The Iraq thread 4

[turms 0]

Quote[/b] ]Whats the bias in mikes article? those are just facts  

Quote[/b] ]SHOCK: Republicans in Florida up to no good!!!

SHOCK: Michael Moore is a bias idiot...

Quote[/b] ]

Attention all mothers: Begin planning now to take part in the nationwide Moms For Kerry Rally, October 30th, 2004.

So, all moms vote for Kerry...

Quote[/b] ]Our latest chief U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq has given us a definitive account of Iraq's WMD capabilities--1,000 pages summed up in two words: FICTITIOUS WAR!

That is what you believe...

Quote[/b] ]Bush's State Department wants to train Iraqi women in political participation and democracy and so they choose an American group founded by a host of anti-feminist, conservative women... including Dick Cheney's wife, Whatshername.

Woooo.... they are conservative women... RACIST...

There are links on the page, which explain them, here, let me help you.

SHOCK: Republicans in Florida up to no good!!!

1,000 pages summed up in two words: FICTITIOUS WAR!

anti-feminist, conservative women

Those are all proven facts, like it or not.

EDIT: Moms For Kerry Rally,

Next time use some of your time to click the links you are provided with.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]There are links on the page, which explain them, here, let me help you.

SHOCK: Republicans in Florida up to no good!!!

1,000 pages summed up in two words: FICTITIOUS WAR!

anti-feminist, conservative women

Those are all proven facts, like it or not.

EDIT: Moms For Kerry Rally,

Next time use some of your time to click the links you are provided with.

Are you not seeing the bias? Erm... let me help

Quote[/b] ]SHOCK: Republicans in Florida up to no good!!!

Sacarsm... In Michael's warped mind the republicans are very evil. But, he fails to mention this... http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politic....08.html... another 527 group.

Quote[/b] ]Attention all mothers: Begin planning now to take part in the nationwide Moms For Kerry Rally, October 30th, 2004.

So, Micheal can read people minds and he found out that all moms will vote for Kerry.

Quote[/b] ]Bush's State Department wants to train Iraqi women in political participation and democracy and so they choose an American group founded by a host of anti-feminist, conservative women... including Dick Cheney's wife, Whatshername.

If he read all of the story, he will knew that there are other groups that will helping that are not consider "anti-feminist" "conservative women". Also, Moore failed to mention, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) (chairwoman: Madeleine K. Albright) is helping.

BAH BAH BAH

[turms 0]

Quote[/b] ]Sacarsm... In Michael's warped mind the republicans are very evil.

We have seen theyr dirty tricks and tactics repeatedly during this campaign.Lies after lies.

Quote[/b] ]So, Micheal can read people minds and he found out that all moms will vote for Kerry

No, it says Attention all mothers: Begin planning now. It means that from all the readers of the website, all moms (from the readers) should pay attention to the upcoming nationwide Moms For Kerry Rally.

Quote[/b] ]If he read all of the story, he will knew that there are other groups that will helping that are not consider "anti-feminist" "conservative women". Also, Moore failed to mention, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) (chairwoman: Madeleine K. Albright) is helping.

What has this mumble have anything to do with anything? You call that a evidence of beeing biased?

Unlike your Precious Drudgereport, wich lies to the public on purpouse, michaelmoore.com is basing its writings on the truth. If you dont like the truth, thats your problem.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]No, it says Attention all mothers: Begin planning now. It means that from all the readers of the website, all moms (from the readers) should pay attention to the upcoming nationwide Moms For Kerry Rally.

Who is the moms that visit site then... Also, it proves my point that he is bias because were is something for a Bush rally...

Quote[/b] ]Unlike your Precious Drudgereport, wich lies to the public on purpouse, michaelmoore.com is basing its writings on the truth. If you dont like the truth, thats your problem.

HAHAHAHAHAHA..... So, the Washington Post is lieing about that correction. Get over it, Moore is bias..

Quote[/b] ]We have seen theyr dirty tricks and tactics repeatedly during this campaign.Lies after lies.

