (given adequate funding) of some 10+ brigades. However, the US Army is starting to unravel.