The Strategic Effect of the My Lai Massacre and the Haditha Massacre

Running head : THE STRATEGIC EFFECT OF THE MY LAI MASSACRE AND THE HADITHA MASSACRE

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Introduction

The massacre at My Lai was exactly that a senseless rampage of US troops armed to the teeth , unleashed on innocent Vietnamese villagers on the pretext that they were engaging the enemy . By the end of the day over 500 civilians had lost their lives . One US troop was wounded by shooting his foot by mistake . No enemy fire was encountered . Haditha was a different story . A

Marine troop convoy on patrol was blown up by a detonator . In the immediate aftermath , the troops fired indiscriminately , purportedly targeting the perpetrators . 24 Iraqi civilians had perished by the time the smoke cleared . That is where the similarities end . In My Lai the massacre was premeditated while in Haditha it was as a result of a spontaneous reaction to a hostile act

The security situation in Haditha deteriorated because of a command structure problem that allowed for political decisions to overrule field commanders ' opinions . The erratic deployment of US troops to patrol the town in conjunction with the local police force exposed the Iraqi policemen to the local insurgents who executed them at will . With no recruits to man the police stations the US troops were forced to take up the job . The Haditha incident provoked unchecked anger and use of inappropriate force by the occupation forces . The fallout of the incident was that civilians were unwilling to volunteer information to the troops on hideouts and identities of the enemy . When the US troops withdrew from the town , it was promptly overrun by insurgents

Two strategic shortfalls identified here are the failure by the political command to appreciate the advice coming in from the field Short term political exigencies appear to have more weight then long term military solutions . Secondly , civilian support for the forces diminishes when troops massacre innocent bystanders . It becomes easier for the insurgents to recruit sympathizers when such incidents occur Public morale for the war effort back at home tends to sink when stories like that of My Lai and Haditha are reported . Further , international condemnation of such incidents reduces the resolve of allies to support the war . The political backlash of unpopular wars is usually felt in presidential and congressional elections where the party supporting the war loses most seats . Troop morale also plummets due to adverse publicity as does the number of potential recruits to the forces . This leads to compromising of standards by the recruiters so as to fill the shortfalls

Top leaders in the political and military ranks must be able to weave a coherent policy that ensures that troops respect the ROE and that field commander 's advice is given higher priority than political decisions Greater restraint and adherence to the rules of engagement (ROE ) would endear the civilian population to the occupying force and thus contribute to a fruitful working relationship . In this way , the problems encountered in the field can be...