The Fallujah security situation; a nighttime raid with Charlie Company 1/24
As the the Iraqi Army, Fallujah Police and U.S. military work to secure Fallujah, the war in the shadows continues. Insurgents rarely fight in the open. Their tactics consist of intimidation, drive by shootings, roadside bombs, indirect mortar fire and the increasingly dangerous sniper attacks. The units currently here in Fallujah have yet to encounter a coordinated attack where the enemy maintained contact.
On Sunday, insurgents mortared an Entry Control Point just outside the city. One Fallujah Police officer was killed, and three civilians were wounded. The officer’s lieutenant was visibly shaken and upset, and “The terrorists are crazy, they attack the checkpoints thinking there are only police or Army or Marines, but there are civilians there,” said Colonel Karim, Fallujah’s chief of police, during a meeting with Lieutenant General James Mattis, during a visit at Fallujah’s Government Center on Sunday.
Over the course of each day, several roadside bombs are found inside the city and destroyed. Al-Qaeda uses cash to pay unemployed Fallujans to plant the IEDs. A large majority of the IEDs are found by Marines, the Iraqi Army or the Iraqi Police, who then call the location in to the Joint Command Center. At the JCC, the planning begins to disable the weapons. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team is called in, and the Iraqi Army and Marines provide the cordon around the bomb site to ensure civilians are not harmed.
On Tuesday, an Army National Guard patrol had the misfortune of getting hit by a roadside bomb. But they were lucky none the less. The unit was moving down Fran, one of the two major streets running through Fallujah, when an IED struck their vehicle, just across from the Tawaheed and Shuhada Police Patrol Station.
The Humvee limped into the Government center, and the soldiers come up to the Joint Command Center. Doc J and Scuba Steve, the medics for the Police Transition Team, checked out the soldiers. An Army specialist was visibly shaken but none the worse for wear. There were no injuries. The Marines and soldiers traded shop talk on IEDs, hot spots in Fallujah, weapons, equipment and expressed skepticism about the Fallujah Police as the attack occurred right in front of a police guard post. Corporal Sazfranski, the Police Transition Team’s motor pool NCO among other tasks, was able to round up some new tires and help the soldiers on their way.
Because of the ever evolving threat in Fallujah, Iraqi and Coalition forces remain on the offensive.
Cell commanders, financiers, facilitators, bomb makers and snipers are key targets in the city, as these are the primary killers of Iraqi and Coalition forces. Charlie Company and the Iraqi Army are actively seeking to dismantle the insurgent network in Fallujah.
I linked up with Company,1st Battalion, 24th Marines on Sunday night. Charlie Company is the only Marine line infantry inside Fallujah. The 1/24 is a reserve infantry unit from Michigan, and is augmented with Marines from Indian and across the country. Charlie’s 300 Marines have fought some of the toughest battles in here in Fallujah over the past few months.
The mission was a raid to detain multiple insurgent suspects. I linked up with the 1st Squad., 2nd Platoon, led by Corporal Stephen Webber. The raid began after midnight, and the targets were two suspected insurgents. “It takes about 20 patrols to gather the intelligence for one such raid,” said Captain Mike Maynes, Charlie’s company commander.
1st Squad took the point, and moved towards the target house. For the raid, the squad is tasked with providing overwatch for the assault element. The night was moonless, quiet and cold. The platoon darted across Fran, regrouped and pushed towards the target house.
The platoon hit a snag just as we approached the target house. A new construction site, which wasn’t on the map, blocked the route to the home, and we were forced to detour. Once we hit the target site, 1st Squad entered the home across the street to provide cover for the assault team. We watched as other covering units took their position, then the assault element made its entry.
The home was briefly searched and the family was gathered into one room. Four military aged males (or MAMs) were in the home. Gunnery Sergeant Chris Mohr checked their IDs and questioned the men about the insurgency, Baathists, Saddam, and Takfiris. “Sometimes these guys will say I don’t like Ali Baba (a term used for the insurgents) but support Saddam. Sometimes they’ll give us useful information.” This raid failed to net any insurgents or produce any follow on intelligence, however.
