Iraqi report card (from the troops)

[Last_Z]

Hey guys,
We received ~15 guys yesterday fresh from Iraq. All these guys work in my shop, with me, side by side. I got a chance to talk to the Team Leader today, which happens to be my dearest friend and my first supervisor in the military. I've known this guys for almost 6 years and I can honestly tell you I trust him with my life.

TSgt C tells me life in Mosul (where he and the other guys were) was very hard. Air force guys are being merged into Army platoons and work side by side.
He told me our guys did a lot of convoy work (which happens to be one of the most dangerous work there) and got attacked many many times. They got attacked by mortar many times inside the base and by IED and small arms fire off base.
A new tactic the insurgents are using is to pour diesel fuel on the supply roads to soften up the pavement. Then they dig a hole in that spot and bury land mines and explosives and then put the pavement back on top. From the distance, the spot where the pavement was removed looks like a freshly repaired piece of road. When the convoys drive over the spot or near it, the insurgents detonate the explosives remotely. Other methods are burying explosives on the sides of the road, alternating from side to side to create sort of a kill zone, burying shells under trash piles, inside dead animals such as donkeys, and behind piles of bricks or other materials.

He also mentioned that in some cases the troops DO NOT have the necessary equipment to combat the insurgents. He said that when he first got there there would be one (1) gun truck for every 40 convoy trucks, giving the insurgents easy prey. The night vision goggles issued at first were old and of low resolution.....that's changing now he said. The troops do not have adequate communications equipment and training is needed on what they do have.
He also stated that the Army guys are very impressed with the performance of Air Force troops. He said that during convoy operations Army troops would hitch along for a ride to a base nearby with the Air Force boys. If our guys weren't driving that day (they alternated with the Army every other day), then they would wait until the next day instead of taking a ride in an Army convoy. Sgt C mentioned a lack of discipline and situational awareness has gotten a few Army guys killed. The example he gave was that when our guys do a convoy, everybody would always be scanning the surroundings for IEDs and insurgents and would shoot immediately upon seeing enemy forces. He then said that the Army guys would be much more relaxed, and would listen to CD players and even sleep during the drive.
We only lost one guy to an IED that exploded under his truck that even killed the trucker behind him.

As he was leaving Iraq, there were rumors about the Kurds getting upset over some land they had lost to Saddam back in the days that they still haven't regained. He said that apperently, the Kurds are ready to fight over this......he just didn't know who!

Finally and most disturbing......I specifically asked him if he thought we were making progress in Iraq as a whole. He said NO! He said the place was pure chaos. He said the troops were encouraged to do community work, but that under the circunstances they were in, it was almost impossible.
He didn't really give a specific reason why he thinks there has been no progress though. He also mentioned that some locals have said progress is being made.......which brings me to a possible explanation. Sgt C might me a bit confused since we take many things for granted....such as running water and electricity and opened schools. So he might be thinking a bit unrealistic and more in a USA kind of way.

I believe everything he said and learn from his experience, since I'll be going out there some time in the future. I typed this post for you guys to get real, unedited and non-partisan facts. One of our guys has more than 1k pictures in a DVD of which I've seen some and the destruction and carnage sure is chaotic.
Make your own conclusions!

 

[Rick in PA]

Ugh

Thanks for the post. I appreciate getting the straight shi... stuff.

 

[buster]

A little drama here...

Do we learn from history?

Is this history in the making?

Will Democracy reshape the region?

Is Bush a moron?

Is Bush a good leader?

Questions........

Looking at the world wars and wars in general, their are always periods of time that are tough. This is one of them. I hope we can secure that country as quickly as possible and then bring our troops home.

 

[k1xv]

I understand that we do not get the full story in the news because the journalists there only go to the relatively secure areas, mostly within Baghdad. I was watching FSTV tonight (which many of you probably have not seen, its on Dish Satellite TV) and the story told there is consistent with your report from the front.

Its a mess. We have a lot of Vermont Guard there for the population of our State. They are often in my thoughts.

