Facts vs. Intelligence

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The search for the two missing GI's continues, and the effort illustrates the quagmire quality of the entire war effort (''Hunt for 3 G.I.'s in Iraq Slowed by False Trails.''). I realize one body has since been found, but my comments here are not directed to breaking news, but rather U.S. military conduct, in general:

''Thousands of soldiers are searching for (the) missing Americans taken during the attack, and sifting through the tips has become the hub of the manhunt. A few have panned out, while most have led nowhere — deliberately so in some cases, many Americans suspect.''

''Separating fact from fiction, good intelligence from bad, has defined the war in Iraq since it started.''

The problem is, utterances from prisoner under duress is not intelligence--they are simply statements. Intelligence is raw data that has been refined and authenticated, and rated as to its reliability. All else is just unverified facts, and this it seems is what the U.S. military is calling ''intelligence.''

''Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and a number of other Sunni insurgent groups, have become so interwoven into the rural towns and villages here that separating disinformation from fact or rumor requires the skill of prosecutor, interrogator and cleric combined.''

Obviously, the perpetrators have the hearts and minds of the people. Taking 700 detainees for interrogation is not a measure designed to win hearts and minds. What right do U.S. soldiers have to arrest legitimate citizens? This is an Iraqi police function.

Sadly, these soldiers are missing, but taking 700 detainees could be construed as hostage-taking, which is a violation of the rules of war.

Then again, so are preemptive invasions.

''They confessed to taking part in the attack, he said. But there was a problem: their description of what had happened did not fit with what the Americans knew from forensic evidence.''

From the description of this operation Ranger believes that the resistance fighters executed a phased ambush. This indicates a high level of military sophistication. This fact also bodes poorly for the captives, since taking prisoners may have been an intentional outcome of this event.

“The searching helps,” [Sergeant Panpradith] said. “Knowing that we’re doing something to help find our guys. It compensates for the feeling of helplessness we felt when we got to the site that morning.”

The old rule in the Army is, ''Do anything, even if it's wrong.'' Ranger predicts more U.S. personnel being captured if the surge keeps employing combat outposts manned by small units. It is inevitable.

A follow-up article at Truthout.org offered this:

''Mustafa Hatem, 35, said (recent gunfire) had set fire to his electrical goods store, causing more than $10,000 worth of damage. . .

"I was expecting good things from the government succeeding Saddam's, but unfortunately things have gone in the opposite direction to our hopes and dreams," he said. "I wonder, how has the security plan benefited us?"

We were wondering the same thing, Mustafa.