The powers that be have given our Marines in Iraq a new “counter-insurgency manual.” One of the greatest fighting forces on earth is about to start wooing civilians, “learning social networks, building personal relationships and creating jobs” – for Iraqi’s. (News and Observer; 1-9-07).

The Marines may never be the same.

The new plan – which has been described as “armed social work” – takes the Marines out of their big bases, where they are relatively safe, and puts them in the suburbs to live among the Iraqi’s (to make the civilians feel safe). We’re even going to rent houses – rather than commandeering them – so as not to offend Iraqi landlords.

“On this battlefield,” explains one counter-insurgency expert, “popular perceptions and rumor…are more powerful than a hundred tanks.”

Does our new policy sound like sweet reason – or desperation?

One Marine Commander in Anbar Province sounded a little desperate. “We have to quit trying to shoot all the bad guys,” he said. “I don’t have enough Marines to win that fight. I’m just trying to persuade the insurgents to put down their guns.”

We abandoned the Powell Doctrine – of using overwhelming force – for the Rumsfeld Doctrine which failed, and now we are going to try ‘armed social work.’ The logic here is perplexing: We’ve gone from too much force, to too little, to persuading our enemies to give up. What a way to fight a war!

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