Empowering Heroes (Part 2): Maintaining the Element of Surprise

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joshua 8:18-20

Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand." And Joshua stretched out the spear that was in his hand toward the city. 19 So those in ambush arose quickly out of their place; they ran as soon as he had stretched out his hand, and they entered the city and took it, and hurried to set the city on fire. 20 And when the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended to heaven. So they had no power to flee this way or that way, and the people who had fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

NKJV

This passage of scripture illustrates how the element of surprise is useful in battle.  The army of Ai had previously defeated the army of Israel (Joshua 7:1-5).  After seeking the Lord, which they failed to do previously, the army of Israel now plans to embark on a strategy of surprise.  Joshua divided the army into three divisions.  He led the first division that moved on the army of Ai as before.  Believing they could defeat the army of Israel as they did before, the army of Ai went out from the city and attacked Joshua’s division leaving the city defenseless.  When Joshua turned around and stretched out his spear, the other two divisions moved in to conquer the city. 

Since the defeat of Ai by Israel, there have been other successful surprise attacks:

1)      The Sack of Rome by the Visigoths, A.D. 410

2)      The Battle of Trenton, 1776

3)      The Battle of France, 1940

4)      The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941

5)      The Six Day War, 1967

6)      The terrorist attacks of 9/11  (1)

History demonstrates that the element of surprise is vital to success in battle.  This is especially true when an army is outnumbered.  However, in our age of 24-hour news coverage, the internet, social media, and politicians that telegraph their moves to either appease their base or appear tough on the world stage, the element of surprise is becoming difficult to preserve. 

Talk of a planned “surge” in Iraq in 2007 led to one of the deadliest runs by enemy combatants in Iraq. 

1)      Saturday January 20, 2007 – 25 U.S. troops were killed, 12 in a downed helicopter and 5 others while guarding a security meeting in Karbala

2)      Monday January 22, 2007 – A carefully coordinated bomb strike hits Baghdad featuring a suicide bomber and a stationary car bomb.  Resulting in 88 deaths. 

In total, there were 137 civilian deaths during that weekend in 2007, the deadliest run by insurgents in Iraq in several months.  (2)  As we were telegraphing our intentions, in order to appear tough, to conduct a surge in Iraq, insurgents were conducting successful surprise attacks.  One would think that our leaders would learn a lesson from this event and cease projecting their intentions, preserving the element of surprise.  However, this is not the case. 

In his September 10, 2014 speech on the fight with ISIS, Obama made it clear that action against ISIS would not include ground troops.  (3)  Obama made this statement to appease his base that voted for him on the promise he would end the war in Iraq.  However, ISIS most likely sees this statement as telling them that all they needed to do was bunker down until the airstrikes are over and then resume operations. 

Fortunately, military experts advising Obama are skeptical that using only pinpoint airstrikes can stop ISIS.  One of these experts, testifying in front of the House Intelligence Committee, told the committee that a blanket prohibition on ground combat ties the military’s hands.  A blanket prohibition against troops on the ground reassures our enemies whereas the possibility of boots on the ground adds the potential element of surprise that a ground attack might occur.  (4)  The only strategy now would be to allow ISIS to believe no ground war will occur and then to surprise them with boots on the ground, something that could occur but something I believe is highly unlikely with this administration.

In the information age, maintaining the element of surprise is difficult but not impossible.  In the lead up to the ground assault in the Gulf War, troops massed at the southern border with Iraq in Saudi Arabia.  Believing that the ground assault would begin from the south, Sadam Hussein massed his troop on Iraq’s southern border.  The 24-hour news media, monitored by Hussein, helped telegraph an intention by U.S. troops to begin an assault from the south.  However, when the ground assault began, the attack came from the west catching Hussein by surprise.  (5)  The U.S. Military, in essence, used the same strategy Israel used against Ai thousands of years earlier. 

If we are to properly empower our military for victory, it is essential that military leaders and political leaders preserve the important element of surprise.  In the information age, this will most likely require using deception by leaking information to media to appease them while preserving the secrecy of the genuine plan.  We can only hope this is what President Obama is doing with his plan to use pinpoint airstrikes coupled with his statement against any ground attack against ISIS. 

1. Weeks, Linton. 5 Other Surprise Attacks That Changed History. www.npr.org. [Online] NPR, September 6, 2011. [Cited: September 25, 2014.] http://www.npr.org/2011/09/06/140156564/5-other-surprise-attacks-that-changed-history.

2. Dunn, J.R. The Media Have Changed War. www.americanthinker.com. [Online] American Thinker, January 29, 2007. [Cited: September 25, 2014.] http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/01/the_media_have_changed_war.html.

3. New York Times. Transcript of Obama’s Remarks on the Fight Against ISIS. www.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, September 10, 2014. [Cited: September 25, 2014.] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/world/middleeast/obamas-remarks-on-the-fight-against-isis.html?_r=0.

4. Whitlock, Craig. Rift widens between Obama, U.S. military over strategy to fight Islamic State. www.washingtonpost.com. [Online] The Washington Post, September 18, 2014. [Cited: September 25, 2014.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/rift-widens-between-obama-us-military-over-strategy-to-fight-islamic-state/2014/09/18/ebdb422e-3f5c-11e4-b03f-de718edeb92f_story.html.

5. Broder, John M. Schwarzkopf's War Plan Based on Deception. articles.latimes.com. [Online] The Los Angeles Times, February 28, 1991. [Cited: September 25, 2014.] http://articles.latimes.com/1991-02-28/news/mn-2834_1_war-plan.