Email from American Security Contractor in Iraq

[MonstaThrilla]

Josh Marshall

The fighting two nights ago was loud and widespread throughout the northern and northwestern parts of Baghdad ... areas such as Yarmouk, Sadr City had almost continuous gunfights and rocket attacks. When we heard US forces using the main gun on M-1 tanks at 1 AM we knew it was serious insurgency at hand. The night is no longer the refuge and domain of the Americans. I have to tell you although the wide open areas of Iraq give a false sense of security. Even though much of this is unseen to most people the situation has gone from bad to really bad to unbelievably bad! Westerners are getting hit everywhere. Security companies escorting CPA, themselves and other Westerners are now on the menu for all the armed resistance groups. There was a report of a massive ambush by one security firm that tried to drive in from Amman. Reports have 25-40 gunmen opening up on them. They lost all of their vehicles and had to be given a mercy lift by a passing Iraqi minivan. Several other firms lost western security personnel killed this week in drive-by ambushes and even a seige by the Sadr Militia. Several NGOs, security firms and military bases were literally under siege for days in Kut, Nasiriyah and Baghdad. The boldness and sophistication of the attacks is staggering and it is clear that every one of the resistance fighters and Islamic militiamen have taken heart at the ease of inflicting damage on the Westerners. The abductions of the Japanese hostages is a sign that we have entered a new phase of bad as abduction requires a permissive environment for the hostage taker.

I refer to this entire mess as the second Intifada of Iraq. The first Intifida was last August in Fallujah when US soldiers killed 15-17 Iraqis and Fallujah fell into revolt. Vehicles are being hit where they are easiest to find and the security firms who are here to protect the Westerners are taking casualties because the US Army and Marines are literally stretched thin throughout the country and quite over their own capacity to stop the violence. The resistance's combat operational center of mass is and will continue moving from known mass resistance organizations (such as uniformed Badr Brigade) to small leaderless or autonomous teams or supporters who are now deciding to do what they please to the first target available. Those targets are easy ... Westerners. Any and all. This burst of energy won't last long though ...

I suspect we will have a cool down period in the next few days or within a week but it will be simply to "re-arm and re-fuel for re-strike and re-venge." A true sustained explosion of violence has yet to be coordinated by the myriad of resistance teams but as the independent or semi-centralized resistance groups form, choose leadership and communicate at the internet cafes, you can be pretty sure the second wave of violence is going to come and it will be equally, if not more, dramatic. This time it won't be men in black uniforms, they have learned that lesson in Najaf ... They will shift to urban terrorism and un-uniformed attacks. God forbid if Sadr is killed or captured ... then we have an entire second front that won't give up until we leave.

General Kimmet is wrong if he thinks that he will destroy the Badr brigade or Sadr Army as a military organization because there isn't really one ... he will disperse them into small, highly armed teams of friends and ... voila! Al Qaeda-Iraq or Hezbollah-Iraq will be borne in numbers we will not be able to control. Since the ICDC [the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps] seem to have run off and joined the opposition in Nasiriyah it may reflect the true loyalties of the new Iraqi army and Police. No one is going to cross their family, tribe or religious community for the Americans.

The correct answer is to back off, leave Sadr alone and start to throw lots of money into jobs projects and utilities for the south before this summer's electricity and gas shortages ... will that work? Probably not. But we have just antagonized the core of the Shiite resistance and putting them to work is better than letting them fight us 24/7. General Sanchez is right about one thing ... this is not Vietnam ... Oh no, its not that easy. I refer you to Israel humiliating defeat in Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah's armed resistance for a reference to our potential future.

God bless the creator of blogs. Without them, we couldn't get first hand, raw accounts like this.

 

[Crimson]

Originally posted by: MonstaThrilla
Josh Marshall

The fighting two nights ago was loud and widespread throughout the northern and northwestern parts of Baghdad ... areas such as Yarmouk, Sadr City had almost continuous gunfights and rocket attacks. When we heard US forces using the main gun on M-1 tanks at 1 AM we knew it was serious insurgency at hand. The night is no longer the refuge and domain of the Americans. I have to tell you although the wide open areas of Iraq give a false sense of security. Even though much of this is unseen to most people the situation has gone from bad to really bad to unbelievably bad! Westerners are getting hit everywhere. Security companies escorting CPA, themselves and other Westerners are now on the menu for all the armed resistance groups. There was a report of a massive ambush by one security firm that tried to drive in from Amman. Reports have 25-40 gunmen opening up on them. They lost all of their vehicles and had to be given a mercy lift by a passing Iraqi minivan. Several other firms lost western security personnel killed this week in drive-by ambushes and even a seige by the Sadr Militia. Several NGOs, security firms and military bases were literally under siege for days in Kut, Nasiriyah and Baghdad. The boldness and sophistication of the attacks is staggering and it is clear that every one of the resistance fighters and Islamic militiamen have taken heart at the ease of inflicting damage on the Westerners. The abductions of the Japanese hostages is a sign that we have entered a new phase of bad as abduction requires a permissive environment for the hostage taker.

