Ruthless People

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon
devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive
of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider
god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily
move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side
--Aristotle

A government afraid of its citizens is a Democracy.
Citizens afraid of government is tyranny!
--Thomas Jefferson

The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated
in the name of the noblest causes
--Thomas Paine
____________

Ranger is always excited to read a success story. When I saw the headline in my local Tallahassee Democrat, "Creative Thinking Behind Rare Iraq Success Story," I was doubly pleased to hear that thinking was involved.

But when I went to the source and read the rest of the story, I realized that it was desperation and dealing with thugs that actually bought this ''success'' (''Behind Success in Ramadi an Army Colonel's Gamble.'') Colonel MacFarland's efforts at bringing the local sheiks on board in the policing efforts are hailed by the Army as innovative, but MacFarland himself characterizes it differently.

''From MacFarland's standpoint, it was less about leadership style and more about necessity.

"Maybe I was a bit of a drowning man in Ramadi," he says. "I was reaching for anything that would help me float. And that was the tribes.''

It was this desperation following severe attrition of new police forces which drove MacFarland to end up enlisting the local warlords to join in the police recruitment program.

Col. Steve Mains, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned (who'd have thunk?)--an office based at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas--says in Army Times, the Army is ''training its officers to be more collaborative with non-military types...'' (''A Colonel's Gamble Led to Ramadi Success.'')

But Col. MacFarland concedes that these non-military types are maybe not the kind of people you should turn your back on.

"I've read the reports" on al-Rishawi [a local tribal leader MacFarland enlisted], MacFarland says. "You don't get to be a sheik by being a nice guy. These guys are ruthless characters. . . . That doesn't mean they can't be reliable partners."

"The prize in the counterinsurgency fight is not terrain," he says. "It's the people. When you've secured the people, you have won the war. The sheiks lead the people."

It's all about people, right-o? And while you were creating your modern marvel of military dexterity, 95 of your soldiers were killed and 600 suffered wounds during this 14-month stay in Fantasyland, in which you worked to secure little pieces of terrain, ''a chunk at a time.''

There is some contradiction here between word and deed. The Army needs such leaders willing to sacrifice young U.S. lives, but for what? A good Officer Efficiency Report?

Sacrificing U.S. personnel in Iraqi neighborhood crime watch programs is both foolish and criminal.


In the above AP photo accompanying a sidebar story, "Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr rally against Sunday's U.S.-Iraqi raid to capture 'high value individuals'," note the Glock pistol brandished by the armed follower of al-Sadr.

This is the major weapon of U.S. issue to police and army units of the Iraqi forces. Probably paid for by you, the U.S. taxpayer. I feel like I'm in one of those beer commercials where they celebrate some hapless, long-suffering soul: Thank you, Mr. American taxpayer. Yes, another success story.

Juxtaposed against this article was the following: ''Gasoline May Soon Hit Record Price'' (pg. 9A, 5/1/07, Tallahassee Democrat.)

I reckon this is yet another rare success story, but alas, only Big Oil is benefiting. One must ask the Reagan question: Are you better off today than you were seven years ago? This question applies to English and Arabic speakers, alike.

The next time the U.S. invades an oil-producing country, let's hope gas and oil prices will fall. Our successes are killing the average American taxpayer.