The American Spectator

Coalition forces segmented Fallujah into several zones so as to concentrate firepower in areas where it was most needed:

“We’ve known for months that this (southern Fallujah) is where most of the foreign fighters are,” said Marine Col. Craig Tucker, displaying a satellite photograph of the city. “This (the south) is where we find fortifications.”

6. Pick your battles.

Mindful of the challenges posed by urban warfare, American commanders used combat engineers and guns to blow precise holes in buildings along the American route. Whenever they could, troops advanced via this “mouseholing” technique rather than through booby-trapped doors or along streets lined with IEDs.

Risk-averse behavior has also made checkpoints safer for the troops that secure them:

“Superior firepower is the order of the day; the soldiers are not taking risks and are eliminating the need to inspect vehicles and enter buildings by destroying them if they are deemed threatening.”

7. Use the right tools.

In this area, of course, the American military is without peer:

“Significantly, the main assault began after darkness fell. Following months of preparatory airstrikes and unpublicized raids by U.S. special operations forces, the night attack instantly put the terrorists at a disadvantage. Although our enemies may have acquired a few night-vision devices, our troops are superbly equipped and trained as night stalkers.”

The “backpack airplanes” described by TechCentralStation columnist Ralph Kinsey Bennett also count as tools:

“These small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be carried in two backpacks, assembled in minutes (they’re made of a composite material that looks a lot like plastic foam) and launched by hand… Equipped with a small television camera and powered by an electric motor, these small planes (weight about 5 pounds, wingspan 45 inches) can give commanders on the scene a quick look at the other side of a building or a hill or screen of trees.”

If one tool does not work, the military tries other tools, sometimes from halfway around the globe. One observer recounted how a Marine “watchdog” unit in Fallujah switched from artillery to air power via satellite while knocking out a hostile mortar:

“Launched from a site near Baghdad, the Predator UAV carried a Hellfire missile. Its crew and its video feeds were back in California.”

8. Respect cultural realities.

In software companies, what U.S. commanders and their allies have been doing would be called “intelligent localization:”