Stand Up! Stand Down! Fight! Fight! Fight!
The current U.S./Iraqi offensive operation in Ramadi is the latest attempt to control the chaos that's been raging in that city since the fall of Baghdad. A key component of the plan is that once American troops secure an area, they'll turn it over to Iraqi forces.
But are Iraqi forces up to the task?
Lieutenant Colonel Raad Niaf Haroosh, commander of the Iraqi battalion in Ramidi, only has 145 of his troops committed to the operation. He left 500 of them back in Mosul. Why? According to Colonel Raad, it's because they fear that they'll create tribal vendettas if they kill fellow Iraqis. "They said, 'We don't want fight our own people.'"Isn't that dandy? NPR reports that recruits have to pay a $600 bribe to get into Colonel Raad's battalion. If I could serve in a battalion where I didn't have to fight if I didn't want to, I'd pay money to get into it too. Staying back at the base and peeling potatoes beats the heck out of getting shot at…
…We've arrived at a point where we're fighting Iraqis because the Iraqis don't want to fight among themselves. How many American troops are in harm's way in Ramadi right now because 500 Iraqi soldiers got to sit this dance out and wax the floors in the barracks instead?
See the entire article at ePluribus Media.
Comments
Up to the task or not, it's the Iraqis' task to do. It's time they got down to it.
IIRC, this makes the FIFTH time the troops have gone into Ramadi. The last four times were, I think Marines, and their major accomplishment was to kill a lot of people and raze a city of more than 100,000 and make it unlivable for the survivors.
The Iraqis are not going to pacify a city filled with patriotic resisters. That is what they are, by now, thanks to Mr Bush. We, the US, have assumed the place of Hessians. The Iraqi Army and National Police represent the Loyalists, and the resisters are the Revolutionaries fighting for a free, unoccupied country of their own.
Let's see, if the Iraqis don't want to fight Iraqis, then who do they want to fight?
Hmm, let's see. Who has a target on their chest in Iraq right now? Oh yeah, that's right, it's *AMERICAN* soldiers!
Does anybody still believe that American soldiers are doing anything at all to help Iraq to become a peaceful place? It seems that the only soldiers that anybody wants to fight there are American soldiers... no American soldiers, no fight. Hmm... I call a Murtha here!
- Badtux the 1+1=2 Penguin
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