Hmm...Democrats play dirty tricks and lie...your point...

[billybob2002 0]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm....004oct7

Quote[/b] ]

Many Helped Iraq Evade U.N. Sanctions On Weapons

Fri Oct 8, 9:11 AM ET Top Stories - washingtonpost.com

By Craig Whitlock and Glenn Frankel, Washington Post Foreign Service

BERLIN, Oct. 7 -- As part of its stealth effort to evade U.N. sanctions and rebuild its military, the Iraqi government under President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) found that it had no shortage of people around the world who were willing to help. Among them: a French arms dealer known only as "Mr. Claude," who made a surreptitious visit to Iraq (news - web sites) four years ago to provide technical expertise and training.

Mr. Claude worked for Lura, a French company that sold tank carriers to Iraq, according to documents recovered by the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. The mysterious Frenchman may have also helped the Iraqis attempt to acquire military-related radar and microwave technology, despite a U.N. ban on such trade with Iraq since the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).

Other French military contractors came to Baghdad with offers to supply the Iraqi government with helicopters, spare parts for fighter aircraft and air defense systems after 1998, when U.N. weapons inspectors withdrew under pressure, according to a report issued this week by Charles A. Duelfer, the chief U.S. weapons inspector. The report cites evidence that contacts between the French suppliers and Hussein's government continued until last year, less than one month before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

While not denying that the transfers took place, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, Herve Ladsous, said the accusations "were not verified either with the people themselves or with the authorities of the countries concerned," according to the Associated Press.

The French were hardly alone in helping Hussein to reinvigorate his military forces during the 12 years that Iraq was under strict U.N. sanctions. Arm dealers and military suppliers from the former Eastern Bloc -- Russia, Poland, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine -- provided critical assistance to Iraq as it tried to build a long-range missile program and other systems that weapons inspectors feared could have been used someday to launch chemical, biological or even nuclear attacks.

"It was well known within the U.S. government that individuals and companies were selling Iraq various kinds of prohibited items," said Gary Samore, a nonproliferation specialist in the Clinton administration who now works as an analyst for the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

While the United States sought to shut down suppliers through diplomatic and other means, Samore said, it was common knowledge that Iraq was able to bypass sanctions by buying in small quantities and paying high prices, using a network of front companies in Jordan, Syria and other countries in the Middle East.

"The world is awash in conventional arms, and every time there's been an arms embargo on a country they've been able to circumvent it," he said. "It's much more difficult to buy more exotic technologies like nuclear weapons, but there are so many private dealers and corrupt state entities, especially in the former Soviet Union. The best you can do is slow down sales, obstruct them or make it more expensive."

Numerous other nations bought and sold on the Iraqi military shopping network, including such dictatorships as North Korea (news - web sites) and the former Yugoslavia before the downfall of President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites). While some of the countries were politically friendly with or sympathetic to Iraq, the biggest motivation was usually money, according to Duelfer's report to the CIA (news - web sites).

"As long as the regime had enough cash to pay for these items, it really wouldn't have been too much of a problem to obtain these things and smuggle them in," said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East editor for Jane's Sentinel Security Assessments, a London-based magazine. "It just takes people with enough money and the ability to find the right contacts to get their hands on this stuff."

The Iraqi pipeline extended to four countries -- Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Ukraine -- that later sent troops to Iraq to join the U.S.-led military coalition.

In Poland, Iraqi intelligence officers helped set up a front company called Ewex, which obtained engines and guidance components for surface-to-air missiles from Polish scrap dealers and middlemen who scoured military surplus stockpiles for the parts, the report said.

U.S. inspectors estimated that Iraq bought about 280 engines from Poland from 2001 to 2003 with the intent of using them to equip a new missile that violated U.N. range limits. The engines had been removed from Polish missiles decommissioned after the Cold War.

Polish authorities arrested some Ewex executives in 2003 on charges of making illegal arms deliveries to Iraq. Purchasing documents confiscated later showed that many of the engines were funneled through Syria.

