'Use civil affairs army to build local rapport'

Washington: The US troop 'surge' in Iraq is being jeopardised by the failure to launch an equivalent offensive on the hearts-and-minds front, according to the general in charge of working with the civilian population.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Lieutenant General Jack Stultz, the head of the US Army Reserve, gave a stark warning that not enough use was being made of civilian affairs officers under his command. They are charged with talking to ordinary Iraqis and co-ordinating infrastructure projects.

In a downbeat assessment of US-Iraqi military relations, General Stultz also warned that cultural differences between the US regular army and Iraqi soldiers had impaired efforts to train local forces to take control of security.

General Stultz suggested that the increase in "kinetic warfare" should now be accompanied by more work for what he calls the Reserve's "warrior citizens": the doctors, lawyers, police, firemen, bankers and engineers under his command who help build roads and run clinics, schools, power plants and water treatment facilities.

Disregarding culture

He said: "I'm not sure we're always capitalising on the civil affairs non-kinetic effect as best as we can. Before you go in and use the hard effect, there's the opportunity to go in with the civil affairs and talk to the local community. ... You've got to build trust with the local people, to say, 'Help us'. If we're going to turn around the situation, we need to have the local population identify [insurgents]."

General Stultz painted a gloomy picture of relations between the US regular army and the Iraqi forces. "[An] Army Reserve soldier [told me] 'the first reaction working with the Iraqi soldiers from the active army was the traditional drill sergeant approach: just yell at the guy. If he's not wearing his helmet at the right time, just scream at him. The Iraqi soldier wasn't used to that. In some cases they would be offended or indignant'."