The marines had the experience of fighting insurgents for more than 3 decades and they still do not learn a lesson. In combat you don't need to send hundreds of troops to fight these people in their territory. It only needs a couple or a platoon just to pin point enemy location and let the artillery and helicopter gunships bombard the area with everything they got. No casualties needed on the side of the Marines. Marines soldiers lives are not pawns in chess that needs to be sacrificed in every encounter. There are many ways win war and need not waste precious lives of these soldiers. The US even effectively fight against Iraq by limiting troops deployment and contented in air strikes and artillery bombardment.