PHASE ONE GUERRILA WARFARE

Many of you will recognize the current actions in Iraq as the first phase of guerrilla warfare. Phase One consists of assinations of local leaders and police, the interdiction of communication, transportation, power and water systems so as to piss off the local populace, then blame the current government or the occupying forces. The bombing of prominent buildings and small ambushes of the occupying forces and police, are also a part of this phase. The guerrilla leadership during this phase should be centralized and if possible coordinated, not against each other

Presently all of these actions are occurring in Iraq, ah! but to sustain these actions correctly, one must have an outside sponsor as a means of continuous resupply. The terrorists in Iraq lack a sponsor that can handle this on a level that is needed to proceed with Phase Two. Would any neighboring country step forward and assume the role of sponsor? Not without heavy retaliation, which they could ill afford. The politicos and media are trying to compare the situation in Iraq with Vietnam, can you imagine how far the Viet Cong would have proceeded without the support of North Vietnam, China, Russia and the rest of the communist world. As soon as their supplies of captured French, South Vietnamese and improvised weapons and ammo ran out, it would have been all over.

It’s obvious that each one of the many opposing factions in Iraq have their own caches of ammo, demo, weapons etc. which they will not co-share, due to their religious differences and lust for power in the future. The chance of these caches being compromised increases daily, as better intell surfaces, the promise of cash rewards and sweeps by coalition forces. Sure, a taxi load of C-4 or a truck load of ammo will get by, but it won’t sustain a partisan movement. Hell, over there they shoot up a truck load of ammo at a wedding party.

In short, there is no comparison between the terrorist actions in Iraq and the Phase One actions in South Vietnam, which lasted over eight years. As witnessed, the Iraqui is nowhere near the fighter that the tough Vietnamese is, nor do they have a system with disciplined centralized leadership that is necessary to coordinate supplies and actions, that the Viet Cong had. Actually the only support the insurgents have is the world press and television, anti-everything demonstrators, the French, a few young soldiers wanting to go home to see momma and politicos who think more of the upcoming election than their own country. It takes a while for an army that has been trained in tank and helicopter warfare to adapt to this type of combat. Nevertheless as in all wars our country has been involved, it will adapt. Then watch “The worm turn.”

“One doesn’t have to know anything to have an opinion.” Gen. Tommy Franks father.

Woody Woodworth, Kea’au, HI