I linked up with Company C, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines on Sunday night. Charlie Company is the only Marine line infantry inside Fallujah. The 1/24 is a reserve infantry unit from Michigan, and is augmented with Marines from Indiana and across the country. Charlie’s 300 Marines have fought some of the toughest battles in here in Fallujah over the past few months.
The mission was a raid to detain multiple insurgent suspects. I linked up with the squad led by Corporal S. Webber. The raid began after midnight, and the targets were two suspected insurgents. “It takes about 20 patrols to gather the intelligence for one such raid,” said Captain M. Mayne, Charlie’s company commander.
1st Squad took the point, and moved towards the target house. For the raid, the squad is tasked with providing overwatch for the assault element. The night was moonless, quiet and cold. The platoon darted across Fran, regrouped and pushed towards the target house.
The platoon hit a snag just as we approached the target house. A new construction site had blocked the route to the home, and we were forced to detour. Once we hit the target site, 1st Squad moved to provide cover for the assault team. We watched as other covering units took their position, then the assault element made its entry.
The home was briefly searched and the family was gathered into one room. Four military aged males (or MAMs) were in the home. Gunnery Sergeant C. Mohr checked their IDs and questioned the men about the insurgency, Baathists and Saddam. “Sometimes these guys will say I don’t like Ali Baba (a term used for the insurgents) but support Saddam. Sometimes they’ll give us useful information.” This raid failed to net any insurgents, however.
As we wound our way back from the raid site, bursts of machine gun fire was heard in the distance. The Iraqi Army had a patrol out. “The Iraqi Army will open fire whenever they feel threatened,” said Cpl Webber. The Iraqi Army had much more luck that day than Charlie, however, and captured four members of insurgent cells.
48 Comments
Mr. Roggio,
It seems the situation in Fallujah has not changed one bit since the 1st Battle of Fallujah in April ’04 and the 2nd Battle of Fallujah in Nov ’04.
Several things appear pretty clear from your account of the patrols:
1. The New Iraqi Army is not able to handle the insurgents on a 1 to 1 basis.
2. The New Iraqi Army does not have the proper equipment, bases, etc to control even one city in Iraq. In fact, they don’t even appear to have any air support or heavy armor.
3. The insurgents are getting increasingly militarized, you mentioned the snipers are getting better. That is a sign of some level of insurgent training that is producing marksmen who have decent enough rifles to attack coalition and New Iraqi Army forces.
All in all it is a pretty bleak account and makes clear my position that is is long past time for the coalition to retreat from their disastrous war. Otherwise how much longer until coalition forces are called in again to fight the 3rd Battle of Fallujah?
Hoax Meister:
“In Fallujah proper, there is a company of Marines from the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines – about 300 Marines, along with a battalion of Iraqi Army (about 800 troops) and about 700 local police. After Operation al-Fajr, there were 1,500 Marines, 300 Iraqi troops and no police.”
Something has changed since 2004 in Falluja:
The Iraqi Army 1st division, second brigade, which controls Falluja is one of the highest quality units in the Iraqi Army. (Not too many other countries’ armies in the world compare favorably with them either.) This article does not criticize them, except perhaps to imply that they like to open up at insurgents a bit much.
Its true that Iraqi army and police need to deploy more forces in Falluja to allow Charlie Company,1st Battalion, 24th Marines, to pull out.
Are you advocating that Congress appropriate more money to increase the size of the Iraqi Army, increase the quality and quantity of its armor and equipment, and build its airforce?
[As you are aware, Congress only gave $3 billion to the Iraqi army this year (less than it spends in two weeks for US military ops in Iraq)]
If so I agree with you. Everyone else, your thoughts?
It gives some good insight. Namely that you have Iraqi’s fighting, being killed and visibly upset with the terrorist.
