The concept behind
my unit in Vietnam translates to success in Iraq.
Living among the Iraqis, they
say, allows for a building of greater trust.
U.S. commanders assert that it is not just
the larger number of U.S. troops that has made a difference but also the way those troops operate — closer to the Iraqi
population now rather than from big, isolated U.S. bases. Living among the Iraqis, they say, allows for a building of greater
trust.
That trust, in turn, prompted more local
Iraqis — mostly Sunni Arabs but also Shiites — to join U.S. forces in anti-insurgent alliances, the commanders
say. It also has meant more Iraqi help in finding insurgents' arms caches, reducing mortar attacks and in uncovering roadside
bombs before they detonate. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071112/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_security_gains
This is the same concept that the Marine
Corps' Combined Action Program (CAP) used during the Vietnam War and was a great success.
We lived among the people. http://www.capveterans.com/unknown_war/
http://home.earthlink.net/~life_magazine_67
http://fightin6thmarines.vox.com/library/post/the-old-new-way-of-conducting-counterinsurgency.html
Anyone familiar with the Combined Action Platoons of the Vietnam War will understand what's going on here. These Marines live, work, sleep, eat
and bathe in the same neighborhoods they are helping to stabilize. In doing so, they're no longer driving in from a forward
operating base, or FOB, outside the city and conducting patrols. Instead, they wake up in the morning, plan a patrol, then
walk out into the neighborhood and greet the men and women sweeping their sidewalks or tending their shops. They're literally
swarmed with children wanting a high five or a piece of chocolate. They visit schools, markets and local infrastructure projects
to see how things are going. There are no interrogations or mean faces, just a neighborly walk through their district to check
on the locals who sometimes know them by name. http://fightin6thmarines.vox.com/library/post/the-old-new-way-of-conducting-counterinsurgency.html
