Al-Qaeda in Iraq's Menacing Banner
In the six weeks since US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities, the insurgency has made a remarkable recovery. According to a BBC report 157 people were killed in the first 10 days of August alone, a significant jump from July. Both Iraqi and American officials blame Al-Qaeda in Iraq for the recent upsurge in violence. The attacks have specifically targeted Shiite Iraqis in a blatant attempt to restart the sectarian civil war that rocked the country in 2006.
AQI's resurgence is a perfect example of how hard it is to wipe out a terrorist organization's institutional memory. Despite the success of US and Iraqi forces in breaking up its structure and leadership, AQI has maintained the technical and strategic acumen necessary to conduct an insurgency campaign; it still knows how recruit operatives, pick targets, build bombs, and get money to pay for it all.
With US troops restricted to the Green Zone and a few bases scattered around the country how can America effectively counter AQI?
More after the jump -->
AQI's resurgence is a perfect example of how hard it is to wipe out a terrorist organization's institutional memory. Despite the success of US and Iraqi forces in breaking up its structure and leadership, AQI has maintained the technical and strategic acumen necessary to conduct an insurgency campaign; it still knows how recruit operatives, pick targets, build bombs, and get money to pay for it all.
With US troops restricted to the Green Zone and a few bases scattered around the country how can America effectively counter AQI?
More after the jump -->
The answer is that the US must keep the pressure on Iraqi stakeholders to continue negotiations on the political challenges that face their country. Working to resolve Iraq's domestic political situation is the only real way to ensure the insurgent won't be able to rekindle widespread ethnic violence.
Images of American soldiers kicking in doors followed by Iraqi trainees came to epitomize American counter-insurgency efforts during the "surge." The new image of US counter-insurgency should be American diplomats prodding Iraqi politicians to strike an oil revenue sharing agreement, deal with the ethnic fissures in Iraqi society, and rebuild Iraq's broken education system.
To a certain extent, this is already happening. The point of Joe Biden's July trip to Iraq was to pressure the Iraqis to address the ethnic divisions that threaten to undermine their country. But there is still the very real threat that America will commit and act of geopolitical ADHD; just because Joe Biden says the US won't turn its attention elsewhere, doesn't mean we won't.
-Evan
Images of American soldiers kicking in doors followed by Iraqi trainees came to epitomize American counter-insurgency efforts during the "surge." The new image of US counter-insurgency should be American diplomats prodding Iraqi politicians to strike an oil revenue sharing agreement, deal with the ethnic fissures in Iraqi society, and rebuild Iraq's broken education system.
To a certain extent, this is already happening. The point of Joe Biden's July trip to Iraq was to pressure the Iraqis to address the ethnic divisions that threaten to undermine their country. But there is still the very real threat that America will commit and act of geopolitical ADHD; just because Joe Biden says the US won't turn its attention elsewhere, doesn't mean we won't.
-Evan