I refer to this entire mess as the second Intifada of Iraq. The first Intifida was last August in Fallujah when US soldiers killed 15-17 Iraqis and Fallujah fell into revolt. Vehicles are being hit where they are easiest to find and the security firms who are here to protect the Westerners are taking casualties because the US Army and Marines are literally stretched thin throughout the country and quite over their own capacity to stop the violence. The resistance's combat operational center of mass is and will continue moving from known mass resistance organizations (such as uniformed Badr Brigade) to small leaderless or autonomous teams or supporters who are now deciding to do what they please to the first target available. Those targets are easy ... Westerners. Any and all. This burst of energy won't last long though ...

I suspect we will have a cool down period in the next few days or within a week but it will be simply to "re-arm and re-fuel for re-strike and re-venge." A true sustained explosion of violence has yet to be coordinated by the myriad of resistance teams but as the independent or semi-centralized resistance groups form, choose leadership and communicate at the internet cafes, you can be pretty sure the second wave of violence is going to come and it will be equally, if not more, dramatic. This time it won't be men in black uniforms, they have learned that lesson in Najaf ... They will shift to urban terrorism and un-uniformed attacks. God forbid if Sadr is killed or captured ... then we have an entire second front that won't give up until we leave.

General Kimmet is wrong if he thinks that he will destroy the Badr brigade or Sadr Army as a military organization because there isn't really one ... he will disperse them into small, highly armed teams of friends and ... voila! Al Qaeda-Iraq or Hezbollah-Iraq will be borne in numbers we will not be able to control. Since the ICDC [the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps] seem to have run off and joined the opposition in Nasiriyah it may reflect the true loyalties of the new Iraqi army and Police. No one is going to cross their family, tribe or religious community for the Americans.

The correct answer is to back off, leave Sadr alone and start to throw lots of money into jobs projects and utilities for the south before this summer's electricity and gas shortages ... will that work? Probably not. But we have just antagonized the core of the Shiite resistance and putting them to work is better than letting them fight us 24/7. General Sanchez is right about one thing ... this is not Vietnam ... Oh no, its not that easy. I refer you to Israel humiliating defeat in Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah's armed resistance for a reference to our potential future.

God bless the creator of blogs. Without them, we couldn't get first hand, raw accounts like this.

Yeah they are just upset about the lack of electricity.. We just need to feel their pain more.. understand them better.. then they won't kill us.

Yeah right.. the answer is MORE force. Kill them all. They are terrorists. And I wish you liberals would stop comparing this to Vietnam. We lost 60,000 lives in Vietnam..

 

[Bowfinger]

Originally posted by: Crimson
And I wish you liberals would stop comparing this to Vietnam. We lost 60,000 lives in Vietnam..

So you're good until we lose 59,300 more?

 

[Crimson]

Originally posted by: Bowfinger

Originally posted by: Crimson
And I wish you liberals would stop comparing this to Vietnam. We lost 60,000 lives in Vietnam..

So you're good until we lose 59,300 more?

*I* did not make the comparison to Vietnam.. the author of the article did.. saying this was not as easy as Vietnam.. I think he is trivializing the death of 60,000 Americans.

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: Crimson
Kill them all. They are terrorists.

Kill all of whom? Kill everyone who lives in Fallujah? Just murder everyone in the whole town?

Why stop there?

 

[Witling]

Crimson, I hope you don't have to run anything more complicated than your mouth! Kill them all, huh? That's what, about 24 million people and some spare change. Are you willing to put up with that kind of death? If the answer is "yes," or if you even have to think about it, please refer to the first sentence.

 

[Genesys]

Originally posted by: Witling
Crimson, I hope you don't have to run anything more complicated than your mouth! Kill them all, huh? That's what, about 24 million people and some spare change. Are you willing to put up with that kind of death? If the answer is "yes," or if you even have to think about it, please refer to the first sentence.

dont follow context clues well? hes referring to terrorists, not the whole of Iraq, or the middle east. and yes, ill agree with crimson, no mercy for terrorists, just kill them all and be done with it.

