Iraq's 'Battlefield of the Mind'

[Mad Mike]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/09/AR2007120901181.html?nav=rss_nation

Marine Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, commanding general of detainee operations in Iraq, is fighting what he has called "the battlefield of the mind." He has instituted extensive screening of incoming prisoners and has made available about 30 training and education courses, including religion and civics, to the 25,188 prisoners under his control.

At a news conference last week, he said that once a person is in custody at his facilities, Camp Cropper near Baghdad and Camp Bucca in southern Iraq, "we spend a lot of time learning about them now, studying their motivations . . . why they're fighting, who they fight for -- more so than we've ever known before."

Click on the link for the full story.

[Mad Mike]

Well I guess if it shows creative and evolving tactics it's not worth talking about. I know it's not as sexy as talking about how we are abusing innocents but I would think someone would have a comment. :doh:

[The_cavalierman]

At the risk of an intelligent conversation I will respond to your thread since no one else found it interesting enough to comment.

• The Army has been running a program like this since Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)
  
• Segregating radical prisoners from moderates is something taught in MP basic training so this is only news to news reporters that don't know the military.
  
• There is only so much one can learn from a captured enemy soldier. The real intelligence comes from observing an enemy operating in what they perceive as "free-space"
  
• This program is nothing more than a re-education and training camp to be honest. Their is some intel to be gleaned but most of these prisoners were only doing something against us because they were getting paid. This is why the infastructure part of Bush's plan is so important. Iraqis with jobs usually don't have time to blow up Americans.
  

Yes we are learning a great deal about the average enemy combatant and enemy tactics but most of the stuff they are doing came from Guerilla warfare manuals. Most of them are simply motivated by the fact that have been given no alternative to the radical message. It has been my experience that these guys/gals are nothing more than conscripts.

In the absence of water people will drink the sand...

I believe both Afghanistan and Iraq are battlefields of hearts and minds. We must present a clear and realistic alternative to the radicals in order to win this war on terror.

[headexplode]

This thread needs more trannys.