In Bulgaria, a firm called the JEFF Co. exported more than $7 million worth of warheads, missiles and launcher units to Baghdad in 2002 in violation of U.N. sanctions, the report found. Other Bulgarian traders sold chemicals and machine tools to Iraq that could be used for civilian purposes but were really intended for missile components and other military purposes.

In Romania, Iraqi intelligence agents used diplomatic pouches to send photos of tanks and other military equipment available for sale in that nation back to Baghdad. Although weapons inspectors said it was unclear how much equipment was purchased by the Iraqi government, they did uncover documents after the war showing that a Romanian firm, Uzinexport SA, signed a contract in October 2001 to sell magnets to Iraq that "could have been suitable" for a uranium enrichment program.

In most cases, U.S. weapons inspectors found no clear evidence that officials in those countries were involved in the arms deals. One exception was Ukraine, where leaders gave their blessing to military sales to Iraq.

The Duelfer report calls Ukraine "one of the countries involved in illicit military-related procurement with Iraq" after the 1991 Gulf War, noting that President Leonid Kuchma personally approved the sale of a $100 million antiaircraft radar system to Iraq via a Jordanian intermediary in 2000. Ukrainian officials have since said the sale was never completed, and weapons inspectors said they had not found any evidence that the radar system was shipped to Iraq.

In 2001, Iraqi intelligence agents also bought five motors from a Ukrainian company as part of a project to develop unmanned spy planes. The motors were shipped to Iraq from Ukraine in diplomatic pouches to avoid the attention of international inspectors, the report said.

A Ukrainian electronics professor whose private firm transferred missile engines and motors to Iraqi companies was rewarded with vouchers and credits for more than 7.5 million barrels of Iraqi oil from 1998 to 2000, the report found. The professor, identified as Yuri Orshansky, made about $1.85 million in profits under the U.N. oil-for-food program, which was designed to generate revenue for the Iraqi people under economic sanctions.

Some of the clearest evidence of government corruption, according to the report, involved Russia, a country that has vast storehouses of military technology.

Although the Russian government has denied past accusations that it played a role in supplying arms and military equipment to Hussein's government, U.S. weapons inspectors reported finding "a significant amount of captured documentation showing contracts between Iraq and Russian companies."

In one case, a Russian general, Anatoly Makros, formed a joint company with Iraqi partners in 1998 "just to handle the large volume of Russian business," according to the report, which also cited a former Iraqi diplomat as saying that Russian customs officials ignored the illegal commerce in exchange for bribes.

Trade with Russia was so brisk that Iraqi Embassy officials smuggled military supplies on weekly charter flights from Moscow to Baghdad, according to the former Iraqi diplomat, who was not named in the report. The equipment included radar jammers, night-vision goggles and small missile components.

One Russian company signed contracts valued at about $20 million to provide material for Iraq's missile systems. Another Russian firm, Uliss, negotiated a deal to support a tank project dubbed "Saddam the Lion," according to the report.

Frankel reported from London.

the sanctions worked!!!!

[Frisbee 0]

A soldier waving his opinion in everyone's hostile little faces got beaten up.

You're a true American if you want to go back to your unit? No, you're a true soldier and friend because you want to be with your friends.

Your sense of patriotism is sickening, really, stop college now and go to Iraq, or else you yourself aren't a "true american"!

I mean as a grunt on the ground, anyone who goes in as a pilot is risking less, and if you don't put your life on the line you're not a True American are you?

After all. True Americans give up their lives because a governement tells you to.

When Kerry or Bush decide to pull out I hope you're as adamant in defending them, if you're not. you're not a True American.

Well really, if according to you Bush is doing what's best for America and is always right, and Kerry and all anti-war people are wrong, then people who think exactly the opposite of you are "True Americans" as well.

Stop resorting to low mudslinging. "I won't debate with you, you're not a True American, you wouldn't understand!"

Very grade-school don't you think?

Yes, you're not in fact explicitly saying this, but you treat all opinions differing from your own with so much contempt and arrogance you would achieve the same effect, albeit faster by just saying this.

