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Middle East Review of International Affairs
Strategic Implications of the Iraq Insurgency
by James A. Russell
*
Abstract
The stakes for the United States in the Iraq insurgency have grown since the end of major combat operations was declared more than a year ago, and it becomes steadily more difficult to maintain that it is fighting a few disaffected criminals, former regime loyalists and terrorists. While each of these groups may be included in the various insurgent groups, the United States is now dealing with an insurgency that appears entrenched and increasingly well organized amidst what is an at best ambivalent population that likes the fact that Saddam is gone but also now increasingly views the United States as an occupying force and wants it gone. The United States now faces a daunting task in trying to regain the strategic initiative--indeed it may be impossible at this point. But as a critical first step, planners must come to a realistic appraisal of the nature of the security environment inside Iraq at the tactical, operational and strategic levels. After this appraisal, policy and military options can be realistically evaluated and measured in the context of available resources.
Full Text (PDF, 8 pages, 48.5 KB)
Note *: James A. Russell is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, where he teaches courses in the Middle Eastern Studies curriculum. His research interests are: politics and economics of the Gulf States, U.S. security strategy in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East; nuclear strategy; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; transformation and defense strategy. His work has been published in a wide variety of scholarly journals. The views expressed in this article are the author's own. Back