America's biggest enemy

A remarkable item in yesterday's LA Times. General Peter Chiarelli wants to change tactics, arguing that some American troops in Iraq have been their "own worst enemy," unintentionally creating new insurgents by treating the Iraqi people in a heavy-handed or insensitive manner. Yesterday's NRC Handelsblad places this in the context of Iraqi prime minister Al-Maliki's claim that US troops use "unacceptable" violence against Iraqi citizens. The Dutch newspaper follows this report with a list of some cases that have raised concern everywhere:

• Hamdania: 7 marines and a medic have been charged for murdering a handicapped man in April
• Thar Thar: 4 soldiers indicted for the murder of three prisoners in Thar Thar near Tikrit in May
• Haditha: investigation into the death of 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha in November 2005.
• Mahmudiya: ex-private Green indicted for rape and murder in March

Indeed, a change of tactics might do some good. This, incidentally, was already argued by the Britisch early in 2003 when they deployed their forces in the Basra area.

Who knows if it will work. It puts into perspective the claims of some (I won't name names since some of my friends are among them...) that since we are dealing with a clan society with notions of collective responsibility ('you harm one of us, and anyone of your family is fair game') and vendetta, we should follow the rules of the insurgents.

Peter Chiarelli, for one, does not seem to agree (anymore).