[HKFlash 9]

Maybe its old but i'd like you guys to check this:

http://www.forumdefesa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=690&start=45

Check the image on the last post. A terrible war, in which not only coalition forces and civilians die (and fortuntantly terrorists and rebels)...also Iraqui military.

[billybob2002 0]

Quote[/b] ]A soldier waving his opinion in everyone's hostile little faces got beaten up.

Do you know who is Toby Keith? Look him up and you see why that guy wore his shirt....

Quote[/b] ]Kerry and all anti-war people are wrong, then people who think exactly the opposite of you are "True Americans" as well.

When did I say that....    

[Akira 0]

Quote[/b] ]A soldier waving his opinion in everyone's hostile little faces got beaten up.

Do you know who is Toby Keith? Look him up and you see why that guy wore his shirt....

He's the one that sang that annoying "Red White And Blue" song.

And on the HIGHLY annoying Ford commercials.

But yes. He is HIGHLY HIGHLY pro-american. Just short of "rag head" type talk.

[Blake 0]

Cease-fire deal has been agreed upon in Baghdad Sard-City district...maybe it will curb some fighting at least.

[red oct 2]

i doubt it. i'll give about a week. and fighting will flare up again.

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]i doubt it. i'll give about a week. and fighting will flare up again.

I fact a lot of insurgents just take a break and regroup. All the towns that have been claimed "pacified" indeed just take a break, the weapons were packed away, and insurgents just do their daily thing and sit and wait. A lot of them have left the hotspots already prior the major combat operations there.

Be prepared for some action when coalition troops have to take care of other hotspots. They will let Iraqi guards the situation and that´s when we will see the "pacified" citys again in the news. Just wait...won´t take too long.

Quote[/b] ]Cease-fire deal has been agreed upon in Baghdad Sard-City district

As soon as Sadr will find out that the Iraqi government will not grant him the role they promised (and they certainly will not) or proposed to him, it will be going on again.

I don´t see this settled unless they turn Iraq in a sharia- conform country. Al Sadr may be a bit stupid, but a stupid guy with 30.000 guys in arms is still more than a threat...and even if he doesn´t care anymore there will be some other religious driven one pop up and will be happily welcomed...unless the Iraqi heavyweights turn against the US as occupasional force. And this will have to be expected.

Nationbuilding without taking religiouse leaders into high positions will not be possible in Iraq.

[Munk 0]

Read [=http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004471212,,00.html]this[/url] today (in yesterdays paper) at work...

Quote[/b] ]Heroes hold rebels at bay

A HUNDRED brave and outnumbered British troops fought for 23 DAYS to hold an outpost in Iraq against a massive rebel force.

Y Company of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Battle Group were attacked 85 TIMES by a 500-strong militia.

Mortars, rockets and bullets fired by heavily armed religious extremists crazed on drugs poured down on the squaddies day and night.

But they repulsed every charge and killed 200 enemy fighters in the longest continuous action fought by the British Army since the Korean War 50 years ago.

It was an achievement which brings back memories of Rorke's Drift, where a handful of redcoats held off 5,000 Zulus in South Africa in 1879.

Now The Sun can reveal the amazing story of grit and courage for the first time.

In August rogue Shiite cleric Moqtada al Sadr's Mehdi Army set out to take Cimic House, the small but symbolic UK base in the city of Al Amarah, 150 miles north of Basra.

The building by the River Tigris, once the governor of Maysan province's residence, had been the isolated home to Y Company since April.

The rest of the battle group is based at an old Iraqi army camp 20 miles to the south.

The officer who led the heroic defence, Major Justin Featherstone, was told by his CO he had permission to withdraw whenever he wanted to.

But he never took up the offer. The 33-year-old explained yesterday: "It was our turf. It was our home. We had never left it and we just decided we were not going to be pushed out of it.

"None of the lads wanted to leave and would have been furious if I ordered them to.

"Pulling out would have set us back months in this part of Iraq. It would also have meant defeat and our pride wouldn't let us do that."

I visited the Cimic House compound in July. When I returned it was almost unrecognisable.

