The bad guys are doing the car bomb and IED thing in various parts of Iraq in an effort to gain some relief from the pressure put on Fallujah by the Marines and soldiers investing it right now. Seen it before, and it's utterly useless.

K

Yeah, the car bombs and IEDs are frustrating especially considering they are killing their own people in a sense. Makes you wonder how this effects the overall mood of the majority of the Iraqi people and what their reactions are. You are led to wonder if they are able to do anything about this and if so, are they? If not, why not? I haven't read too much on it. I just figure that sooner or later they will have enough of it and start countering this in some form or fashion to send a message to the insurgents that they have had enough and are no longer scared.

Send in McGruff the Crime dog and the neighborhood crime watch patrol?

We'll see come the January elections. In the meantime, we just need to be killing these thugs as fast as they pop up. Now we're finding so-called "human slaughterhouses" in the city.

As that creepy Agent Smith character in The Matrix said to Neo (to paraphrase) "they're like a VIruss....."

K

Why wait for the elections. It seems to me that these people would already be sick of seing their family members and neighbors killed by these explosions or being snatched off the street by these thugs. Maybe I am just being ideal but I would at least hope that if the people of Iraq or Fallujah organized themselves and showed some solidarity against these thugs it might at least send a clear message. And certainly if they began to fight back who knows? Certainly, these folks have to have some kind of inkling as to which knuckleheaded neighborhood thugs are participating in insurgent activities so why continue to turn the opposite cheek if that is what is going on? I dunno, maybe I am just a bit frustrated today.

Take a look at this poor old chap. Caption below the photo. Can you imagine his relief when he was rescued by some hard charges cami's?



A U.S. soldier comforts an Iraq man who was found and freed by U.S. forces in a building in Fallujah, Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday, Nov. 11, 2004. The man told Marines he was a taxi driver held captive for 10 days. (AP Photo/APTN/pool)

Hey SemperTri. I was visiting my granny's grave today with my dad when a man came buy putting flags on the graves of verterans. He was an older man with a ball cap that said "US Marines Iwo Jima"
and at his side...A bull dog with a Khaki jacket with Gunny stripes. Oh hell yeah.

---

customerjon @gmail.com is where information happens.

I agree, but I think most of these normal Iraqis just want to be left alone and are hoping that we straighten it all out for them eventually. If I'm not mistaken, there's a couple of SOC-trained (by the Marines) companies of Iraqis that are doing a lot of the CQB stuff in the mosques and other sensitive sites (hospitals etc.) where these gomers are hiding out.

It's gonna take a while to get these people to flush out the fear of Saddam and Zarqawi and every other scumbag that's oppressed them for the last thirty years, and we took up the task. Hopefully, we'll let Bush and the military complete the task, and not tuck tail and run.

K

PERFECTLY CLASSIC!!! Probably named the dog Chesty too.

"Good night Chesty, whereever you are."

By the way, if this guy was at Iwo, you saw a legend today.

It's gonna take a while to get these people to flush out the fear of Saddam and Zarqawi and every other scumbag that's oppressed them for the last thirty years, and we took up the task. Hopefully, we'll let Bush and the military complete the task, and not tuck tail and run.

-- Well, I agree with you here. That fear of the old regime has got to be crippling. I jsut wish they would come to the realization that the sooner they stand for themselves, even in this small but large manner, the sooner thay can have exactly what it is that they want in addition to stopping all the bloodshed of their own people.

And yes, the Iraqi SOC guys are doing great things but I am of the opinion that the average citizen over there can make just as big an impact if not more by sendingthe message that they won't sit idle in fear and watch this crap happen anymore.

Tucking tail for us would be a bad thing.

-- Well, I agree with you here. That fear of the old regime has got to be crippling. I jsut wish they would come to the realization that the sooner they stand for themselves, even in this small but large manner, the sooner thay can have exactly what it is that they want in addition to stopping all the bloodshed of their own people.

A couple guys with a sniper rifle terrorized the east coast at random couple years ago and we couldn't do anything about it. It doesn't seem like there is much the citizens could do to prevent these kind of attacks, short of rooting out the insurgent groups wherever they are organizing. Do they even have the equipment to do this?

Good point about the DC sniper. Kind of isolated though as that was one guy hiding. These insurgents don't seem to make it a point to hide from anyone except coalition forces. You can see them in photo galleries in every major paper it seems.

Any effort on their behalf might help. Whether or not they have access to abny type of equiptment I am not sure, as I mentioned a few posts earlier I think Where this guy pictured below got a weapon, I have no idea but I would venture to guess that there are more where it came from. Although, that might have the potential of creating more chaos if not organized well.

I am not offering definitive solutions, as much as I wish I could. Just some thoughts and frustrations on the midnight watch I guess.



An Iraqi man reacts as hospital workers transport a body outside of Al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday Nov. 11, 2004, after a huge explosion in a densely populated commercial area in the center of the capital. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Marines return fire down a street at an insurgent hideout in the city of Fallujah, Iraq. (Luis Sinco, LA Times)

Undoubtedly, the World's finest.........(pictured above)

Who is the best of the best, Marines or Army Rangers?

In other words, if I'm kidnapped who do I want coming to get me?


EDIT: Also, how they are used differently in a war like Iraq. Who does what and how do they determine this?

LOL. All a bunch of great guys. Oh, if I were kidnapped, I wouldn't mind Charlize Theron or Eva Mendez coming to my rescue. Ooooo, Hottie thread material though they aren't athletes. Anyway....

I will say this though. Marines do not "advertise" an elite unit (ie Rangers) or identify one amongst ourselves with badges, patches, tabs, berets and such things. The thought here is that above all else EVERY Marine is already part of an elite fighting force. But if you want to get down to the nitty gritty those boys over in Force Reconnaisance are no joke. I don't know if they get the same toys and $ funding their Ranger pals do, but they are a rough and scary bunch. Besides that, below are some quotes that BK posted the other day from Army officers...

No discredit to Rangers. A fine group they are. But they ain't MARINES!! ;-)

The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight!
MGen. Frank E. Lowe, USA; Korea, 26 January 1952


Why in hell can't the Army do it if the Marines can. They are the same kind of men; why can't they be like Marines.
Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, USA; 12 February 1918

I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!
General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur; Korea, 21 September 1950

We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on?
Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., USA, Chairman of the the Joint Chiefs of Staff
during the assault on Grenada, 1983

I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like 'brilliant,' it would really be an under description of the absolutely superb job that they did in breaching the so-called 'impenetrable barrier.' It was a classic- absolutely classic- military breaching of a very very tough minefield, barbed wire, fire trenches-type barrier.
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, U. S. Army
Commander, Operation Desert Storm, February 1991

The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle.
Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, U.S. Army
Commander of American Forces in World War I


If I had one more division like this First Marine Division I could win this war.
General of the Armies Douglas McArthur in Korea,
overheard and reported by Marine Staff Sergeant Bill Houghton, Weapons/

Interesting stuff. I could probably find some of this on the net but why not go straight to the sources?

Any idea how the training differs for Marines vs. Army?

Who gets the best equipment, funding etc.?

How does one get into Forced Recon? Superior skills, hard work, combination or what...?

I've got a brother-in-law in the Army (just back from Iraq) who of course thinks the Army is where its at. :)

Sorry for all the questions...even though I can sit here and criticize the Administration all day, I still have a helluva lot of respect for what our men and women are doing over there and just wanted some more info from you guys that are in the know.

Thanks Veterans

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