June 19, 2009

Is counterinsurgency a woman's job?

Once U.S. military forces in Iraq finally settled on a counterinsurgency strategy that focused on protecting the non-combatant population, infantry units patrolling Iraq's cities found themselves with little ability to interact with half of the population, namely the female half. In a traditional Islamic society it wouldn't help the counterinsurgency effort to have male U.S. infantrymen searching Iraqi women, an unfortunate requirement after an increasing number of Iraqi women began joining the insurgency.

The U.S. Marine Corps responded by creating "Lionesses," small teams of female Marines who would accompany patrols for the purpose of searching Iraqi women. But the Marines soon discovered that in many cases the Lionesses were more effective than their male counterparts at interacting with Iraqi civilians, both female and male. A Marine Corps news report from Iraq explained:

"Historically, feminine interaction with adult Iraqi males has been a rarity outside of exchanges within one's immediate family," said Lee Bagan, an intelligence specialist and cultural expert embedded with the CAG [Civil Affairs group]. "Lioness presence is thereby a magnet effectively utilized to obtain ground truth, understanding and dialogue, otherwise difficult to achieve with all-male military interviews."

"The Lionesses are essential to our missions in gaining atmospherics in the city of Rutbah," said Sgt. Daniel Furner, the security chief with CAG. "To the Iraqi men and women, females are more approachable.  They are able to communicate with the locals better."

According to one news story, U.S. Marine Corps Lionesses have been achieving similar positive results in some Afghan villages.

The core mission of any counterinsurgency campaign is to protect the indigenous population. By protecting the population, the legitimate government and supporting coalition forces hope to deny the insurgent forces sanctuary and support. The subject population should also be one of the most valuable sources of intelligence on the location and activities of insurgents.

But when U.S. military forces operate in traditional and culturally conservative societies, which U.S. foot soldiers are best able to establish a cooperative relationship with all parts of the local population? In light of the Lionesses success, perhaps the Pentagon should consider forming large all-female infantry units to support its counterinsurgency campaigns.

Mexico is struggling with more than just drug cartels

On the rare occasions when major U.S. media outlets decide to report on Mexico, the coverage invariably focuses on either the struggle against violent drug cartels or illegal immigration. But that's only part of the picture, argues former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Roger Pardo-Maurer, also an Army Special Forces veteran. Mexico's future is obviously a critical national security issue for the United States and Pardo-Maurer says that policy-makers, the media, and the public need to understand much more about Mexico than drug runners and illegal immigrants.

Writing in Small Wars Journal, he discusses seven more issues bearing on Mexico's stability that receive very little attention inside the United States:

1.      Looming water shortages in northern and central Mexico will further strain relations with the United States. Water could also cause fissures within Mexico, as Mexico's south, relatively rich in water and hydropower, flaunts in leverage against the north.

2.      Mexico's oil production is already in decline, with consequences for Mexico's balance of payments and U.S. energy security.

3.      NAFTA was supposed to provide Mexican light manufacturing and assembly operations with an import advantage into the U.S. market.  Instead, China, India, Brazil and other manufacturing competitors have hollowed out Mexico's position.

4.      Can Mexico cope with the sharp demographic, ethnic, and cultural differences between its southern states and those in the center and north?

5.      Might the poverty and marginalization of some of Mexico's indigenous communities become a source of populist insurgency?

6.      Mexico's rapidly declining birth rate will eventually cause the same sorts of demographic pressures that loom for the United States, Europe, and Japan.

7.      Notwithstanding point #6, Mexico still has a youth bulge, which has sought economic opportunity in the United States. If U.S. political pressure cuts off this means of escape, can Mexico's economy and society cope with this cohort of underemployed youth?

Pardo-Maurer asserts that this list (along with the drug cartels) constitutes Mexico's agenda for the 21st century. But he also asserts that Mexico's agenda must be the U.S. agenda as well. According to him, a cultural merger between the United States and Mexico has already occurred, and cannot be reversed. Thus, what happens in Mexico definitely won't stay in Mexico.

As troubled as Mexico appears at the moment, Pardo-Maurer suggests that the United States should count itself lucky to have such a "simpatico" neighbor. Unlike many other frontiers in the world, the U.S.-Mexican border isn't a militarized conflict zone. But in order to keep it that way, Pardo-Maurer says the United States needs a much deeper understanding of Mexico and all of its problems.