Bullet and shrapnel holes pepper every wall, wicker fences that lined the site now lie in tatters and most of the prefab outbuildings have been gutted by fire and bomb blasts.

During the 23-day battle between August 5 and 28, the Mehdi Army fired 595 mortar rounds at Y Company.

They scored direct hits with 59 rocket-propelled grenades and six 107mm rockets, and assaulted the compound an incredible 85 times.

The Mehdi Army, dressed all in black, once got within 30 yards of Cimic House's gates before being driven back.

Our Boys fired 33,000 bullets from GPMG and Minimi machine guns and SA80 rifles.

They also used 81mm mortars and underslung grenade launchers to blast the enemy.

The troops believe only a miracle prevented them losing at least a dozen men.

In fact they had six seriously wounded. And Private Chris Rayment, 22, of London, was killed in a tragic accident when a road barrier fell on his head.

There is no figure for the enemy's dead, but conservative estimates put it at more than 200.

Five of the company's vehicles were destroyed. Almost every man has his own individual story of a narrow escape.

Lance Corporal Jonathan Rush's life was saved by his body armour.

A 7.62mm bullet from an AK47 rifle smashed into the bottom right-hand corner of the ceramic plate as he ran across the roof top.

He was knocked backwards but suffered only a bruise.

Lc Cpl Rush, 24, from Wrexham, said: "If the bullet had been one inch lower it would have made a horrible mess. I am a very lucky boy."

The second in command, Captain Steve Brooks, 25, from Sandwich, Kent, said troops would often only reluctantly leave their battle positions to rest when given a direct order.

He said: "The men's dedication was just extraordinary.

"They would refuse to be relieved and say, 'No, I'm OK here, Sir' - when they were falling asleep where they crouched. It's a testament to character and commitment.."

The force comprised Y Company's 70 men, a platoon of 24 from the regiment's A Company and 12 soldiers on loan from the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

One of Y Company's six-man sniper team, Cpl Chris Mulrine, 33, from North London, said: "They kept coming, day after day. But the more they gave us, the more we gave them back. It just made us more determined and morale was awesome."

The defenders were resupplied whenever an armoured column could get through.

With bullets pinging off their hard shells, Warrior fighting vehicles lead by Challenger II tanks from the Queen's Royal Lancers would smash through Mehdi Army ambushes.

But for ten days between August 15 and 25 it was considered too dangerous for the convoys and the garrison was all alone.

Y Company insist the heroes of the siege were Royal Logistics Corps COOKS Corporals Lewis Dodds and Debbie Kaye - the only woman present.

In a sparse field kitchen, they produced a hot meal on every day of the battle.

They were exposed to mortar fire routinely as they ran to and from store tents.

On one such dash, Cpl Dodds' right leg was almost sliced off by shrapnel.

The 1st Battalion PWRR's Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Matt Maer told The Sun: "Many of the soldiers were just 18 and 19. But what they did was extraordinary. Their dogged determination is an example to all of us. I am very proud to command them."

This is a war that has gone largely unnoticed. Lt Col Maer's 1,000 men, based in Tidworth, Wilts, have been attacked 863 times in a seven-month tour of duty, suffering two dead and 43 wounded.

The Sun told in July how the unit's Private Johnson Beharry could receive the Victoria Cross for his heroism.

[Badgerboy 0]

Urggh, I hate how the Sun reports things. 'Our boys'. Jesus....

[theavonlady 2]

Urggh, I hate how the Sun reports things. 'Our boys'. Jesus....

I agree.

There was one girl there, after all.

[Munk 0]

Urggh, I hate how the Sun reports things. 'Our boys'. Jesus....

Sorry, im too lazy to go round the shop and buy a (decent) paper so I just wait for somebody else to do it and nick it when they're done

[Blake 0]

Quote[/b] ]It was an achievement which brings back memories of Rorke's Drift, where a handful of redcoats held off 5,000 Zulus in South Africa in 1879.

Ahh yes the good old days. LOL.

