'Made in Israel' crackdowns in Iraq won't work

[Resistance]

Christian Science Monitor

In recent weeks, many US military units in Iraq have turned from trying to win Iraqi "hearts and minds" to a "get tough" policy that explicitly copies many moves from the playbook used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the West Bank and Gaza. These moves include demolition of homes of suspects, imposition of stifling movement controls and other collective punishments on civilians, and the frequent use of excessive force.

Tactics like these are unethical under any moral code, and illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. In addition, their adoption is shortsighted. In Israel itself, many leading strategic thinkers now openly admit that the IDF's three-year-long pursuit of these tactics has still not "convinced" the Palestinians to end their defiance of Israel's will.

(It is also tragic that US commanders moved to these antihumanitarian and antidemocratic measures at the same time President Bush issued his call for the spread of democracy throughout the Arab world.)

In Israel, criticism of the country's get-tough policies toward Palestinians has been voiced by four former heads of the country's Shin Bet security agency - and also by Gen. Moshe Yaalon who, as sitting IDF chief of staff, is the man in charge of implementing all the IDF's policies. In late October, Mr. Yaalon voiced a rare public criticism of the civilian leaders whose mandate he is sworn to follow. He told reporters that the IDF's unrelenting use of tough tactics in the occupied territories, "increases hatred for Israel and strengthens the terror organizations."

[Resistance]

1. The Israeli connection

from the article: Perception and reality in the “war on terror” by Paul Rogers

what is becoming clear is the nature and extent of the robust counter-insurgency policy now being implemented by the United States, a policy that includes involvement of Israeli urban warfare specialists in training US special forces.

The vigorous policy that has now developed has a number of elements that illustrate the step-change in attitude, born perhaps of recognition of the problems facing the US as an occupying power. The arrival of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) specialists at the home base of US special forces, Fort Bragg in North Carolina, is significant. There, they are reported to be assisting in the training of US units in counter-insurgency tactics, including the assassination of guerrilla leaders. These tactics reflect what Israel has been doing in the occupied territories, especially since the al-Aqsa intifada began three years ago (see Julian Borger, “Israel trains US assassination squads in Iraq”, Guardian, 9 December 2003).

This linkage with Israel adds considerably to the view across the region that the Iraq war is part of an Israeli-American joint operation to control Arab oil, a suspicion that US army tactics employed within Iraq do nothing to dispel.

US military sources do not disguise their interest in Israeli tactics. One acknowledgement is that of Brigadier General Michael A. Vane, deputy chief of staff for doctrine concepts and strategy at the US army’s training and doctrine command. Writing in Army magazine, Vane reported that: “Experience continues to teach us many lessons, and we continue to evaluate those lessons, embedding and incorporating them appropriately in our concepts, doctrine and training. For example, we recently travelled to Israel to glean lessons learned from their counter-terrorist operations in urban areas.”