A pretty decent story (albeit depressing) about the troubles faced in training Iraqi troops:
American Sgt. LaDaunte Strickland, sweat pouring down his face, stared at the four Iraqi soldiers sitting in the shade of a truck.
They were supposed to be helping Strickland and a group of U.S. Marines man a vehicle-control point, a basic operation in which troops hope to catch insurgents at traffic stops they set up quickly on the roadsides.
“Come on. Come on! Get up,” said Strickland, 30, of Cleveland, stabbing a cigar in the air to make his point. “Damn, will you PLEASE get up!”
The Iraqis didn’t stir. Without an interpreter – a common occurrence – the Iraqis didn’t understand Strickland, no matter how loud he got…
The Iraqi National Guard, heralded last year as the answer to security in the area, has been disbanded because morale was low and insurgents had infiltrated it. The old national guard trucks, with their blue emblems, now sit rusting. As with the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, the predecessor to the national guard, American officials say the new Iraqi army and police will establish security in places such as Anbar.
However, the police force has collapsed in Ramadi, the provincial capital. Two divisions of Iraqi soldiers – a total of 12,000 men – are to establish security, but so far only 2,000 are available, and half of them lack basic training.
Hit, a city of 130,000, has no police force. North of Hit, in Haditha – near the site of attacks that killed 20 Marines this month – the police chief handed over all the patrol cars to the Marines in January.
“He said, “We can’t protect these anymore,'” said Maj. Plauche St. Romain, the head intelligence officer for the Marine battalion that oversees Haditha, Haqlaniya and Hit. “He turned in the uniforms and (armor) vests, too.”
That police chief was assassinated in April.
Read it all.
Jim Henley
Clearly we are just not insulting Cindy Sheehan enough to fix these problems.
John Cole
I blame Frank Rich. How dare he say that grieving mother is a circus? Smear merchant.
Just Some Guy
I blame the America hating liberals. I’m sure those Iraqis sitting by the truck would have done their jobs if it wasn’t for MoveOn.org.
Kimmitt
This all leaves out the vital fact that Michael Moore is fat.
jobiuspublius
“Our strategy is straightforward,” Bush said. “As Iraqis stand up, Americans will stand down. And when Iraqi forces can defend their freedom by taking more and more of the fight to the enemy, our troops will come home with the honor they have earned.”
Where do I begin? Oh, yes, lets all hold hands and pray with Dear leader.
Joe Albanese
John Cole:
John, you don’t do sarcasm very well, better stick to just being snarky.
Tim F
Every post on this thread is ironic.
It doesn’t amuse me that our kids will be drafted to keep this idiotic adventure going.
kl
He sure told you, John! It’s like you made a movie and got a bad review from Helen Keller.
Why not use that crystal ball for something useful, like picking this week’s Powerball?
S.W. Anderson
Skeezix the cat, a valued member of our family for about 15 years, is smarter than most people and indepedendent as can be.
The nicest easychair in the best spot in the living room is basically his, and he at times thoroughly enjoys curling up in it. But no member of the family can put him in that chair without him jumping down and walking off, scowling.
You see, it has to be his idea.
A president, vice president and secretaries of State and Defense who knew their butts from their bunions would know our efforts at training and deploying an Iraqi military aren’t working because none of this is the Iraqis’ idea.
U.S. leaders worth their weight in patriotic platitudes would also have a pretty good idea why, in all probability, the constitution and government we install will be early victims of several years of civil war and upheaval — leading, most likely, to a Shiite theocratic client state dominated by Iran.
Don’t be surprised if the Kurds secede. Don’t be surprised if the Sunnis become what the Palestinians have been, to absolutely everyone’s never-ending grief.
jobiuspublius
“Don’t be surprised if the Kurds secede.”
==========================================
I can easily forsee a local arms race and another regional war. “Kurdistan” versus, Turkey, Iran, Siria, and “Iraq”. Now, whose side do we choose and how much will it cost us, again?
jobiuspublius
Oh, lets not forget the scapegoating we’re liable to get from all this fun in the sun.
wilson
Seems to me the best way to get the Shiites to fall in line is to build a solid Sunni officer corps, assuming one can find enough reliable Sunnis. If one goes to the peasants (Shiites) and calls for an army, nothing will happen because of lack of leadership. One needs to have the traditional leaders in the mix – the Sunnis.
If the Shiites see the Sunnis forming into units, Shiites will either fall in with Sunnis or create their own army that they are willing to live and die for. Either way, the US can bow out becasue a) the new army is formed or b) there are two competing armies which can and should settle their differences with their own civil war, negotiations, bombings, anarchy, etc.
We then become the diplomats and do all we can to dissuade Iran or other Arab groups from interfering. We can also throw out ideas, such as partition or three way partition without promising to build a country, bring democracy, rebuild the infrastructure, bring equal rights, crush theocratic fascists, wipe out terrorists, etc. We can and should then move to a GSAVE (diplomatic effort) as opposed to a GWOT (military effort), as Rumsfeld suggests.
My 2 cents. I supported the attack on Iraq and still support the efforts their. I am happy to stay the course, but would like to see the “course” rationally articulated, with realism in place of idealism.
DougJ
Then you should trust the president. He’s taken us this far in the war on terror. I don’t see why you should start questioning him now.
Jimmy Jazz
No, the best trained, best equipped military in the world can’t defeat the insurgency, but these Iraqi cheeseheads with technicals are going to do it. And as we stand down I’m going to throw up.
Let’s face it: the militias are the only ones who have the training, equipment, and morale, and they wouldn’t know a unified Iraq from a hole in the ground.
Luddite
The lack of any conservatives in this thread (NOT counting the jejune DougJ Troll) is very telling.
Rick
This is another manifestation of Arab military “prowess.” Lack of initiative and competence has been ingrained over centuries. That’s why we rolled over Saddam’s “world’s 4th (or whatever the number was by ’03) largest standing army” with only three divisions in three weeks.
And it’s why the “insurgents” are getting chopped up in every scrimmage. Thus their near total reliance on bombs.
On the upside, this lassitude is much to Israel’s salvation.
Cordially…
Joe Albanese
Not to fear. Our Leader is optimistic