 

[Crimson]

Originally posted by: Genesys

Originally posted by: Witling
Crimson, I hope you don't have to run anything more complicated than your mouth! Kill them all, huh? That's what, about 24 million people and some spare change. Are you willing to put up with that kind of death? If the answer is "yes," or if you even have to think about it, please refer to the first sentence.

dont follow context clues well? hes referring to terrorists, not the whole of Iraq, or the middle east. and yes, ill agree with crimson, no mercy for terrorists, just kill them all and be done with it.

Exactly..

 

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: Crimson

Originally posted by: Genesys

Originally posted by: Witling
Crimson, I hope you don't have to run anything more complicated than your mouth! Kill them all, huh? That's what, about 24 million people and some spare change. Are you willing to put up with that kind of death? If the answer is "yes," or if you even have to think about it, please refer to the first sentence.

dont follow context clues well? hes referring to terrorists, not the whole of Iraq, or the middle east. and yes, ill agree with crimson, no mercy for terrorists, just kill them all and be done with it.

Exactly..

So, which ones do you decide to kill?

Rock throwers?
Any iraqi who disagrees with the US mission?

How do you and Genesys know how to decide which ones are terrorists?


I agree that terrorists need to be shot and let us take care of the burials any way we choose..

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple....

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: Crimson

Originally posted by: Genesys

Originally posted by: Witling
Crimson, I hope you don't have to run anything more complicated than your mouth! Kill them all, huh? That's what, about 24 million people and some spare change. Are you willing to put up with that kind of death? If the answer is "yes," or if you even have to think about it, please refer to the first sentence.

dont follow context clues well? hes referring to terrorists, not the whole of Iraq, or the middle east. and yes, ill agree with crimson, no mercy for terrorists, just kill them all and be done with it.

Exactly..

So, which ones do you decide to kill?

Rock throwers?
Any iraqi who disagrees with the US mission?

How do you and Genesys know how to decide which ones are terrorists?


I agree that terrorists need to be shot and let us take care of the burials any way we choose..

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple....

Find the ones that are defending themselves.

 

[Bleep]

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple...

In reality it is simple, if someone shoots at you he /she is a terrorist. You see Islam is like a bunch of maggots, they want to eat up everything and everybody in site. Sure a lot of opinion here from people who have never experienced war or getting shot at giving advice on how to win a battle.
I also believe that the origional posted letter is fake, the person writing it has a lot of facts wrong.
You have to know how the military operates, they will keep doing the same thing over and over even if it does not work, there have been 7 roadside bombs in the same area (within 100 meters) and we keep going down the same road at the same time every day. I do not think that the average Iraqi deserves our help or support, none have supported us, the security forces change sides in the middle of a battle or just bug out. Their are a lot of things wrong over there one of them is that the people do not support our troops. We are pretty much going it alone except for the Brits.

Bleep

 

[MadRat]

Don't tell the Pollocks that last quip.

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: MonstaThrilla
Josh Marshall

[...]

God bless the creator of blogs. Without them, we couldn't get first hand, raw accounts like this.

Indeed.

By the way, Josh once incessantly ranted and sniveled regarding Trent Lott, as many in the blogsphere will recall. However, when a blogger with connections to the National Review asks him about Senator Dodd's remarks and why he won't touch the subject with a 10 foot pole, for some strange reason, Josh remains conspicuously and mysteriously silent.

Heh, good old Josh.

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: Crimson

Originally posted by: MonstaThrilla
Josh Marshall

The fighting two nights ago was loud and widespread throughout the northern and northwestern parts of Baghdad ... areas such as Yarmouk, Sadr City had almost continuous gunfights and rocket attacks. When we heard US forces using the main gun on M-1 tanks at 1 AM we knew it was serious insurgency at hand. The night is no longer the refuge and domain of the Americans. I have to tell you although the wide open areas of Iraq give a false sense of security. Even though much of this is unseen to most people the situation has gone from bad to really bad to unbelievably bad! Westerners are getting hit everywhere. Security companies escorting CPA, themselves and other Westerners are now on the menu for all the armed resistance groups. There was a report of a massive ambush by one security firm that tried to drive in from Amman. Reports have 25-40 gunmen opening up on them. They lost all of their vehicles and had to be given a mercy lift by a passing Iraqi minivan. Several other firms lost western security personnel killed this week in drive-by ambushes and even a seige by the Sadr Militia. Several NGOs, security firms and military bases were literally under siege for days in Kut, Nasiriyah and Baghdad. The boldness and sophistication of the attacks is staggering and it is clear that every one of the resistance fighters and Islamic militiamen have taken heart at the ease of inflicting damage on the Westerners. The abductions of the Japanese hostages is a sign that we have entered a new phase of bad as abduction requires a permissive environment for the hostage taker.

