Lessons from Tall Afar

When it comes to coverage from Iraq it's hard to reckon the ground-level reality. Correspondents in the media are huddled inside the Green Zone and the backdrops are always familiar when they’re on camera. They deliver a body count followed by a statement by U.S. commanders leavened with weary skepticism.

Whether you support the war or not the only way to stay consistently informed is to supplement your diet with Iraqi blogs, and soldier blogs of all varieties. Even then you must consider the motivations and biases behind this information. But at least you can consider life outside of the Green Zone, in the places where reconstruction mixes with insurgency and nascent, tentative democracy.

The Washington Post bucks the trend today with a story about the 3rd Armored Cavalry division. In the city of Tall Afar they managed to win the approval of the locals while slowly and patiently removing the militants - first by arresting them, finally by a slow and calculated sweep through the town. Nowadays there are signs of success. Local civilians tip off the coalition when the insurgents bury an IED, ethnic Sunnis are joining the police force, and the mayor has lunch with the commanding officer.

All of this thanks to a serious effort at cultural understanding. Call it political correctness, call it smart operational tactics - the soldiers in this division discovered that they needed a firm engagement with customs, culture, and language to effectively sort the neutrals and civilians from the dead-ender insurgents. And to do this without creating more of the latter in the process they needed to move patiently in the realm of tribal affiliation and familial ties. And the folks in Washington have taken notice. Many similar situations have seen much more pandemonium, animosity, and bloodshed.

Business leaders talk about "innovation". But many people would be surprised at how this is put in practice by the United States military. Great soldiers follow commands, but exceptional ones adjust, improvise, and think resourcefully about the true nature of the problem. I know this firsthand from talking directly with some very bright people in the armed forces, and they consistently impress me with how much lateral thinking and creativity is applied in the field and encouraged by management.

Now if only we can get politicians to abandon antiquated and unnecessary "defense systems" in favor the leaner approach suggested by the Quadrennial Defense Review. The much-vaunted asymmetrical nature of contemporary conflict requires far fewer fighter jets and battleships and many more robot spy planes and information systems. This means we sometimes need to disappoint our friends in the defense contractor business by thinking outside of the box on these billion-dollar boondoggles.