Molecules

I've often written that our troop strength is not the only part of the equation as we try to make sure the new Iraqi government can defeat the terrorist and Baathist enemies. We have to atomize the enemy so they cannot group in large numbers able to pick off isolated government outposts.

It has been a long time since I've heard of any platoon-level enemy attacks. This is comforting but I don't know if it is because the enemy does not conduct them or because the press doesn't report them (perhaps not knowing enough to realize whether it is significant). I'm sure the military tracks this but I am not aware of any metrics in the open.

So when this article mentions the second platoon-sized attack against Iraqi forces in about a week that I've heard of I don't know whether this is a new trend or simply the odd reporting of something that happens on occasion. Indeed, the article I was going to quote and link to for this post no longer mentions the size of the attacking force--which was the information that caught my attention.

Surely, if there were many larger attacks (and even platoon-sized attacks of 30-40 men is fairly small) I'm sure we'd read the press reporting on the results. But even as we draw down our troop levels, we need to make sure that we can react to these attacks and hunt them down until the Iraqis can do it. We must make sure that any enemy effort that masses forces is hit hard to discourage such attacks.