Bush Borrows 'McMaster' Plan From British
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By Damien McElroy
In Camp Ali Al Salem, Kuwait
Last Updated: 2:24am GMT
12/01/2007
http://telegraph.co.uk


When Col H R McMaster was deployed to Tal Afar in north-west Iraq in 2005, the city was an insurgent hotbed. Today it is the model for President George W Bush's new blueprint to rescue America's mission in Iraq.

The decision to pledge extra troops and resources announced last night will be vindicated if the successful tactics employed in Tal Afar can be replicated in trouble spots around Iraq. It is an approach that owes nothing to American military manuals but to a 1950s British operation to crush the Maoist uprising during the Malayan emergency.

Arriving in Tal Afar with his 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Col McMaster decided to purge the city of enemy fighters. After retaking the city, the cavalry showered it with rewards to hold it.

Two years later soldiers serving in Tal Afar report that the city is at peace. A US army specialist serving there said yesterday he looked forward to returning after brief R&R. "It's not a tough mission," he said. "It's quiet, just the way I like it."

In October, Col McMaster, who has a doctorate in history, was recalled to the Pentagon from secondment to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. He was one of the small group of military high-fliers charged with fleshing out the new plan presented by Mr Bush.

Crucially, his thinking was shared by Gen David Petraeus, the new commander of multi-national forces in Iraq. Gen Petraeus is also an admirer of the strategies pursued by British forces in Malaya.

The general now has the chance to emulate Gen Sir Gerald Templer, who was empowered by Churchill to implement a "clear and hold" counter-insurgency against an insidious enemy. Like today's Sunni Muslim Iraqis, Malaya's Chinese communists moved at will among an embittered minority. Ruthless terrorists capable of perpetrating massacres, the Maoists appeared to be unstoppable.

Sir Gerald acted ruthlessly to separate terrorists from the civilian population, knowing this would starve the organisation of support and resources. Whole Chinese settlements were forcibly moved to new locations where the authorities then sought to prevent insurgent infiltration. Strict policing twinned with better living standards offered civilians incentives for switching loyalties.

Col McMaster's first step was to ring Tal Afar with a 12-mile, 9ft high wall. Once he had control of everyone entering and leaving the city, he contacted tribal leaders. Residents were advised to move temporarily to a new camp and the military took back Tal Afar after a short fight.

There has been relative calm ever since. This week a new city hall opened. Significantly the gates of the bright, colourful complex are open to all. There are no blast barriers or metal detectors to prevent bomb attacks.

"It makes the Iraqis feel good," said Col McMaster's successor as ground commander, Lt Col Malcolm Frost. "It makes them proud that they are moving forward, can do things on their own and are in charge of their future."

America has flirted before with the Malaya approach, most notably in Vietnam, where it failed to carry the project through. Those involved with Tal Afar worry as well that Gen Petraeus has not been granted sufficient troops. But now that extra resources have been found, the clear and hold approach will at least gain new momentum.

Washington's allies will be hoping that a Churchill dictum holds true: That America can be counted on to do the right thing — after it has exhausted every alternative.