The Iraqi Insurgency and the Lessons of War

In the years to come, the lessons learned from the U.S. military's inability to quickly quell Iraqi insurgents will be studied by governments and guerrilla movements the world over. Many regimes — especially those with most reason to fear Washington — will prepare for drawn-out guerrilla campaigns. This will force a re-evaluation of battle strategies and also open the door for indigenous militant groups to exploit ready-made insurgent infrastructure to target unpopular regimes. Other than war with a strong military power, such as China or Russia, U.S. forces can expect their main military threat to come from Iraqi-style insurgencies rather than from Islamist militant attacks.