It also shined light on the Iraqi police again as a problme area. Comments from our soldiers not fully trusting them, when a IED goes off in front of a police guard post.
Pulling out is idiotic however. We continue to build better Iraqi Police forces. More Iraqi Army forces. And what I strongly would encourage is a get tougher attitude with Syria & Iran(allowing training, infiltration into Iraq of money, weapons and fighters), along with greater construction and economic infusion.
Disasterous war? That is a comment of ignorance. WWII would’ve been the End of the World then. Korea? That too by the same standards would have been end of the world.
Our troops, pay attention to our troops, volunteers, who believe they’re winning, making a difference and ASKED that American’s STAND BY THEM!
Is Bill going to Bagdad? That’s where the action is
Good comments. If we want the Iraqi Army to take control of more space, they must receive proper equipment and other US support.
The pre-2004 incursion changed the situation insofar as before that the terrorists ran and controlled large and expanding sections of the city. It appears that today, the terrorists perform uncoordinated sniping and mortar rounds.
I congratulate Bill for the vivid reporting from Fallujah. There is plenty of time to venture into Baghdad.
This is the first time I heard the slang “Ali Baba”. But the bottom of this wikipedia article shows how behind the times I am http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Baba
Thanks for the great info and be safe.
Chris
Bill,
Outstanding reporting. It’s very refreshing to have someone reporting from the fight first hand, rather than second or third hand from the Green Zone or even further away.
It also seems to me, the further away from the fighting a reporter is, the more skewed the reporting is to back up a political agenda (which tends to be the opposite of which I support).
Keep up the good work.
Thanks again Bill.
Can you possibly comment as to whether most of the civilians have since returned to Fallujah since the major battle there a few years back and what the local population thinks of that mission?
Mark
Mr. Roggio, it’s good to hear from you and know that you’re safe. I found this report interesting. Keep it up!
Your efforts are much appreciated Bill. Keep safe and keep up the good work.
I realize you are in Fallujah, which I don’t think is part of what the press refers to as the “restive Anbar Province.” Frequently, there are reports of casualties in Anbar. They are vague and, consequently, frustrating. Are the men there taking sniper fire or are they engaged in more “traditonal” battle? Thanks.
Fallujah is very much a part of Anbar province.
The Ali Baba comment reminded me of an incident when I was in Ad Diwaniyah, in south central Iraq, in November 2003. The Marines, I MEF, had been in Ad Diwaniyah until they were relieved in that sector by the Spanish Brigade of the Multi National Division in Sep 2003. When I was in the street an Iraqi boy came to me and gave me a good intel report: “Marines come, Ali Baba go away. Matines leave, Ali Baba come back.”
I might also add, with reference to the previous comment that reports on casualties in Anbar province are vague and confusing, that there is a reason for this vagueness. The Marines don’t release specifics on how and where they receive casualties because they don’t want the enemy to know whether the tactics and techniques that they are using are successful or not. If they knew that the majority of Marine casualties were generated by IED’s in Ramadi, then this would be good information for them for future operations.
What interests me is that there appears to be no follow up with the police staioned adjacent to the IED? I have read elsewhere US service men very frustrated with IEDS going off under them which must have been planted under the gaze of ISF. Surely those Iraqi troops/police should be relieved of their duties at a minimum.
I would have thought there would have been very stiff penalties for what is tacit cooperation with the enemy. Call me melodramatic but how is this not treason? Imagine the outcry if that had been say UK soldiers who had allowed an IED to be laid under their noses. Why should it be any different for the Iraqi’s. To me this is classic ” Either you are with us or you are against us”.
I often wonder how much better Iraq would currently be even without a scrap of extra equipment for the IA and Police if they just got rid of 99% of the sympathisers and infiltrators and the US could truly rely on them to at least always be on their side even if a bit inexperienced and ill-disciplined?
Good Job Bill!
