THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

Unless you are Sherman marching through Georgia, and even he would have had problems if he had not been facing a beaten foe. Unlike Sherman, our troops in Iraq may face a similar situation against a foe that merely waiting for the time to fight. The impending departure of the British from southern Iraq could require the attention of the US Army in protecting the main supply route from Kuwait to the north.

The route, a lifeline that carries fuel, food, ammunition and equipment for the war, crosses desert territory that is home to rival militias and criminal gangs. In interviews, Americans stationed in the southern provinces and Pentagon planners say they are closely watching the situation there as the British pass security responsibility to local Iraqi units.

There is little talk of increasing the American troop presence along the major supply route, which links Baghdad and Kuwait and is called M.S.R. Tampa, although officials in Baghdad and Washington say other options include increased patrols by armed surveillance aircraft, attack helicopters and combat jets.

The significant attention being paid to security in southern Iraq came as the senior allied commander, Gen. David H. Petraeus, announced plans in Washington this week to reduce American troop presence by five combat brigades across the country by next summer.

General Petraeus, in an interview this week, said he was confident that continued allied and Iraqi patrols along the supply routes, and a growing Iraqi security presence in the south, would guarantee protection of the desert roadways.

The good general's faith in the Iraqi forces is touching but it is not matched by any similar feelings among the locals of that region.

But Iraqis in the Basra region fear that the Iraqi security forces are too heavily infiltrated by the militias to ensure order in the city, a vital oil hub where smuggling, banditry and carjacking have long been a way of life for powerful criminal gangs.

Iraqi policemen in Basra privately concede that they are afraid to confront the militias, who have powerful backing in the religious Shiite parties that run Basra, and that if they arrest criminals they face retribution from powerful tribes and criminal gangs....

....“Since a year ago the British forces started to only worry about their own safety, neglecting the locals’ safety,” said Hakim al-Mayahi, the provincial council member in charge of the security portfolio, on Sept. 2. “The tribes and the locals have better weapons than our security forces, who weren’t provided with more than the usual Kalashnikovs and R.P.G.’s while the tribes even have mortars and heavy machine guns.”

With responsibility for security being given to forces like this consider what needs to be protected.

To keep the war effort going each day requires about 3.3 million gallons of fuel, the equivalent of filling the tanks of 150,000 automobiles, as well as enough food to serve 780,000 meals, according to statistics at the Third Army headquarters.

Although far more vulnerable to attack by roadside bombs and ambush, land convoys are cheaper than hauling the same volume of goods by air.

In comparison, on any day, the Third Army headquarters launches about 110 airlift missions, moving about 3,200 people and 400 pallets of supplies

In an emergency, airlift could probably supply the basics until a relief could be organized, but with the Army stretched to the max who would be available to go to their relief? And if Cheney gets his way and attacks Iran? With an administration that has done its damnedest to destroy the Army and Marines, shouldn't we be expecting the worst? And no, Blackwater and KBR won't be riding to the rescue, at least not until they renegotiate their contracts sharply upward. The only real solution is to redeploy forces southward, including all the 'penny packet' outposts in the cities, and prepare for the eventual pullout while the Army can still control events in their AO's.