A currently-deployed soldier's letter from Iraq

Click the title. The writer is a Civil Affairs specialist - the same subject I taught during my brief military career. His goal is to defeat an insurgency by understanding what makes them fight, then dealing with the causes rather than just trying to kill them all a few at a time.

He adds, "So long as there is support for the guerilla, for every one you kill two more rise up to take his place. More importantly, when your tools for killing him are precision guided munitions, raids and other acts that create casualties among the innocent populace, you raise the support for the guerillas and undermine the support for yourself. (A 500-pound precision bomb has a casualty-producing radius of 400 meters minimum; do the math.)"