The Armchair Generalist an article by the Deputy Judge Advocate General of the US Air Force, two star General Charles Dunlap.

Gen Dunlap would give Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper on a rant about “purity of essence” a run for his money.

Dunlap is calling for the United States to bomb Iranian Oil Refineries in order to conduct counter-insurgency in Iraq.

Specifically, despite huge reserves of crude oil, Iran nevertheless must import about half of its gasoline, largely because of a shortage of domestic refinery capacity. Targeting what refinery capacity Iran possesses could directly and concretely erode its ability to support Iraqi insurgents.

Oil refineries are ideal targets for air and missile attack. They are large, relatively “soft” facilities that are difficult for even the most modern air defense to protect. At the same time, they represent wholly lawful targets generally subject to attack with a minimal risk of collateral damage.

Besides reducing the fuel available to support insurgent activities in Iraq, the further cutback in refinery capacity could influence Iranian leadership, as the nation has already seen civil disturbances as a result of gasoline rationing.

This is just plain nuts. The Iranian government is increasingly unpopular, but one only has to look at Saddam’s attack on Iran in 1980, which cemented Khomeni’s rule in Iran, to prove that wrong.

What’s at the core of his arguments is that the new Pentagon counter-insurgency doctrine places the Air Force in the position of being a service to be used at the digression of the ground forces, and this is not acceptable to the general officer corps of the USAF. (I noted that this attitude by the Air Force is why the British want US operations to end in their operational area of Afghanistan.

Blowing S%$# up just generates more insurgents.