COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us

Against the Sattelite Patrol:

Thanks to E.B. for this. Iraq Now has published a rather harsh critique of the US Marines in Iraq, from the perspective of the US Army. You these kinds of pieces every time the Army and Marines work together, usually from both sides, just like you always see a critique of the Americans from the British, and so forth.

Still, there's usually something to be gained from reading these things, just because it gives you a new perspective. The author is against the "strategic corporal" concept that Commandant Hagee was discussing in the last piece. He also thinks that the Marines made a serious mistake by using squad- rather than platoon- level tactics as their standard. This made the Marines more vunerable, and less able to respond to attacks, as they didn't have a 7.62mm machinegun in the squad. On the other hand, it also cut down on the freedom of movement enjoyed by the insurgents, who had to deal with squads of Marines everywhere rather than large-scale platoon patrols, which are easier to avoid.

He also thinks that the Marines' focus on personal ethics undercut their ability to work with the locals. Because the sheikhs weren't ethical by Western standards, the Marines didn't trust them and wouldn't work with them. The soldier probably has a good point here. I had a hard time adjusting to China for the same reason: by Western standards, the Chinese are totally unethical, liars to a man. It took a while to figure out that lying actually is ethical in China, so long as you're lying for the right reasons -- in other words, that they were trying to do right by me in their own way. Marines, who are taught from Boot Camp that personal integrity is of the utmost importance, would have a harder time with this than many.

There are several other critiques as well, not just of the Marines but the politicians running the show -- the latter of which are all entirely justified, I think. It makes for interesting reading: file under Lessons Learned.