"How not to conduct guerrilla warfare"

reposted from donaldsensing.com

In 281 b.c, the Italian kingdom republic of Tarentum asked Pyrrhus, king of the Hellenistic nation-state of Epirus, for assistance against Rome. Pyrrhus landed on Italy with 25,000 men and entered into combat with Roman forces. His army defeated the Roman army at a battle near Heracleia, but when he realized that the Romans could easily replace their lost soldiers, Pyrrhus sued for peace. The Roman senate demanded that he withdraw from Italy before negotiating a peace treaty. Pyrrhus declined the demand and fought another battle at Asculum. His casualties were so great that he uttered the now-famous exclamation, "One more such victory and we are lost!"

Hence the term, "Pyrrhic victory."

Belmont Club explains the new desperation among the Iraqi insurgents, and the bad tactical blunders they are making as a result. He cites a CBS news report about a recent attack on the American-held Abu Ghraib prison.

Last Saturday's attack on Abu Ghraib in particular is a case study in how not to conduct guerilla warfare. Al Qaeda assaulted the prison complex from several directions with rockets, mortars, car bombs and small arms. The battle raged for two hours. No Americans were killed; 16 were slightly wounded, seven others hurt more seriously. Between 40 and 60 terrorists took part, and they admitted to ten killed, a KIA rate of 17-25 percent. The overall enemy casualty rate including wounded was probably over 50 percent. No prisoners were freed. Al Qaeda claimed the raid was a success, but a few more victories like this and theair insurgency will be over.

I was about to write that the Iraqi insurgents are fighting Pyrrhic battles, but then I remembered - Pyrrhus won the battles that ruined him. The insurgents are being destroyed and ruined in defeat.

See also Austin Bay, Bill Roggio and James Dunnugan.

Austin also comments on a battle today between Saudi security forces and al Qaeda terrorists in the town of Rass, 220 miles northwest of Riyadh.

The US-led attack on Saddam and Iraq’s emerging democracy have changed the “strategic calculus” in the region. The war’s “back home.” In May 2003 the Saudis had a major fight with Al Qaeda, and from what I’ve managed to piece together, they have been increasingly active in combating Al Qaeda. That’s good news, after a fashion. The Saudis home turf fight will be slow and brutal, a hideous, complex mix of civil war, tribal conflict, and religious war.

Remember, while Osama bin Laden has said that the United States is his main enemy, the "land of the two holy mosques," Saudi Arabia, is his main objective.

UD: Thanks to Michael Edward McNeil for pointing out that Tarantum was actually a republic not a kingdom.