[EiZei 0]

Quote[/b] ]It was an achievement which brings back memories of Rorke's Drift, where a handful of redcoats held off 5,000 Zulus in South Africa in 1879.

Ahh yes the good old days. LOL.

To quote black adder.. "That WAS an awfully sharp mango you know"

[Balschoiw 0]

U.N. says Iraqi nuclear materials vanishing

Under the eyes of the coalition whole installations were built down and taken away. Nice work. Mission accomplished !

Quote[/b] ]UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Equipment and materials that could be used to make nuclear weapons are disappearing from Iraq but neither Baghdad nor Washington appears to have noticed, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency says.

Satellite imagery shows that entire buildings in Iraq have been dismantled. They once housed high-precision equipment that could help a government or terror group make nuclear bombs, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

Equipment and materials helpful in making bombs also have been removed from open storage areas in Iraq and disappeared without a trace, according to the satellite pictures, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei said.

While some military goods that disappeared from Iraq after the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion, including missile engines, later turned up in scrap yards in the Middle East and Europe, none of the equipment or material known to the IAEA as potentially useful in making nuclear bombs has turned up yet, ElBaradei said.

The United States barred the return of U.N. weapons investigators after launching war on Iraq in March 2003, preventing the IAEA from keeping tabs on high-tech equipment and materials up to the present day.

Under anti-proliferation agreements, the U.S. occupation authorities who administered Iraq until June, and then the Iraqi interim government that took power at the end of June, would have to inform the IAEA if they moved or exported any of that material or equipment.

But no such reports have been received since the invasion, officials of the watchdog agency said.

The United States also has not publicly commented on earlier U.N. inspectors' reports disclosing the dismantling of a range of key weapons-making sites, raising the question of whether it was unable to monitor the sites.

'WE SIMPLY DON'T KNOW'

In the absence of any U.S. or Iraqi accounting, council diplomats said the satellite images could mean the gear had been moved to new sites inside Iraq or stolen. If stolen, it could end up in the hands of a government or terrorist group seeking nuclear weapons.

"We simply don't know, although we are trying to get the information," said one council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. officials had no immediate comment on the report.

President George W. Bush, locked in a tough re-election battle with Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, justified the war, in part, by saying that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was on the brink of developing a nuclear bomb that he might use against the United States or give to terrorists.

Both men agreed during a September 30 debate that nuclear proliferation is the most serious threat facing the United States.

A new CIA report last week by chief U.S. weapons investigator Charles Duelfer made clear, however, that Saddam had all but given up on his nuclear programme after the first Gulf War in 1991.

ElBaradei, whose agency dismantled Iraq's nuclear arms programme over a decade ago, drew similar conclusions to the Duelfer report well before the March 2003 invasion.

In his latest report, ElBaradei said the IAEA remained "concerned about the widespread and apparently systematic dismantlement" of former nuclear sites it used to monitor.

"As the disappearance of such equipment and materials may be of proliferation significance, any state that has information about the location of such items should provide IAEA with that information," his report said.

Yeah, this made the world a lot safer

[Blake 0]

First they were so concerned about WMDs that they stepped over the inspectors and now it seems they don't even care!

Or did they even care in the first place?

Utterly embarrasing

[DarkLight 0]

It's funny to see that such a big important country that attracts so much attention can do stuff like this...

Strange world

[Acecombat 0]

All that matters is May God Bless America .... keep firing ....

[ralphwiggum 6]

hmmm.. is it me or is TBA trying to force their WMD fantasy? by letting possible WMD producing equipments to fal into wrong hands, they will later claim that they were right about iraq dispersing WMD knowhows to rogue states and terrorists. of course it would be hard to trace if the equipment was moved before invasion or not, so the rightwingers can later play with people's shortterm memory...

[billybob2002 0]

http://www.nationalreview.com/smitht/smith200410120831.asp

Quote[/b] ]

October 12, 2004, 8:31 a.m.

In Their Own Hands

An emerging Iraqi special-ops forces works to get the bad guys.