I refer to this entire mess as the second Intifada of Iraq. The first Intifida was last August in Fallujah when US soldiers killed 15-17 Iraqis and Fallujah fell into revolt. Vehicles are being hit where they are easiest to find and the security firms who are here to protect the Westerners are taking casualties because the US Army and Marines are literally stretched thin throughout the country and quite over their own capacity to stop the violence. The resistance's combat operational center of mass is and will continue moving from known mass resistance organizations (such as uniformed Badr Brigade) to small leaderless or autonomous teams or supporters who are now deciding to do what they please to the first target available. Those targets are easy ... Westerners. Any and all. This burst of energy won't last long though ...

I suspect we will have a cool down period in the next few days or within a week but it will be simply to "re-arm and re-fuel for re-strike and re-venge." A true sustained explosion of violence has yet to be coordinated by the myriad of resistance teams but as the independent or semi-centralized resistance groups form, choose leadership and communicate at the internet cafes, you can be pretty sure the second wave of violence is going to come and it will be equally, if not more, dramatic. This time it won't be men in black uniforms, they have learned that lesson in Najaf ... They will shift to urban terrorism and un-uniformed attacks. God forbid if Sadr is killed or captured ... then we have an entire second front that won't give up until we leave.

General Kimmet is wrong if he thinks that he will destroy the Badr brigade or Sadr Army as a military organization because there isn't really one ... he will disperse them into small, highly armed teams of friends and ... voila! Al Qaeda-Iraq or Hezbollah-Iraq will be borne in numbers we will not be able to control. Since the ICDC [the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps] seem to have run off and joined the opposition in Nasiriyah it may reflect the true loyalties of the new Iraqi army and Police. No one is going to cross their family, tribe or religious community for the Americans.

The correct answer is to back off, leave Sadr alone and start to throw lots of money into jobs projects and utilities for the south before this summer's electricity and gas shortages ... will that work? Probably not. But we have just antagonized the core of the Shiite resistance and putting them to work is better than letting them fight us 24/7. General Sanchez is right about one thing ... this is not Vietnam ... Oh no, its not that easy. I refer you to Israel humiliating defeat in Southern Lebanon by Hezbollah's armed resistance for a reference to our potential future.

God bless the creator of blogs. Without them, we couldn't get first hand, raw accounts like this.

Yeah they are just upset about the lack of electricity.. We just need to feel their pain more.. understand them better.. then they won't kill us.

Yeah right.. the answer is MORE force. Kill them all. They are terrorists. And I wish you liberals would stop comparing this to Vietnam. We lost 60,000 lives in Vietnam..

And they are getting more electrical power now than they did from Saddam. This is about a few losing their political power...

 

[alchemize]

God bless partisan posters. Without them, we couldn't get them to sift through blogs, quotes, and commentary to cherry pick things to screech "quagmire! Vietnam!" and ignore the rest.

 

[burnedout]

Originally posted by: charrison

And they are getting more electrical power now than they did from Saddam. This is about a few losing their political power...

True

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, (voice-over): Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi students have returned to refurbished classrooms where teachers are being paid a living wage. For the first time, schools are getting computers. But students say the security situation makes it difficult for them to take advantage of the improvements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not safe. The driver who take us to college carry a gun with him in order to protect us. Really fed up from the situation. I don't know what's -- when it will be solved this problem. I don't know. And I'm hopeless. Believe me.

CLANCY: Some improvements don't hinge on security.

Electricity has been restored to levels well above those before the coalition invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. Clean water also widely available, sometimes in rural areas that never had it before the coalition arrived.

Newspapers and the media are flourishing, there are estimated to be around 200 newspapers published, representing views that Iraqis were never able to hear before. Telephone communications not only restored, but international links are available that were never possible before. And there are several major cellphone providers, as well.

Internet access, unheard of under Saddam Hussein, is now open along with dozens of Internet cafes, allowing users without computers to get on the Internet for communication and research.

