We fail to learn, again...

While riding the great IOZ's piece on the irrelevance of the American Army in Iraq to what's actually happening, I began to think about the nature of insurgency, and why we really are confused. Kind of silly really -- we lead the league in successful insurgencies. You'd think we'd learn from our own playbook. If da Bears started running the West Coast Offense against Bill Walsh, think he might notice?

One of my favorite fantasy films is Mel Gibson's The Patriot. Besides confusing Banastre Tarelton (left...and he really wasn't gay) with Reinhard Heydrich (Gay verdict is out; suspect he's have slept with a komodo dragon if it would have helped his career) in the burning church thing, it really is about one of the heroes of the Revolution, Francis Marion who was the subject of a Disney series in late 50s, Swamp Fox. The series starred Leslie Nielson, a Canadian, whose brother led a fight in the Canadian Parliament to ban the show in Canada. For some reasons, the Brits and the Canadians who had loved Davy Crockett had issues with a show that portrayed them as SS style swine.

Marion is a great example of the successful insurgent commander -- you're here, so I'll fight there. It's a  slow news day here in Charleston, think I'll kill some pickets, burn a Tory farm, and so on. Yeah, it sucks, but the facts are simple... if the insurgents are dictating the pace and the nature of the battle, you probably have lots of problems. And so on...Michael Collins and Eamon DeValera gave the Brits fit in an insurgency doing similar stuff. Then, there are figures like Crazy Horse, Manuelito of the Dine' (Navajo), and many more.

"However, with his militiamen, Marion showed himself to be a singularly able leader of irregulars. Unlike the Continental troops, Marion's Men, as they were known, served without pay, supplied their own horses, arms, and often their food. All of Marion's supplies that were not obtained locally were captured from the British or Loyalist ("Tory") forces. Marion rarely committed his men to frontal warfare, but repeatedly surprised larger bodies of Loyalists or British regulars with quick surprise attacks and equally quick withdrawal from the field. After the surrender of Charleston, the British garrisoned South Carolina with help from local Tories, except for Williamsburg (the present Pee Dee), which they were never able to hold. The British made one attempt to garrison Williamsburg at Willtown, but were driven out by Marion at the Battle of Mingo Creek. The British especially hated Marion and made repeated efforts to neutralize his force, but Marion's intelligence gathering was excellent and that of the British was poor, due to the overwhelming Patriot loyalty of the populace in the Williamsburg area. Col. Banastre Tarleton, sent to capture Marion, despaired of finding the "old swamp fox", who eluded him by travelling along swamp paths. Tarleton and Marion were sharply contrasted in the popular mind. Tarleton was hated because he burned and destroyed homes and supplies, whereas Marion's Men, when they requisitioned supplies (or destroyed them to keep them out of British hands) gave the owners receipts for them. After the war, most of the receipts were redeemed by the new state government. "

So, as a Thorn Tree Branch to the Iraqi insurgents, through the magic of Google Language BETA, I offer this as an Arabic version of the original theme to Swamp Fox. It would work as Wadi Fox, I guess...

المستنقع الثعلب! المستنقع الثعلب! الذيل صاحب قبعة
لا أحد يعرف اين يوجد في المستنقع فوكس.
المستنقع الثعلب! المستنقع الثعلب!

يختبئ في غلين ، فانه يهرب الى المعركه من جديد.
انا النار بمسدس الطيور ياخذ الجناح. هناك صرخات مذهل إشارة واضحة.
بلدي الرجل مارس اليها لمحاربة الكفار وتركها هناك الاحباء الاعزاء.
جوقة

ولم نكن الرصاص ، ولم نكن مسحوق. ناضلت دائما مع فارغه بندقيه.
الا جعلنا كلما علت صيحه. نحن رجال محمد
ولم نكن الخبز ، لم يكن العسل. كل ما لدينا كان المال السعودي.
لن يشتري شيئا يستحق الفول في بوتقة. آذان فالالفيل المحمص وكان جميع نذهب.
جوقة

ولم نكن البطانيات ، ليس السرير. لا سقف فوق رؤوسنا.
لم نحصل على مأوى عندما تهطل الامطار. كل ما لدينا هو حصل حاجي العقل.
قتال الصليبيين في ارض اجنبية. قلوبهم بعيدة عبر البحار.
أنهم لم يحاولوا فهم. نقاتل من اجل الوطن والحرية.