Where numbers can't make the difference

In counterinsurgency, numbers do matter--to a point. You might calculate the minimum number of soldiers needed to protect important public facilities from sabotage, or patrol a neighborhood in Baghdad. However, what you can't solve simply by adding more troops are the sorts of problems that demand cultural and political sensitivities. Counterinsurgency doesn't let you pick and choose: you either take all these missions, or you don't get into the counterinsurgency business in the first place.

Case in point: Great Britain is deploying special teams to Iraq to handle "honor killings." If you think that the reconstituted Iraq needs the rule of law, more effective law enforcement, and a better role for women than what some Salafist insurgents would like to see, you can understand the logic behind these special units. Here are some details from The Guardian:

The complex investigation and three-month trial for Ms Mahmod's murder relied on initiatives more often used to tackle organised crime, such as the use of covert investigative techniques and special measures for key witnesses, two of whom needed police protection. Such techniques are increasingly used to deal with honour crimes.

The CPS will also introduce a "flag" for any forced marriage or honour crime cases, so they can be logged and monitored.

Nazir Afzal, the CPS lead on honour-based violence, said that such crimes are often elaborate, pre-planned and can involve many suspects.

One in nine honour killings in the UK is carried out by hit men, he said. It is also common for the youngest member of the family to carry out the murder, with the others playing a lesser role.

In this case, you can't help Iraqis "stand up so that we can stand down," simply by putting another exhausted National Guardsman on a street corner in Sadr City.

Comments

[Alex]

I think you'll find the special teams are for Britain, not Iraq.

[Noel Maurer]

What Alex said. Did you miss that the article is about police work inside Britain, or am I missing the argument of your post?