Iraqi hospitals, they have seen some improvement, although much more is expected on that front in the coming year. The U.S. is preparing to spend more than $1 billion on new and existing healthcare facilities.

One of the biggest changes Iraqis see is that their own security forces are being trained and ready, but they are not ready yet.

(on camera): A year after arriving here, some members of the U.S.-led coalition say they can't fix everything. They complain that too many Iraqis are standing on the sidelines watching and waiting instead of seizing the opportunities already taking shape in their country. Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CNN

 

[Witling]

HEAVILY EDITED to complete change the thrust of the original post.

I'm sorry that I didn't post this particular part of my thoughts when this started. Personally, I view bloggers with suspician unless I know something about it. And I say that with respect to this particular blogger. It's well known that someone on the right manufactured some "letters from the front." I never expect that the right will do something that the left will not do.

I may owe Crimson an apology. As to his remarks about "Kill them all." Here's the context.

"Yeah they are just upset about the lack of electricity.. We just need to feel their pain more.. understand them better.. then they won't kill us.

Yeah right.. the answer is MORE force. Kill them all. They are terrorists. And I wish you liberals would stop comparing this to Vietnam. We lost 60,000 lives in Vietnam.."

This may be sarcasm, but if it is, it isn't apparent to me.

 

[MadRat]

These people are not terrorists, they are insurgents. Terrorists target civilians, something that private security firms loosely fall under. The problem is that these private security firms have as little business carrying weapons as do any of these other morons running around carrying AK's and bagsticks. This is a rebellion, folks, and all of Fallujah is the problem so punish all of them sick bastards.

Only one plan will finish this:

1. The main highway and every other road in Fallujah must be shut down and siege laid to the city.
2. Every last person from Fallujah needs to be detained and checked for gunpowder burns, etc. (to test if they participated in rebellion)
3. The houses need to be taken one by one by the Iraqi guard units.
4. When the city is clean, then let ONLY THOSE that pledge allegiance to the current Iraqi regime go free.
5. Lock the others up for a minimum of a year or ban them from Fallujah outright. (outright exile is very severe treatment over there)

Conquering Fallujah by killing off their able-bodied men will only sparkle bloodshed across the Sunni Triangle as a whole. Iran is festering Sadr's rebellion, not Al Queda. This is a Shiite problem, with the stand being made on the Sunni turf, using Sunni people. The lesson here is never trust your enemy to help you if he's only going to help you DIE in YOUR BACKYARD. Sadr is using the Sunnies to exterminate themselves. Iran's fundementalist movement is the source of evil in Iraq as we speak. It is not Al Queda.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: Bleep

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple...

In reality it is simple, if someone shoots at you he /she is a terrorist. You see Islam is like a bunch of maggots, they want to eat up everything and everybody in site. Sure a lot of opinion here from people who have never experienced war or getting shot at giving advice on how to win a battle.
I also believe that the origional posted letter is fake, the person writing it has a lot of facts wrong.
You have to know how the military operates, they will keep doing the same thing over and over even if it does not work, there have been 7 roadside bombs in the same area (within 100 meters) and we keep going down the same road at the same time every day. I do not think that the average Iraqi deserves our help or support, none have supported us, the security forces change sides in the middle of a battle or just bug out. Their are a lot of things wrong over there one of them is that the people do not support our troops. We are pretty much going it alone except for the Brits.

Bleep

Would that be a grounds for a ban or what? Its amazing how I see crap like this all the time on ATPN, yet when Christianity is criticizzed in a MUCH more civilized manner all the fundies throw all their arms i the air, and when someone criticizes the government of Isreal the term Anti-Semite has been tossed around so much its lost its meaning

 

[Zephyr106]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: Bleep

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple...

In reality it is simple, if someone shoots at you he /she is a terrorist. You see Islam is like a bunch of maggots, they want to eat up everything and everybody in site. Sure a lot of opinion here from people who have never experienced war or getting shot at giving advice on how to win a battle.
I also believe that the origional posted letter is fake, the person writing it has a lot of facts wrong.
You have to know how the military operates, they will keep doing the same thing over and over even if it does not work, there have been 7 roadside bombs in the same area (within 100 meters) and we keep going down the same road at the same time every day. I do not think that the average Iraqi deserves our help or support, none have supported us, the security forces change sides in the middle of a battle or just bug out. Their are a lot of things wrong over there one of them is that the people do not support our troops. We are pretty much going it alone except for the Brits.