Just going and rounding up all the police at the station with the IED for punitive action (or anything similar is problematic). There may have been one or two complicit guards on duty when the IED was planted. The other police may/may not have been involved. The police may be serving other useful purposes such as demonstating to the local population that their own are in charge of crime control, taking care of petty crime. Even with police that sway which ever way the wind is blowing – there may be informants among them providing useful intel. And so on … lots of “ifs” and “maybes”, but all to say, we don’t know the situation there and the “obvious” solution may not be the right one when seen from a distance. And there is probably a lot that Bill can’t tell us, because the enemy no doubt reads this website looking for intel.
[[Mr. Roggio,
It seems the situation in Fallujah has not changed one bit since the 1st Battle of Fallujah in April ’04 and the 2nd Battle of Fallujah in Nov ’04.
]]
Except that it no longer a terrorist safe haven and is under the controlmof the US military and the ISF!
Web Reconnaissance for 12/15/2006
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.
The only thing that has been “disasterous” is the continued call to get out as quickly as possible. The cut and run attitude does nothing but embolden our enemies, and discourage our allies. The society of instant gratification has no useful insight into a region where war has been commonplace for thousands of years. For years American’s were convinced that brutal dictators, as long as they were “US friendly”, were an acceptable evil. Realpolitik was often attacked as a soulless way to run our foreign policy. How easy it is to swing back to what is easy when the blood of our children is on the line. Did we underestimate what it will take in Iraq? It sure seems that way, but then again, the news reports would sound completely different if the focus was on how many hospitals, schools, powerplants, etc. are running smoothly everyday. The sensationalist reporting over how many of our soldiers have been killed, or injured is the worst kind of spin. One mother of a Marine I spoke with is more worried about her son getting into trouble at LaJeune, and it is a fact that drunk driving kills many more people in 1 month than we have lost in Iraq.
For years American’s were convinced that brutal dictators, as long as they were “US friendly”, were an acceptable evil. Realpolitik was often attacked as a soulless way to run our foreign policy.
Chief,
This is still the case, witness Musharaf in Pakistan, especially since USG just gave him a load of stuff painted green!! Check the congressional web site.
Vivid reporting? Give me a break. That was a laundry list, going through the motions. Here’s an idea, why don’t you include some dialogue between the troops, about their mission, the Iraqi troops, whether they’re making any real progress in defeating the insurgency, or are they just driving around waiting to get hit by an IED.
You want some real reporting? Go read C.J. Chivers accounts in the New York Times. Yes, that New York Times, the bogeyman the right wing loves to attack. What did you say Major E? Bill’s reporting is refreshing because it’s not from some reporter holed up in the Green Zone? When are you going to come up with an original idea? That one is old and tired.
Did you ever read New York Times reporter Dexer Filkin’s accounts from Fallujah? How about Michael Ware for Time and now CNN, out reporting among the Iraqis, outside of the bubble of protection provided by the American military? CBS’s Lara Logan reporting from among the troops down in North Babil, south of Baghdad?
You guys are a joke. Still making the argument that reporters miss all the good things happening in Iraq, that the real story only the troops see, that the media hides. How real is what the troops see? They go on patrol, insurgents hide, they go back to the FOB, insurgents come out and continue terrorizing the populace. So they really know how the average Iraqi lives on a daily basis? You don’t even understand the basics of this type of warfare.
I spent months on the streets of Baghdad. Out on patrol every day, week after week. There aren’t any happy stories. People are dying on a daily basis in horrible ways. And guess what? It’s getting worse, the insurgency is getting stronger. Iran is becoming the regional power because of this brilliant war we’ve gotten ourselves into. Good move that one.
Oh, and the Chief wow! More people die in drunk driving every month than we’ve lost in Iraq? Is that among the U.S. population as a whole? Or just 140,000 Americans. Actually halve that number, because less than half that total ever leaves the FOB. Have you ever even been to Iraq? Did you sit your ass on a FOB the whole time? I spent time with 3ACR in southern Baghdad, they lost 18 KIA in a year, many more wounded, some horribly burned. Are they more likely to get hurt at Ft. Carson? You’re an idiot.
