Falcaner
DCA "Don't give up the ship"
My father in law e-mailed this to me the other day..good read though some might appreciate it
A LONG, BUT INFORMATIVE READ. THE FORWARD BELOW IS
> BY A PERSONAL
> ACQUAINTANCE WHOM I TRUST TO GIVE AN HONEST
> EVALUATION. JIM
>
> *****************
> This came from a professional friend and is about
> his son. This is one
> of those unfiltered news reports that we can now get
> in near real time.
>
> I am sending it to you because you might find the
> technical information
> interesting and certainly the man on the ground
> evaluation of the
> situation is great. We just can't seem to get the
> press to get off its
> agenda laden reporting.
>
> As a Vietnam veteran I can certainly feel for the
> grunt whose m-16 jams.
> An m-16 has a hard time reaching out a long distance
> in desert warfare
> and touching someone.
>
> In all my reading, a 20 to 1 kill ratio seems to fit
> right in. Strange
> how the press won't tell what the enemy is like and
> who they are.
>
> Anyway, it is interesting, and an insight we all
> need. It is true and
> not an urban type legend. I can vouch for the man
> sending it personally.
>
> Bob Hunt
> *******************
>
> 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 dicks 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 bull****
> 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 dog****. 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 ass 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 asses 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 ****. 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 **** 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 ****.
> 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.
A LONG, BUT INFORMATIVE READ. THE FORWARD BELOW IS
> BY A PERSONAL
> ACQUAINTANCE WHOM I TRUST TO GIVE AN HONEST
> EVALUATION. JIM
>
> *****************
> This came from a professional friend and is about
> his son. This is one
> of those unfiltered news reports that we can now get
> in near real time.
>
> I am sending it to you because you might find the
> technical information
> interesting and certainly the man on the ground
> evaluation of the
> situation is great. We just can't seem to get the
> press to get off its
> agenda laden reporting.
>
> As a Vietnam veteran I can certainly feel for the
> grunt whose m-16 jams.
> An m-16 has a hard time reaching out a long distance
> in desert warfare
> and touching someone.
>
> In all my reading, a 20 to 1 kill ratio seems to fit
> right in. Strange
> how the press won't tell what the enemy is like and
> who they are.
>
> Anyway, it is interesting, and an insight we all
> need. It is true and
> not an urban type legend. I can vouch for the man
> sending it personally.
>
> Bob Hunt
> *******************
>
> 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 dicks 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 bull****
> 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 dog****. 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 ass 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 asses 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 ****. 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 **** 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 ****.
> 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.