Bleep

Would that be a grounds for a ban or what? Its amazing how I see crap like this all the time on ATPN, yet when Christianity is criticizzed in a MUCH more civilized manner all the fundies throw all their arms i the air, and when someone criticizes the government of Isreal the term Anti-Semite has been tossed around so much its lost its meaning

You sound like an evil liberal. Why don't you realize that it's fashionable to criticize Islam. And Christians and Jews are Godly, hence they cannot be criticized.

Zephyr

 

[MAW1082]

Yeah just because we invaded their country and killed thousands of their fellow countrymen, Iraqis certainly don't have the right to fight back. Grow a brain here kids. We invaded their country. They don't want us there. They're fighting us for control of their own destiny. These aren't terrorists like Al-Qaeda but they're fighting for the same thing now: to get the foreign occupying arymies off Arab lands.

If you can't get that through you head, I don't know what else to tell you other than to just keep you head in the sand like it has been for the past three years.

 

[Dman877]

Originally posted by: MAW1082
Yeah just because we invaded their country and killed thousands of their fellow countrymen, Iraqis certainly don't have the right to fight back. Grow a brain here kids. We invaded their country. They don't want us there. They're fighting us for control of their own destiny. These aren't terrorists like Al-Qaeda but they're fighting for the same thing now: to get the foreign occupying arymies off Arab lands.

If you can't get that through you head, I don't know what else to tell you other than to just keep you head in the sand like it has been for the past three years.

I agree completely MAW. Have some empathy people, our troops are OCCUPYING THEIR COUNTRY. And it is looking more and more like Vietnam. Both places, we were/are opposing a popular movement involving people very different in all ways from ourselves and in both places, neither early exit or complete victory was/is a possibility. Either we get out now and let a bloody civil war ensue, or we stay another few years, watch 1000's of people, ours and theirs die, and then pullout, paving the way for guess what? a bloody civil war. Our only other option is to send Saddam back...

Something else to consider, Iraq was a secular state before we invaded and Saddam brutally repressed any form of opposing power, this included Al Qaeda and any other terrorist organization. Now we have created a hotbed of terrorists and reinforced Al Qaeda-like views in many, formerly moderate muslims.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: Zephyr106

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: Bleep

I am just curious how you guys know who to pick as a terrorist? You make it sound so simple...

In reality it is simple, if someone shoots at you he /she is a terrorist. You see Islam is like a bunch of maggots, they want to eat up everything and everybody in site. Sure a lot of opinion here from people who have never experienced war or getting shot at giving advice on how to win a battle.
I also believe that the origional posted letter is fake, the person writing it has a lot of facts wrong.
You have to know how the military operates, they will keep doing the same thing over and over even if it does not work, there have been 7 roadside bombs in the same area (within 100 meters) and we keep going down the same road at the same time every day. I do not think that the average Iraqi deserves our help or support, none have supported us, the security forces change sides in the middle of a battle or just bug out. Their are a lot of things wrong over there one of them is that the people do not support our troops. We are pretty much going it alone except for the Brits.

Bleep

Would that be a grounds for a ban or what? Its amazing how I see crap like this all the time on ATPN, yet when Christianity is criticizzed in a MUCH more civilized manner all the fundies throw all their arms i the air, and when someone criticizes the government of Isreal the term Anti-Semite has been tossed around so much its lost its meaning

You sound like an evil liberal. Why don't you realize that it's fashionable to criticize Islam. And Christians and Jews are Godly, hence they cannot be criticized.

Zephyr

I think people need to realize that bleep was being sarcastic as he sometimes is during one of his cranky posts here in the P&N forum. I'm sure it wasn't clear to some who haven't talked with bleep before or haven't read many of his posts but his post clearly was sarcastic regarding the maggot comment.

CkG

 

[StormRider]

I think this makes sense and we should back off. I see a lot of things that make me worry that we're becoming the next Israel in the eyes of the Iraqis.

 

[MadRat]

You don't get it. We cannot back off. The U.S. can only become embolded and go on the offensive, out-masculine the thugs at their own game. The war has to assume a stability in the cities by cutting off rebellious cities. The Iraqi nationals need to create accountability in their own country and the U.S. needs to play their pawns for awhile until they are ready to be weened. The dangerous people need to be mapped out and the base of resistance slowly corralled in a systematic and deliberate way, although it must remain secretive. The problem with letting everyone know a schedule ahead of time is that bitching gains room. The schedules need to be consistent in idealism, but done in such a manner that they cannot outguess the prime movers. There are dozens of other strategies that need to be set, too, but it would take a book long post to explain the positions.