PINKERTON BLINKS:

Welcome to Iraqifornia (James Pinkerton, 3/11/04, Tech Central Station)

[I]f the afternoon at Tiefort was an exercise, it was no joke. I am telling you, at the time I was out there, watching the "Iraqis" confront the Americans, it felt real. Dramatists speak of the "the suspension of disbelief" as the key to making a play or movie succeed; the audience must lose track of its true environment and choose to live, at least for a couple hours, in the make-believe world of the show. And it works; that's why audiences cry and cringe. And it's the same way at Fort Irwin; when you're out there, running around in a place that looks like Iraq, in the company of people who look and sound like Iraqis, one gets the feeling that one is in Iraq. And while that was instructive for me, as a visiting journalist, that's potentially life-saving for GI's.

Because if one is "killed" at Tiefort, well, that's OK, because one can get up again. But the whole point is that to live and "die" in California makes it more likely that one will survive in Iraq. The power of the training is obvious to anyone who comes here for a visit. But hey, you needn't take my word for it -- you might think I'm still mesmerized by the Tiefort experience. So instead, take the word of Strategypage.com, a great site for wargeeks:

"There's a war going on in Iraq. Who's winning? Hardly anyone noticed, but U.S. troops aren't losing. American casualties have been steadily declining since they peaked last November (414, including 82 dead). The casualties went down to 306 in December, 234 in January and 167 last month. In February there were twenty American soldiers killed in action, or .79 per day. This was the first month, since the war began, that the troops killed fell to less than one a day.

"The reasons for the decline in casualties are numerous. Probably the most important one has been the improvements in tactics and training. American troops have developed the habit of carefully studying actual operations, and quickly brainstorming possible solutions for problems encountered. Pretty much anything goes, and officers and troops are encouraged to use their imagination and initiative to come up with new ways of doing things."

This approach, Strategypage continues, has "produced dozens of new tactics and techniques for dealing with roadside bombs and ambushes. Even though the Iraqi resistance was quickly changing their tactics, the troops have been faster, and more effective." In other words, almost a year after the fall of Baghdad, the military is busy adapting to an ever-changing military environment in Iraq.

Not all the training occurs at Fort Irwin, although just about every Army man or woman in Iraq has probably been through this facility. (The Marines have a similar operation in nearby Barstow.) And the point of all this training, wherever it occurs, is to the improve the effectiveness of America's armed forces--and to save lives by any and all means.

The Other Brother served at Fort Irwin, leading Soviet troops and winning, no less.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 11, 2004 4:41 PM