 

[XS650]

Careful there Last_Z, if you don't blindly cheer for everything the administration is responsibe for in Iraq you are a Bush Basher.

 

[tweeker43]

one of the guys at our plant is back from iraq (he also did desert storm). his opinion was: too much conflict to get anything really productive done. the coalition troops don't / can't trust the natives. he said the guy you give breakfast in the morning is shooting at you in the afternoon. convoys will "light up" any overpass with people on it to keep things clear (he drove a truck).

he's really happy to be back to the michigan summer.

 

[Last_Z]

Rick,
You're welcome.

buster,
The answer to your questions will have to wait a few more years in order to give an accurate answer.

XS650,
I don't know if you are being sarcastic, but I've always been a Bush supporter. In fact, you and I have disagreed on his policies many times. I still believe the war was necessary and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I will NOT however change the facts or hide them. What you guys read above is exactly what I was told by Sgt C which came back from Iraq 2 days ago. If anyone wants to attack me for saying the truth.....then, go ahead, make my day!

tweeker,
My friend had the same experiences your friend had. The guys working on base who you assume are on your side, are trying to kill you at night. As you stated, it is hard to get anything productive done because of fears of attacks.
The phrase "light up" is very often used by our guys too.

Another tactic the insurgents are using is to freeze the mortar rounds at the tip of the mortar. They then place the mortar wherever they want to attack and leave. Once the ice melts, the round falls towards the firing pin and fires the round. By that time, the bad guys are long gone! Pretty ingenious huh!?
My friend also told me there are some bad guys that wear black clothes and hoods with white gloves and a picture of some "martyr" on their chest. Our troops have been ordered to "blast" those guys upon sight.......regarless of their actions.

Another disturbing piece of data I was told is that the number of insurgents is NOT what the media has told us. We've been told many times that insurgents range from 5k to 10k. Sgt C said officials there estimate now that the insurgency could be as high as 20k strong. Definitely bad news!!

Overall, I do believe progress is being made in Iraq. The insurgency problem is costing us many lives and slowing down the country. Great progress won't be made until the insurgency leaders are captured and their armies destroyed.

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

Its sad to say but this is typical Arab behavior. I deal on a business level and EVERY time I put myself out for one I get stabbed in the back so to speak. I feel bad for generalizing but this has been par for the course for the last 15 years for me.....It must be incredibly hard to operate in that environment when it means you or your buddies life...

 

[Bugzii]

quote:

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Originally posted by Last_Z:
Another disturbing piece of data I was told is that the number of insurgents is NOT what the media has told us. We've been told many times that insurgents range from 5k to 10k. Sgt C said officials there estimate now that the insurgency could be as high as 20k strong. Definitely bad news!!

---

Are we seeing a deja vu? No matter how fast US/Coalition troops kill the enemy, they can recruit faster? McNamara used to base his judgment of a battle on collateral damage. As long as we killed more of them, we were winning? Is Rummy working along this line of logic? Or is he smarter than that?

 

[buster]

http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2004/08/18/top_story/10053833.txt


How about the CIA report card? I think they should get an F . And Bush/Kerry get F's too for both admitting that they still would have gone to war based on what we know today.

 

[labman]

It is true the CIA has failed us, but it is totally unfair to criticize an agency that has not been given what it need and been allowed to do the job we needed.

As for Iraq, the whole middle east was a vast swamp with alligators up to our, our er ah .... We couldn't stop at just Afghanistan and Iraq was an excellent next step. If Kerry is elected and backs down, the next attack may make 911 look like a fender bender.

 

[Shannow]

labman,
seeing as Iraq had sweet F.A. to do with September 11, why was it an excellent next step ?

What's the step after ?

Does this mean that the U.S. really DOES want to take over hte middle east ?

 

[labman]

Bush declared war on all terrorism. We don't want to take over the middle east. We only want to stop cowardly attacks on our civilian population. We can't do that by quitting after punishing the last offender. Bill Clinton let the attacks grow doing little more than lobbing a missiles while gutting out intelligence capability.

