Great Battlefield Report from Baqubah

[Kirkhill]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0721/p01s03-woiq.htm

Well worth reading in full.

 

[Smoothbore]

Once again the M1A1 saves the day, imagine a MGS attempting the same type of raid...scared to think what might happen.

 

[RCA]

... unsettling stalemate between US forces unrivaled in firepower and a maturing network of insurgents able to manipulate a passive population, strike, and slip away to fight another day. US commanders acknowledge that as their troops pull back, insurgents ... will work to continue the cycle of violence, exploiting the weakness of XXXX fledgling government and security forces while recruiting and intimidating the people.

Does this sound like a blast from the past?

 

[Kirkhill]

The Romans would have recognized it RCA.  ;D

 

[Jarnhamar]

Iraq is screwed. The more the US pull out the more american-friendly iraq organizations will be targeted and killed.

Someone made an excellent point in another thread.  How smart would it be making a black man the govener of a state in the south a few days after the civil war. (Regarding women police officers in iraq)

These people will be prime targets.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

What kind of stoppage do you get in a 25mm that requires a 8 lb sledge?

 

[JasonH]

Used a sledge on the turret?  What, was it dented or something.  Must of taken a hell of a whack.

 

[Gunnar]

Just keep in mind that those Iraqi policeman who stand their ground are, as they say, fighting for the Americans.  They understand that the Americans stand for freedom, for a new Iraq.  They want a piece of that.  They've already seen that the Yanks don't stand for corruption in the way their previous leaders did...and that it makes a difference.

But if the Americans betray that promise and pull out too soon, there won't be too many loyal police officers left to shoot.  They'll desert by the thousands.

Interesting how a lot of the insurgents have non-Iraqi accents though, eh?  Makes you wonder about the "Iraqi insurgents" we keep hearing about.

 

[Slim]

Wow

I just finished reading the report. It takes alot of balls to do what those Iraqi cops are doing! My hat's off to them!

But as for Iraq itself...I stopped believing some time ago that there will be a happy ending this time.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Slim