An ongoing TIME investigation has turned up several tactics insurgents use to evade detection and get past the security arrangements. Most of the tactics are designed to exploit the ineptitude of Iraqi security forces - the 30,000 soldiers and 21,000 police who are meant to support U.S. troops. Lacking in training, equipment and motivation, the Iraqis are the soft underbelly of the surge. A U.S. military internal assessment of the surge in late May showed that they are often unable to perform the simplest tasks, like manning checkpoints. And insurgent groups take full advantage, easily slipping men and munitions in and out of neighborhoods guarded by Iraqi soldiers and police.
Now, I realize that the Iraqi Troops and Police are not even a close match to the US Military, so it is to be expected that they will not perform as well as our brave men and women do, but I find this article to be more of an INSULT to the Iraqi troops than a critique of their performance.
Of course Time Magazine states the source of their assessment:
A U.S. military internal assessment of the surge in late May showed that they are often unable to perform the simplest tasks, like manning checkpoints. And insurgent groups take full advantage, easily slipping men and munitions in and out of neighborhoods guarded by Iraqi soldiers and police.
According to Time, one enemy fighter said this:
"They never check cars with families, or children, or old people. If you have a woman passenger, you can drive past 50 checkpoints with a trunk full of C4, and you won't be stopped once."
And of course Time makes sure they gleefully publish this for all the enemy to see.
But then the article goes on to say:
Even so, some insurgent groups are taking precautions, giving their fighters new ID cards and papers with government markings that look remarkably authentic. Some don't need to: another insurgent commander told me his group has recruited many government officials and even soldiers. "I'm bringing weapons into the city in official cars," he said. In the Abu Ghraib area west of Baghdad, some fighters in the Brigades of the 1920 Revolution say they have been ordered to sign up for the Iraqi Army in order to get official papers that would allow them to move freely in the city.
So apparently folks, many of the enemy are not as SURE of the assessment of Iraqi Troops as Time Magazine is.
The incompetence of Iraqi forces helps to explain why, after a sharp drop in the early weeks of the surge, the civilian death toll from sectarian violence has begun to climb. Nearly 2,000 Iraqis were killed in May, the highest since the start of the security crackdown.
What it helps explain is that this is Al Qaeda in Iraq's last breath and they have ramped up their operations trying to discourage support for the surge among the population and the media. Al Qaeda in Iraq knows full well its hay days are numbered, so they have to try and convince everyone else they are still a viable enemy, it is an act of desperation more than anything else.
There are so many incidents where the Iraqi Troops and Police have been successful against incoming suicide bombers and Al Qaeda in Iraq, as well as rescuing hostages and putting their lives on the line for their country every single day.
They may not be of the calibre of the US Military, they may not be as proficient and some of them may not be as motivated, but the fact of the matter is that these brave Iraqis put their life on the line everyday in a very volatile and hostile environment. They deserve better than to be labeled Inept,Incompetent, or lacking motivation.
The fact is that they, along with our brave men and women of the US Military, have volunteered to protect their country to the best of their ability. God Bless them all.
Talk Show America 6/25/2007
Talk Show America 6/26/2007
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