It will be a great tragedy for Western civilization if enough fools manage to elect that idiot Kerry to return to Bill Clinton's disastrous policies.

I am afraid we may lose our whole way of life because too many people are only concerned about gay rights.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

I wouldn't blame Bubba for all the failures of U.S. intelligence.

The CIA found out the Berlin Wall was coming down just as most of us did, by watching television. The CIA and FBI had been more interested in each other than the interests of the nation for too long, if that doesn't stop we can forget the rest.

Back on topic, this weasel, Sadr, is calling for a cease fire in order to reload. Somebody better get smart and blow his head off before he plays this card too many more times.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:


Back on topic, this weasel, Sadr, is calling for a cease fire in order to reload. Somebody better get smart and blow his head off before he plays this card too many more times.

---

Now there is a flip flopper. That boy needs to be permanantly flopped. It would be ideal if the Iraqis would do it themselves.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

XS, I believe the Iraqis would eliminate Al-Sadr if given any opportunity.

 

[Mystic]

I get my hair cut by a woman who husband is in the Army. I finally got a chance to talk to him now that he is back from Iraq. He is still in the Army. He said he thought that it was good that Saddam Hussein and his evil sons are out of power. But he really did not seem very optimistic about the future of Iraq. I also found out that he does not support Bush, although he would not say much about that. I think he supports Kerry. I thanked him for his service to his country in Iraq.

 

[ex_MGB]

Here’s my take on the present situation in Iraq.

Reality Number One:

The only people that Iraqis “like” are family members. They tolerate clan members and grudgingly tolerate tribe members. Beyond that, they hate everyone else both inside and outside Iraq. For example, Iraqi Shiites hate Iranian (Persian) Shiites. With a passion, Iraqis hate Kuwaitis and Saudis. Indeed, everyone in the Middle East hates the Saudis the most.

Lesson One: The Iraqis will never “like” Americans. This is important for Americans to understand. Americans are not very good haters. It takes a lot of propaganda to get Americans to hate another people; indeed, many Americans inexplicably want other people to “like” them and are offended when they find this yearning unfulfilled.

Reality Number Two: Of all the countries the Iraqis hate, they hate America the least. The Iraqis hated Saddam and his regime. They see Europe and Russia as having supported Saddam. They hate the Brits from their previous occupation (where “Bomber” Harris, the “Hammer of Dresden” got his start) and the way the Brits split off Kuwait after WWI when the Iraqis were allied with the Brits against the Ottomans.

Lesson Two: The secret to American world strength is two fold. First is economic and military strength. The other is that America is the least hated country of significant importance in any particular region. For example, All the European countries hate America (even the Brits), but, they hate each other even more. This is true within the Middle East and indeed, throughout the world.

Today, for Iraq, America is the one option with great potential that the Iraqis have yet to exhaust. The average Iraqi wants peace and prosperity just like everyone else and the American option may provide this.

The quid pro quo, and the Iraqis know darn well there is always a quid pro quo, is that Iraq, a whole Iraq, not an Iraq split by civil war with the Brits getting the south and its oil and the Kurds (with backing by others) getting the north and its oil and the Americans stuck with central Iraq and a restive population; rather, a whole Iraq, as ally, is of immense potential to furthering American national security and global aims.

Hmmm… here’s a devilish thought…. in regards to Kuwait…

 

[Al]

quote:

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Originally posted by labman:


I am afraid we may lose our whole way of life because too many people are only concerned about gay rights.

---

Very true my friend

Fortunately Rossie O'Donnell (hater of guns, Bush, men, etc) will still have her butch and her bodyguard (with his/her gun) .

 

[tmorris1]

quote:

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Originally posted by GROUCHO MARX:
XS, I believe the Iraqis would eliminate Al-Sadr if given any opportunity.

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I think they would to0, but they are so worried about damaging their "Holy Shrines". Bomb it flat and kill the SOB, the whole country is nothing but a holy shrine anyway. I think every city in Iraq is called the Holy City of this or that! if you believe the bible Jesus destroyed one of his own churches because they were raising **** in it!