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

The enthusiasm of U.S. Marine captains Thomas "Tad" Douglas and David Nevers can hardly be contained. Their voices, alternately crackling over a weak satellite-phone connection, are heartening as they describe the successes they are witnessing in Iraq. The insurgency is losing ground. Iraqi civilians, feeling less afraid than in previous months, are increasingly coming forward with solid information about the bad guys. And a new Iraqi special-operations force is taking the lead in wiping out guerilla strongholds, south of Baghdad.

From their operating base in Kalsu (so-named for Bob Kalsu, a Buffalo Bills lineman and Army lieutenant who was killed during the Vietnam War), Douglas tells National Review Online, "The Iraqis are performing well-above my expectations. Their strengths are their aggressiveness and mobility, and we are enhancing those strengths."

Douglas, commander of a Marine Force reconnaissance platoon and a reconnaissance and surveillance platoon, is referring to a crack Iraqi SWAT (special-weapons and tactics) team, sometimes referred to as the Al Hillah SWAT team.

Last week, the Iraqi SWAT team and other members of the Iraqi security forces (about 800 men combined) backed by U.S. Marines (about 1,300) launched an offensive aimed at retaking guerilla strongholds south of the Sunni Triangle. The strongholds lie within Babil province, home of the ancient city of Babylon, though today a virtual no-man's-land rife with kidnappings, ambushes, and murder.

The offensive continues this week, with Iraqi SWAT commandos and Douglas's Marines attacking guerilla bases, and resistance forces launching progressively weakening counter-attacks. On Monday, the joint Iraqi-American force raided a base in the province, netting two guerillas killed and more than ten captured. Like other raids in this ongoing offensive, the Iraqi SWAT team is at the proverbial tip of the spear.

Nevers, a spokesman for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), says "the new force may be a SWAT team in name, but in terms of training and direct-action capabilities they are quite a bit more than a paramilitary police force. They are more closely comparable to a U.S. military special-operations force."

EXTRASPECIAL MARINES

The Iraqi SWAT team has been trained by — and currently receives the majority of its combat support from — Douglas's force-recon platoon, a unit specializing in direct action.

Unlike other U.S. special-operations forces, little is known about the responsibilities and mission scope of force recon. The reasoning can be found in the secretive nature of force-recon operations as well as the longstanding view held by Marine leaders that the entire Corps is "special" and no single Marine unit is better than another. That said, force-recon Marines receive training beyond that received by leathernecks serving in front-line rifle companies. Force-recon Marines are experts in precision direct-action, close-quarters fighting, and deep reconnaissance operations. As such, they are trained to survive in the worst types of environments, handle all manner of weapons and explosives, and employ a variety of battlefield tactics. They also receive training as parachutists and open-water divers.

Though their work rarely makes the papers, force-recon Marines are playing a major role in the war on terror. Douglas, for instance, was a key leader in the dramatic rescue of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch in April 2003. Since then, these Marines have been conducting combat and surveillance operations throughout the country. They've operated both independently and with other Marine forces and Navy SEALs.

Over the past several days, however, force-recon Marines have been running missions with the new Iraqi SWAT team in Babil province. It's a natural fit. After all, force recon trained the special Iraqi unit, sharing with the latter the raiding and close-combat techniques for which all Marines are famous.

Training began in July when the Marines began honing the skills of a handful of picked men from the provincial capital of Al Hillah. The men, who would ultimately comprise the Iraqi (Al Hillah) SWAT team, received instruction in marksmanship, tactics, and the finer points of mission-planning, decision-making, and combat leadership.

AN EMERGING FORCE

Today, some 175 Iraqis have made the team. They are taking the fight to the enemy, and, in many ways, are proving themselves capable of operating as an independent unit.

"This are an emerging force, and yet they are taking the lead in our operations against the insurgents," says Nevers. "We conducted an operation a month ago in which this force did most of the planning and then physically led the way. The operation was very successful, and it consequently set the stage for what we are doing right now."

Asked if those on the team are more-formidable fighters than the best Iraqi troops faced by U.S. forces during the spring 2003 invasion, Nevers is quick to respond, "Yes, and they are far better than the Iraqis we were contending with in April 2004 [during the brutal fighting in and around Fallujah and Ramadi]."

