Post by tusti on Nov 16, 2005 15:03:47 GMT -5
This is a little long, but gives a good rundown of the current state of
the war in Iraq.
Iraqi Update
> Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and
> interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with
> my son Jordan, who was on his first leave since returning from
> Iraq. He is well (a little thin), and already bored. He will be
> returning to Iraq for a second tour in early 06 and has already
> re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and
> is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.
> Jordan spent 7 months at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi. Aka: Fort
> Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me
> about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info
> which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means
> classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a birds eye views
> opinions:
> 1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the
> talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan
> says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The
> M-4 carbine version is more popular because its lighter and
> shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability
> to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the
> picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert
> environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor
> penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and
> even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
> Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level
> of opiate use.
> 2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light
> machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of
>
. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial
> disassembly. (that fun in the middle of a firefight).
> 3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in
> desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use
> of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old
> story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.
> 4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently
> for clearing houses to good effect.
> 5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine
> gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon
> that was!!). Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round
> puts em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon,
> more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by
> infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.
> 6) The M2 ..50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. Ma deuce
> is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight
> stopper, puts their xxxxx in the dirt every time. The most coveted
> weapon in-theater.
> 7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out
> there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get
> their hands on one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected
> to put em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are
> doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and
> supposedly love it. The old government model .45s are being
> re-issued en masse.
> 8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly
> in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include
> lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights.
> Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.
> 9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular
> range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently
> to take out vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of
> them) and barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay.
>
> 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in
> 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance.
> Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that
> a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually
> exceeded Carlos Hathcocks record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.
> 11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6
> lbs. and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and
> even will stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as to wear,
> almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120
> degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever
> possible. All the bullxxxx about the old body armor making our
> guys vulnerable to the IEDs was a non-starter. The IED explosions
> are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in
> most cases.
> 12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up.
> Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the
> night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers.
> More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our
> hunter-killer teams. Weve all seen the videos.
> 13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal
> lights are Surefires, and the troops love em. Invaluable for night
> urban operations. Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck
> lanyard and loved it.
> I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and
> ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our
> technology, its the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody
> wants!!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal.
> No quarter is given or shown.
> Bad guy weapons:
> 1) Mostly AK47s . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better
> in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills
> reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and
> effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like.
> Undisciplined spray and pray type fire. However, they are seeing
> more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran,
> again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the
> marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are
> apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on
> technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for
> their lack of toughness. Lets just say they know better now.
> 2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.
> Simple, reliable and as common as dogxxxx. The enemy responded to
> our up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at
> point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
> 3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old
> Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot
> found in Jordans area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take
> 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were
> detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're
> not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the
> most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much
> more sophisticated shape charges (Iranian) specifically designed
> to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IEDs are supplied
> by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to
> train the insurgents in their use and tactics. Thats why the
> attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are
> ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers
> spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi
> roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb
> disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
> 4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm
> rockets (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of
> Jordans NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of
> damage inside the wire. Jordans base was hit almost daily his
> entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to
> disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a
> psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams
> would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul xxx
> in a matter of seconds.
>
> 5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is
> by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They
> use handheld GPS units for navigation and Google earth for
> overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not
> fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP
> OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with
> their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are
> treasure troves of Intel when captured.
> Who are the bad guys?:
> Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They
> operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are
> mostly foreigners, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over
> the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria
> (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian
> govt.) , and then travel down the at line which is the trail of
> towns along the Euphrates River that weve been hitting hard for
> the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists
> that often end up as suicide bombers or in sacrifice squads. Most,
> however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al
> Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys running around
> murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens
> (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and
> the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for
> years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are
> Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have
> been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt., the police
> forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and agitator
> network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80s. Most of
> the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.
> Bad Guy Tactics:
> When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their xxxxx
> kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges
> were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will
> literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending
> them screaming and firing Aks and RPGs directly at our bases just
> to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time.
> ( see the M2 and M240 above). Jordans base was hit like this
> often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same
> building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last
> stand. Instead, we call in air and thats the end of that more
> often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey
> Romeos (Allahs Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air
> thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18s, are
> taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in
> the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut
> them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night.
> Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The
> enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why
> were seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide
> bomber xxxx. The new strategy is simple: attrition.
> The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian
> non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid
> civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and
> (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for
> attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They
> have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They
> will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone
> believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt.
> Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to
> influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such
> as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).
> The first thing our guys are told is don't get captured. They know
> that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the
> internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him
> a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element
> who otherwise don't give a xxxx about the war. A lot of the
> beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and
> sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the
> death. Surrender is not an option.
> The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a
> xxxx. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard,
> but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawis use
> of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was
> a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqis were galvanized and the
> caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up,
> along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential
> increase in good intel because the Iraqis are sick of the
> insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly
> pro-American and fearless fighters.
> According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not
> only believe they are winning, but that they are winning
> decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the
> American press, whom they almost universally view as against them.
> The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are
> inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see like Are
> we losing in Iraq on TV and the print media. For the most part,
> they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership.
> Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough
> guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the
> insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops
> in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The
> Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of Iraq being
> an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).
> Anyway guys, thats it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
the war in Iraq.
Iraqi Update
> Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and
> interested guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with
> my son Jordan, who was on his first leave since returning from
> Iraq. He is well (a little thin), and already bored. He will be
> returning to Iraq for a second tour in early 06 and has already
> re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves the Marine Corps and
> is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.
