There's This One Kid We Call Him Mongo

Late last year The Aurora proposed that if the surge were to work it would not be a result of the numbers increase but rather the change in tactics. I even went so far as to suggest that we should throw on grass kilts and do the Mongolian Hula upside their domes.

I'm speaking about Hulagu Khan (shut yer mouth) -- the last successful foreign invader of Baghdad and grandson of the great Khan himself; no not Chaka, Chaka, Chaka Khan but Chinggis "Of The Eternal Blue Heaven" Khan.

I made the point that Hulagu would wall in the cities that he was sieging, and Baghdad was no exception. He then would take it a step further and divert the local river, in this case the Tigris flooding out the enemy's stronghold. Not to mention using local peasants as cannon fodder. It was a brilliant tactic, although now labelled as ruthless it was quite revolutionary at the time. More importantly... it worked.

Now I wouldn't go that far, ok maybe I would, but I did suggest that walling in the insurgents in trouble spots would be a good start. Containment is key.

Well it looks like someone at the Pentagon was reading The Aurora.

"Haditha, like Barwanah and Haglaniyah -- the other two towns in the triad -- is surrounded by a dirt berm topped with concertina wire and guards. There are two tightly controlled entrances, and no cars are allowed to drive in the town proper." 1

..and it looks like its working.

"Progress in security is verifiable. In the first week after the 2/3 took over Haditha there were 22 attacks in the town. That's down to one or two attacks a week since the clearing operation." 2

The Aurora Plan...getting results

EE-Aw!