Do some real reporting while you’re there Bill.
Bill and others you guys might want to see this
Saudis Planning to ‘Clean up’ al Qaeda in Anbar
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/12/saudis_planning.html
First of all, Mr. or Ms. Meister, using similar thinking, would have surrendered to the Japanese on December 8, 1942. Second, I know it is easy to sit here in comfort in the States and second-guess activities on a battlefield. But I’m still trying to understand what combat actions are like over there. Example, The Rines used only a map to plan a route to their objective. Whatever happened to reconnaissance (recon)? Shouldn’t an NCO or junior officer taken a look at the route before the mission? The construction site thing would not have happened. This is Tactics 101. Also, 20 patrols were required to set up this mission for two Alis, a combat patrol (Platoon sized?) was planned and executed. The result was zero? Oops. Like I said, I know it is easy to be a critic. But…
Reality writes, “…months on the streets of Baghdad. Out on patrol every day, week after week…People are dying on a daily basis in horrible ways.” Yeah, that’s a war all right. Funny the Left in the US can’t seem to understand that, nor what will happen if we pull out too soon. Tell me, on patrol, were you walking or riding? Just trying to understand.
I’m not lessening Realities service but I take exception to his post. His diatribe revolving around the “you weren’t there man” argument is weak. There are lots of people on this site that have had at least one tour (or multiples) over in Iraq or Afghanistan. BLUF: Journalists that embed with troops generally are more sympathetic to the Soldiers/Marines than the MSM guys drinking Lattes in the green zone. The MSM DOES NOT generally expose themselves to danger. They get their info from fictitious stringers and generally act as an extension of the enemies IO campaign. Don’t denigrate Bill because you don’t support the war. He has consistently given great analysis while also showing our troops are human beings acting in extraordinary ways. Reality, I’m not going to get in a pissing contest over what unit had it worse but I can assure you were not the only guy sucking dust outside of the FOB.
Bill,
I hope you will recall that my grandson Jim, who is a marine sniper and my nephew who is a satellite communications expert were in Iraq returning home to camp pendleton in April 2006 and november 2006. Bpth young men came home unscathed and whole except for deep seated mental problems, both are members of the 1st marines, 3rd battalion and are wasting their time daily at pendleton. Neither one wants to return to Iraq, not because of fear but both knowing that the u.s.m.c. will not supports them if they return to the middle east.
They have commendations for valor and bravery in combat but no rank. Jr. radioed the incident at the dam and for his troubles was told he is not especially helpful by the cia who questioned him extensively when he told his superiors what happened when the marine convoy was attacked at the dam and marine troops wiped out terrorist insurgents who hit the convoy killing a marine cpl. who was driving a truck.
These marines are still waiting trial at pendleton for murdering women and children and other iraqi civilians at el Hadhitha.My grandson was at Fallajah when marines wiped out the city and for their trouble had their asses chewed out for leveling the town.
Bill, why are they being trained to kill and break, and destroy, when they do the generals court martial them and imprison them. Same thing that happened in Korea, and H.S. Truman fired Mac Arthur who would not punish american forces but wanted to take us into red china and attack Beijing. Not one of us said no to him,(gen. Macarthur).
I would like to wish you and yours a very Blessed Christmas and a prosperous holy new year.
The old crotchety 101st trooper, Bob Hemmerle
Anand,
“The Iraqi Army 1st division, second brigade, which controls Falluja is one of the highest quality units in the Iraqi Army.”
Thanks for passing info on that unit, I’ll check it out. However, you mentioned in your post that this unit “controls” Fallujah–that is certainly not the case, regardless of the quality of the unit. The IA 1st Div, 2nd Br (probably around 3,000 troops) may be an important part of the coalition plan for Fallujah but they do not control the city–just as no city in Iraq is “controlled” by Iraqi forces.
