Ralph Peters recently interviewed Lt. Col. Jim Crider, U.S. Army unit commander in Baghdad's long troubled Dura neighborhood. The Colonel explained how his troops turned the neighborhood around.
Question: Congratulations on the superb work "Quarter Cav" has done for us all - Iraqis and Americans. When you arrived in Iraq this time around, did you think you'd be able to make such progress?
Lt. Col. Crider: Our initial experiences upon arrival in March '07 were very discouraging. The enemy controlled the ground - the people - in southwest Baghdad. I saw more combat in the first six weeks than in the entire year of Operation Iraqi Freedom I.
We realized that we'd never kill or capture every enemy, so our goal was to change the conditions on the ground that allowed the insurgency to flourish. Three key factors contributed to our success:
A sufficient number of troops to deny the enemy a sanctuary.
A focus on security where the people live.
The restoration of essential services - it was a revelation that the people viewed us as the government, so when there was no electricity, garbage pick-up, etc., it was our fault in their eyes.
Stumbled upon your blog. Interesting, but you seem to be a pro-war libertarian...odd.
Posted by: matt | November 30, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Actually I'm a libertarian leaning Republican.
Posted by: Tom Bowler | November 30, 2007 at 01:42 PM