Iraqi troops reject Falluja duty

[Drift3r]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3618949.stm

Iraqi troops reject Falluja duty
US officers say there are risks in training a new army so quickly
A senior US military officer in Iraq has said that a battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to support US forces in the town of Falluja.

A report in the Washington Post newspaper said the 620-man battalion refused to go to Falluja after being shot at in a Shia area of Baghdad.

It was the first time US commanders had sought to involve post-war Iraqi forces in major combat operations.

The troops were quoted as saying they had not signed up to fight Iraqis.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who heads the US-led ground forces, said the incident had uncovered significant challenges within the new force, being trained ahead of the June handover of sovereignty.

Analysts say the incident has exposed serious weaknesses, casting further doubt on US plans to transfer security matters to Iraqis.

'Lines blurring'

The Washington Post quoted Major General Paul Eaton, who is overseeing the development of the new army, as saying that the situation was "a command failure". He refused to characterise it as a mutiny.

"The lines are blurring for a lot of Iraqis right now, and we're having problems with a lot of security functions," he said.

The troops were supposed to be given secondary tasks such as manning checkpoints and securing the perimeter, but had apparently not been told this.

"The battalion thought it was going to be thrown into a firestorm in Falluja," he said.

Lieutenant General Sanchez said there had clearly been risks in trying to set up reliable security forces quickly.

"The requirement for us to hand over security to the Iraqi people will depend upon our ability to quickly stand up their security forces...," he said. "And that's going to take us some time."

The battalion, which graduated from training camp on 6 January, is one of four in the new army.

 

[Shad0hawK]

the special forces units seem to be doing better

linky

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- When troops came banging on her door Wednesday, Fallujah resident Um Ahmad said she expected them to be some of the several hundred U.S. Marines who have been battling insurgents from a field near her government apartment building since Monday.

But when she opened the door, she was shocked to find an Iraqi face and hear an Arabic voice at her door instead.

Iraqi troops say her surprise has been a common reaction of Iraqi citizens to encounters with the newly formed Iraqi army special forces, who were first fielded in Baghdad in January and who made their debut Wednesday in Fallujah.

"They say, 'good!' " said Iraqi special forces soldier Mazin Fallah, 25, one of the nearly 60 Iraqi special operations troops who searched several apartment buildings room by room Wednesday after the troops were shelled with mortars.

"They say they are surprised but glad we are fighting," he said in the strained English he said he learned in college in Baghdad. "They say Iraq needs an Iraqi army, not more terrorists."

 

[Drift3r]

Originally posted by: Shad0hawK
the special forces units seem to be doing better

linky

FALLUJAH, Iraq ---- When troops came banging on her door Wednesday, Fallujah resident Um Ahmad said she expected them to be some of the several hundred U.S. Marines who have been battling insurgents from a field near her government apartment building since Monday.

But when she opened the door, she was shocked to find an Iraqi face and hear an Arabic voice at her door instead.

Iraqi troops say her surprise has been a common reaction of Iraqi citizens to encounters with the newly formed Iraqi army special forces, who were first fielded in Baghdad in January and who made their debut Wednesday in Fallujah.

"They say, 'good!' " said Iraqi special forces soldier Mazin Fallah, 25, one of the nearly 60 Iraqi special operations troops who searched several apartment buildings room by room Wednesday after the troops were shelled with mortars.

"They say they are surprised but glad we are fighting," he said in the strained English he said he learned in college in Baghdad. "They say Iraq needs an Iraqi army, not more terrorists."

Yes Special Forces groups tend to have a higher level of training and morale but their numbers do not amount to much in the grand scheme of things if the regular army vaporizes around them. Special Forces are just as the name implies "Special Forces" used for special tasks because of their training. Their numbers even here in the US are limited because of the fear of something called mission creep which ends up putting them in situations and missions that they are not suited for because of the special training.

About 2,000 soldiers of the newly formed Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, who were paid by Marines last weekend, were supposed to help the 2,000-some Marines with a massive cordon of war-torn Fallujah this week.

But when heavy fighting erupted as the Marines arrived Monday near the city, all but about 20 of the Iraqi ICDC troops fled.

"It was a disappointment, yes," said Capt. Phil Cushman, the Camp Pendleton Marine "adviser" in charge of training, equipping and fielding the ICDC troops in Fallujah.

"They all sure showed up for payday," said Marine Pfc. Henry Johnson, 19, of Dallas.

 

[Shad0hawK]

Originally posted by: Drift3r
Yes Special Forces groups tend to have a higher level of training and morale but their numbers do not amount to much in the grand scheme of things if the regular army vaporizes around them. Special Forces are just as the name implies "Special Forces" used for special tasks because of their training. Their numbers even here in the US are limited because of the fear of something called mission creep which ends up putting them in situations and missions that they are not suited for because of the special training.


*S*thank you for defining "special forces" for me, all my time in the army i never knew what it meant*S*

everyone who expected a democracy with a disciplined fighting force overnight please raise your hand

 

[Drift3r]

Originally posted by: Shad0hawK

Originally posted by: Drift3r
Yes Special Forces groups tend to have a higher level of training and morale but their numbers do not amount to much in the grand scheme of things if the regular army vaporizes around them. Special Forces are just as the name implies "Special Forces" used for special tasks because of their training. Their numbers even here in the US are limited because of the fear of something called mission creep which ends up putting them in situations and missions that they are not suited for because of the special training.


*S*thank you for defining "special forces" for me, all my time in the army i never knew what it meant*S*

everyone who expected a democracy with a disciplined fighting force overnight please raise your hand

I'll take your sarcasm as a sign that you are in agreement with me.

P.S. How the hell would I know that you were in the military ? I was never questioning your military background or lack thereof in either case.