Cliff LyonSuicide Marines
According to Bush and Secs. Rice and Gates, US Troops will embed with ‘Iraqi Army’ to clear and hold greater Baghdad.
Our Marines will be going door-to-door dependent on ‘Iraqi Army’ for their safety.
If I were a Marine in Iraq I would be peeing my pants. Call me a sissy, but I would much prefer kicking in doors with US Marines and MPs.
CJ over at ASP is the closest person I know who can to tell us what that means for him and the US soldiers he has to send out with the ‘Iraqi Army.’
January 12th, 2007 at 11:38 am
In theory, as I understand it, what the Bush administration wants to do is send in the Iraqi Army (IA) to clear neighborhoods with US forces as backup. The theory is good because at least the IA soldiers speak Arabic. Anyway, it’s better than sending in Americans with IA as backup.
There is no reason to believe this will work any better than it has in the past. Remember most Iraqi army battalions are recruited locally in other parts of the country and often refuse deployment to Baghdad. The IA units that are available to secure the capital have shown themselves to be better at manning checkpoints than actively clearing neighborhoods.
January 12th, 2007 at 11:56 am
The Washington Post went and interviewed those troops that Michelle Malkin apprently didn’t talk to.
“The general feeling among us is we’re not really doing anything here,” [Spec. Daniel] Caldwell said. “We clear one neighborhood, then another one fires up. It’s an ongoing battle. It never ends.”
“We’re constantly being told that it’s not our fight. It is their fight,” said Sgt. Jose Reynoso, 24, of Yuma, Ariz., speaking of the Iraqi army. “But that’s not the case. Whenever we go and ask them for guys, they almost always say no, and we have to do the job ourselves.”
January 12th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Thanks Richard,
Have you seen anything/anyone talking more specifically about the practical logistics and implications of surrendering the safety of a few Marines to poorly trained Iraqi soldiers in dangerous situations?
I can’t imagine being a lone US Marine in a firefight unable to communicate with a bunch of Iraqi soldiers fighting to protect themselves unsure of loyalties etc.
The whole idea seems unprecidented, unpredictable, and frankly crazy.
I mean what happens when Marines start getting shot from ‘friendly fire’ or abandoned unprotected because they didn’t get clear directions about pulling back or re-grouping.
What about kidknapping? What happens when a Marine is faced with a bunch of guy breaking the rules of engagement?
If you see any detailed analysis of this new strategy, please top post.
January 12th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Cliff, I think the biggest problems with the “new strategy” for securing Baghdad are that it’s not new and it’s not a strategy, only a slight change in tactics. The Iraq Study Group proposed putting American advisors with Iraqi units down to the company level, but that idea was soundly rejected for exactly the reasons you bring up. I’ll do some research to see if I can learn more about the situation on the ground.
In Big West’s book No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah he describes an incident in April 2004 that highlights the issue you are talking about. The U.S. tried to move an Iraqi battalion to Fallujah, but they were stopped and turned back by snipers and a big crown of angry people. The leaders of the mob wanted the Iraqi commander to hand over his five American advisors, but he protected them. It was a dicey situation, I don’t have time to fully describe it.
January 12th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Highly recommended: James Fallows’ article in The Atlantic from a year ago:
Why Iraq Has No Army.
January 12th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
The experience I have with Marines working as embeds was when we provided artillery support for IA platoons that had Marine trainers. We talked with the Marine liason about once a week as to how things were going.
He gave us the impression that the Iraqi platoons were gradually starting to understand the concepts and work together as teams. They were getting better, after they came into contact with the insurgency, of exercising those concepts instead of spraying and praying. Admittedly, the area they patrolled was not nearly as dense as Baghdad.
I’ve seen some stories in the past where it’s worked, but it would be a pretty stressful job wondering if these guys are really your friends, and are they going to be very good protection when you get into the sh**. Some friends of mine in the guard towers got to know some of the Marine trainers from daily contact as they came and left our FOB, and they decided that it takes a special breed to have that kind of nerve.
January 12th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I imagine there is already a ‘price’ on our soldiers heads. I know its a sick thought but imagine the opportunity with an embed.
It seems to me this is the elephant in the room. Bush is quite willing to ’sacrifice’ our troops for purely political reasons.
January 13th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Unfortunately Cliff,
My little brother will be on of the “suicide Marines” in Iraq soon. He will likely be part of the 4,000 Marines sent to Al Anbar to “clear and hold” the province which is the heart of the Sunni aspect of the Iraqi armed revolt. I weep for him in my heart, and it tied me up in knots to hear that news from him on Christmas Day.
Cliff, make no mistake this is going to be ugly, bloody and brutal beyond our WORST NIGHTMARES. Beyond anything we have been prepared for so far in this bloody war.
I weep for Iraq and its people. This is not going to be pretty. “Clear and hold” essentially means annihilate and occupy with force.
Oh the hellish places Bush & Co. will send my flesh and blood to for his arrogance and greed. That son of a bitch and his cabal will have their day. . .
January 13th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Here’s my take… When people call me a liberal, I give them a wink and a smile, then thank them for the compliment. The quickly shinking portion of people who’ve served over there and want to go back do so because they feel a sense of duty to help preserve their fellow soldiers’ lives in order for them to live another day and/or because they been left feeling emotionally and mentally disturbed enough due to the bloodsoaked and lifethreatening events that they thankfully were lucky enough to survive, and therefore convince themselves that it is all for a just cause in order to keep from going comPLETEly insane.
I convinced myself of that very thing when I was sent to Iraq, but then realized even before I made it back that it was, is, and until the day it is extinguished, a senseless bloodbath that was cavalierly perpetrated by the neo-conservatives of the Republican Party, the military-industrial complex, Tony Blair and the right-wing Lekud party in Israel in order to protect economic and political interests, and that this is internationally illegal (which does matter believe it or not) and obviously immoral. Recent polling shows that 83% of our servicemen and women supported this, and now 50% oppose it all…and growing, for good reason obviously. Now who conducted this poll?… The MILITARY TIMES which is hardly a liberal establishment.
The scandal that is Iraq obviously does not reflect to any degree the values and principles upon which America is supposedly based…regard for human rights, due process of law, freedom of religion, freedom from religion, freedom of speech, war being a last resort response to international issues, freedom from discrimination of ANY kind, liberty and justice for people of all viewpoints and backgrounds, putting people before profit, workers’ rights, worker safety, care for the sick, the disabled, the poor and our war veterans (many of which are poor or homeless), and most importantly a government of, by, and for the people composed of three co-equal branches and preserving the ideal of democracy with a system of checks and balances between them.
Our president who disrepects the presidency itself is obviously abusing his power primarily by overusing and disproportionately positioning our military in parilous times, and pouring innocent Iraqi and American blood on destroying our nation’s reputation while doing it. Therefore if you’re agaist this “war”, then you ARE supporting my FELLOW troops and I by opposing it, with your dollars, with your vote, with your voice.
Chris in Sandy, UT
January 13th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
[...] This post is in response to a request from Cliff to dig up some more information about the Military Transition Teams in Iraq and how they operate. As we all know, the true state of training of national security forces, Iraqi Army (IA) and Iraqi Police (IP), is a subject that has been largely hidden behind Bush administration propaganda and political slogans. “As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down” sounds so good, especially the standing down part. The exact status of Iraqi security forces is now classified, which makes it hard for an outsider to assess. The very fact that this information is classified probably means things still aren’t going well. [...]