Why are things coming as a shock to us in the Iraq conflict? The various "low-tech" things that the Iraqis are doing to confound and/or inflict damage on us. Why did we not see them coming?
We did. Except that when the US Military wargamed it, and USMC 3-Star General (Ret) Paul Van Riper did all these things, the wargame "managers" (think "referees") overruled him, telling him he couldn't do things like use motorcyclists to deliver messages so that high-tech surveillance wouldn't work, or use speedboats to deliver explosive surprises to ships in the Gulf.
Basically, the wargaming sessions, which are meant to validate a course of action by rigorous testing, were instead little more than scripted sessions, designed solely to be able to say "we tested the warplan".
Van Riper gave up midway through the wargaming, refusing to allow his name to be associated with the blatant rubber-stamping.
I bet the troops feel so much safer now.
In order to be shocked, I'd have to pay attention to Mr. Bush's war.