Douglas points to the team's unique talents. "It's kind of like when you are coaching a baseball team and you want to play to the strength of the ballplayers to fit the system," he says. "These men are very good at clearing and direct-action. They literally swarm over an objective and that has a tremendously negative psychological affect on the enemy."

According to Douglas, the strength of the Iraqi SWAT team lies not so much in precision single-point clearing missions, a specialty of force recon, but in functioning as shock troops. "Iraqis are very good at raiding a particular area and quickly clearing several buildings at once," he says. "I'm afraid if we train them more on the precision clearing, they might lose that aggressiveness and speed that now serves them so well."

Speed indeed: When Iraqi SWAT commandos hit a target, they hit it hard. Racing forward in white pick-up trucks emblazoned with the unit's emblem — a black scorpion and dagger (an emblem designed by the Iraqis) — the raiders leap from the vehicles and rush toward their objective almost before the enemy has time to panic. The attackers — primarily in their early to mid-twenties — are armed with a variety of personal weapons including AK-47s and SIG Sauer assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, and grenades. They all wear khaki-colored assault suits (similar to zip-up flight suits) with an Iraqi-flag patch stitched on the shoulder. Khaki or black balaclavas cover their heads, concealing their faces. "The Iraqis like wearing balaclavas," says Douglas. "It makes them look fearless, and terrifies the enemy."

While the team is kicking in doors, observation helicopters are thundering overhead watching for bad guys attempting to escape or enemy reinforcements moving up. Attack helicopters and jets are flying on-station ready to suppress any resistance or a counter-attack. And within a few hundred yards of the assault, U.S. Marines are poised to move-in should the raid begin to unravel.

Over the past several days, this "swarming" technique has netted numerous enemy prisoners and weapons caches in the 24th MEU's area of responsibility. And the speed with which they attack actually keeps casualties low.

The success of the new unit has instilled "great confidence" in both SWAT-team members and regular Iraqi soldiers, says Col. Salaam Abdul al Kathom, the commander of the Iraqi SWAT team. It has also increased pride and a greater sense of security for the Iraqi people.

"With the Americans, we're the same team, no difference," Col. Kathom says, through an interpreter. "The training is very good. I am very, very happy with the progress. We will destroy the bad guys."

Still, additional training and experience is needed. "Developing such a force requires patience," says Nevers. "The cohesiveness we Americans take for granted is not universal, but we are witnessing that cohesiveness in this force. We are holding them to near unreasonable standards and they are measuring up to those standards."

The success of a new, elite, independently operating Iraqi force is good news. What about the bad?

"Optimism in the face of obstacles is no vice," says Nevers. "We get criticized for complaining about the negative news coverage, but it is because we are here. We know exactly what is going on, and we believe in our ability to get this done. Tremendous progress is being made every single day, but is often lost in the daily reports of car bombs and ambushes."

He adds, "Look, we don't want to dismiss casualties or down-play setbacks. This is a dangerous environment and we know it. But here in Iraq every step back is three steps forward. And that's not an opinion. That's a fact."

Douglas agrees. "This country has progressed light years since I was here in 2003," he says.

Though the Iraqi SWAT team is the only unit of its kind, other Iraqi special operations forces are being developed within the Iraqi National Guard and security forces. Those units are being fielded throughout the contested regions of the country, particularly within the Sunni Triangle. Earlier this month, a battalion of Iraqi "police commandos," supported by the Army's 1st Infantry Division — the famous Big Red One — led the way at many points in the retaking of the city of Samarra, southeast of Tikrit in the northern point of the triangle.

— A former U.S. Marine infantry leader and paratrooper, W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a freelance journalist and the author of four books, including the Alpha Bravo Delta Guide to American Airborne Forces.

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[ralphwiggum 6]

http://www.nationalreview.com/smitht/smith200410120831.asp

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yeah... no comment especially about how the guy handles his firearm...

chicken wing!