The U.S. military has employed Israeli urban warfare tactics during the current invasion of the Iraqi city of Fallujah. U.S. officials acknowledged that hundreds of officers have trained in Israel over the last two years in urban warfare and counter-insurgency. In September, scores of U.S. officers trained at the Adam urban warfare school northeast of Tel Aviv, a facility that contains a mock Arab village. The U.S. officers trained in Israel relayed their expertise to the U.S. Army's Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La. Over the last two years, the army center has increased the number of mock Arab villages from four to 18 and employed Arab speakers for urban warfare exercises.
A key Israeli lesson adopted by the U.S. military was the need to maintain surprise during an infantry advance in an Arab urban environment. Officials said the Army and Marine Corps have employed tactics developed during the Israeli military invasion of West Bank cities in 2002. They said the Israeli methods helped save soldiers and accelerate the advance through Fallujah. "We have learned a lot regarding urban warfare tactics in the Middle East from our allies," an official said. "Yes, this includes Israel." |