> Jordan spent 7 months at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi. Aka: Fort
> Apache. He saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me
> about weapons, equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info
> which may be of interest to you. Nothing is by any means
> classified. No politics here, just a Marine with a birds eye views
> opinions:
> 1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the
> talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan
> says you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The
> M-4 carbine version is more popular because its lighter and
> shorter, but it has jamming problems also. They like the ability
> to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the
> picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert
> environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor
> penetration on the cinderblock structure common over there and
> even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to put the enemy down.
> Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents shows a high level
> of opiate use.
> 2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light
> machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of
>
. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial> disassembly. (that fun in the middle of a firefight).
> 3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in
> desert environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use
> of handguns for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old
> story on the 9mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight.
> 4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently
> for clearing houses to good effect.
> 5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine
> gun, developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon
> that was!!). Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round
> puts em down. Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon,
> more and more are being dismounted and taken into the field by
> infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structure over there.
> 6) The M2 ..50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. Ma deuce
> is still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight
> stopper, puts their xxxxx in the dirt every time. The most coveted
> weapon in-theater.
> 7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out
> there. Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get
> their hands on one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected
> to put em down with a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are
> doing most of the pistol work) use the HK military model and
> supposedly love it. The old government model .45s are being
> re-issued en masse.
> 8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly
> in a modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include
> lightweight Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights.
> Very reliable in the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.
> 9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular
> range and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently
> to take out vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of
> them) and barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay.
>
> 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in
> 300 win mag. Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance.
> Snipers have been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that
> a marine sniper on his third tour in Anbar province has actually
> exceeded Carlos Hathcocks record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.
> 11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6
> lbs. and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and
> even will stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as
to wear,> almost unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120
> degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots whenever
> possible. All the bullxxxx about the old body armor making our
> guys vulnerable to the IEDs was a non-starter. The IED explosions
> are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in
> most cases.
> 12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up.
> Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the
> night, period. Very little enemy action after evening prayers.
> More and more enemy being whacked at night during movement by our
> hunter-killer teams. Weve all seen the videos.
> 13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal
> lights are Surefires, and the troops love em. Invaluable for night
> urban operations. Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck
> lanyard and loved it.
> I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and
> ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our
> technology, its the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody
> wants!!!! The infantry fighting is frequent, up close and brutal.
> No quarter is given or shown.
> Bad guy weapons:
> 1) Mostly AK47s . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better
> in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills
> reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and
> effective. Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like
.> Undisciplined spray and pray type fire. However, they are seeing
> more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran,
> again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the
> marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are
> apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on
> technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for
> their lack of toughness. Lets just say they know better now.
> 2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.
> Simple, reliable and as common as dogxxxx. The enemy responded to
> our up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at
> point blank range. Still killing a lot of our guys.
> 3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old
> Soviet anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot
> found in Jordans area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take
> 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells and wire them together. Most were
> detonated by cell phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're
> not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the
> most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much
> more sophisticated shape charges (Iranian) specifically designed
> to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IEDs are supplied
> by Iran, who is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to
> train the insurgents in their use and tactics. Thats why the
> attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment methods are
> ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam containers
> spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all Iraqi
> roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb
> disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
> 4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm
> rockets (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of
> Jordans NCOs lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of
> damage inside the wire. Jordans base was hit almost daily his
> entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at night to
> disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a
> psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams
> would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul xxx
> in a matter of seconds.
>
> 5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is
> by cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They
> use handheld GPS units for navigation and Google earth for
> overhead views of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not
> fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP
> OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless with
> their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are
> treasure troves of Intel when captured.
> Who are the bad guys?:
> Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They
> operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are
> mostly foreigners, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over
> the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria
> (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian
> govt.) , and then travel down the at line which is the trail of
> towns along the Euphrates River that weve been hitting hard for
> the last few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists
> that often end up as suicide bombers or in sacrifice squads. Most,
> however, are hard core terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al
> Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.) These are the guys running around
> murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The Chechens
> (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and
> the best fighters. (they have been fighting the Russians for
> years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are
> Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have
> been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt., the police
> forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and agitator
> network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80s. Most of
> the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.
> Bad Guy Tactics:
> When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their xxxxx
> kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges
> were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will
> literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending
> them screaming and firing Aks and RPGs directly at our bases just
> to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time.
> ( see the M2 and M240 above). Jordans base was hit like this
> often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same
> building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last
> stand. Instead, we call in air and thats the end of that more
> often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey
> Romeos (Allahs Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air
> thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18s, are
> taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in
> the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut
> them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night.
> Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The
> enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why
> were seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide
> bomber xxxx. The new strategy is simple: attrition.
> The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian
> non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid
> civilian casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and
> (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for
> attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee to when engaged. They
> have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian casualties. They
> will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone
> believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt.
> Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to
> influence people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such
> as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).
> The first thing our guys are told is don't get captured. They know
> that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the
> internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him
> a live American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element
> who otherwise don't give a xxxx about the war. A lot of the
> beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common criminals and
> sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to the
> death. Surrender is not an option.
> The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a
> xxxx. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard,
> but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawis use
> of suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was
> a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqis were galvanized and the
> caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up,
> along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential
> increase in good intel because the Iraqis are sick of the
> insurgent attacks against civilians. The Kurds are solidly
> pro-American and fearless fighters.
> According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not
> only believe they are winning, but that they are winning
> decisively. They are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the
> American press, whom they almost universally view as against them.
> The embedded reporters are despised and distrusted. They are
> inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see
like Are> we losing in Iraq on TV and the print media. For the most part,
> they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership.
> Bottom line though, and they all say this, there are not enough
> guys there to drive the final stake through the heart of the
> insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough troops
> in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria. The
> Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of Iraq being
> an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).
> Anyway guys, thats it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.
------------------------------------------------------------------------