Australia's soldiers are better placed to combat the tactics of insurgents in Iraq than the US Army, a leading strategic thinktank believes.
In its annual report on global military forces, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said the US had demonstrated its superiority at conventional warfare in its crushing defeat of the Iraqi military in March and April 2003.
But Iraqi insurgents had replied with unconventional tactics, finding operating terrain where the US was unable to exploit its conventional superiority.
"With the emergence of what some call three-dimensional warfare, the challenge is to transform doctrinal thinking to face new challenges," IISS director John Chipman said at the launch of the Military Balance 2005-06, in London this week.
"Aligning the right military doctrine with the relevant technology for irregular warfare is a big challenge for western forces.
"This evolutionary process is likely to be easier for forces used to low intensity irregular warfare such as the Australian and British Armies and the US Marine Corps than it will be for the conventionally-based US Army."
The Australian Defence Force (ADF), with its longstanding emphasis on light infantry rather than heavy mechanised forces, has an extensive history of conducting low intensity and counter-insurgency operations in places such as Malaya, Vietnam and, more recently, East Timor.
Similarly, the British military has extensive experience in Northern Ireland, while the US Marines has sought to reinvent themselves as a flexible force following the end of the Cold War.
In the report, the IISS said the latest terror bombing on Bali - believed to have been carried out by terror group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) - highlighted the ongoing counter-terrorism challenge in South-East Asia.
It said the Indonesian authorities faced a huge challenge but had made significant progress.
But they would not be helped by banning JI, as many outside critics had demanded.
IISS said such a move would do little to strengthen Jakarta's counter-terrorism effort and could prove counter-productive by further alienating militants who did not support the bombing campaign.
"International interest in strengthening Indonesian counter-terrorism efforts would be better directed at helping Jakarta's law enforcement and intelligence agencies in practical ways," it said.