This is point I was getting at in my post. The US is caught in between Iraq and a hard place.(pun intended) The coalition cannot withdraw until the Iraqi Army stands up–however, the coalition does not trust the Iraqi Army enough to give them heavy weapons that would allow them to stand up, for fear that the same weapons would be used against the coalition or against either the Shia or Sunni civilians.
There has been several examples of military supplies going “MIA” in Iraq–with many of these supplies ending up on the black market or straight to the insurgents or the militias.
Until the coalition solves this “heavy weapon” problem, this situation will remain a severe problem.
Friday Linkzookery – 15 Dec 2006
So after one week, what do you guys think of the experimental…
Fred Beloit,
Please stop trying to link the Iraq war to WWII, it’s a poor analogy.
Instead of having a knee-jerk reaction to any calls for withdrawal why not look at the military reality.
1. The coalition cannot secure Iraq without hundreds of thousands of more troops.
2. The coalition does not have those troops available on any realistic time frame.
3. The Sunni insurgents will continue to fight either the coalition or the Shia.
4. There is some kind of low-level(neighborhood v neighborhood) civil war going on right now in Iraq between Sunni and Shia.
5. The coalition does not trust the New Iraqi Army, the Iraqi Police, the Min of Interior forces–to be honest brokers for peace.(some units yes, as Anand pointed out but as a whole these forces are untrustworthy from the coalition POV)
6. The current political government of Iraq (al-Maliki) gets their governing power from the Sadrists–who are a destabilizing force.
From these facts, I draw the conclusion that it is time to get out. Obviously, I know I’m biased since I thought the whole thing was a bad idea–but c’mon. The best idea going around now with the JCS is to throw another 35,000 troops to “resecure” Badgdad. Does that sound like a winning strategy or a endless loop?
An important part of military strategy is knowing when to withdraw and regroup…
“My grandson was at Fallajah when marines wiped out the city and for their trouble had their asses chewed out for leveling the town.”
Huh?? Bob, I’m not sure what this means, but it sounds like your grandsons are giving you bad gouge.
“Reality,” as far as your rant is concerned, that certainly doesn’t sound like my time there. I was not driving around waiting to be hit by an IED. We were actually accomplishing things, and taking the fight to the enemy. You said you were “with 3ACR.” In what capacity were you with them? Because your perspective sounds like the typical clueless reporter perspective.
Hoax meistger.
Lets assume you are right, things are “bad”.
The problem with your solution (ie leaving) is that, no matter how bad things are in Iraq now, they will be worse if we leave.
If we only have a choice between “bad” and “worse”, it is better to choose “bad”.
Reality,
I’ve read the NYT dreck many times to the point I got sick of it(not just military, but political drivel amongst many other stands and bias) to the point of writing several times, without any response and then finally, to let them know I was discontinuing reading their product. I’ve watched my share of CutNruN as well. The truth is they are biased in their opinions as a whole, whether you agree or not.
Eason Jordon and the decisions of him and his staff in capitulating to Saddam should be enough for anyone to question the validity of that entire organization’s stand. They proceed on the grounds of the former atheist master, Ted Turner. Fine, give a billion to the UN which continues to allow millions die in Sudan.
Sorry, I no longer buy it.
None of us here are asking for “good stories” and “cheerleading” all the time. But I am wise enough to understand the differences in past wars, how our media and even Hollywood stood by our soldiers in combat. Whate we’re asking for is balanced reporting that tells the truth, all of the truth and reports the success of our troops as frequently as the enemies.
How is this to much to ask?
What is so hard about reporting the truth of when our soldiers kill and capture the enemy as regularly as when the enemy kills innocnents or our soldiers? Is that such a scandalous and “idotic” stand to take?
Most of us here are far more informed than the average CNN watcher who depends solely on TV news, or the likes of depraved rantings from Olberman or the drunken spittle from Jack in the mornings on CNN.
We are not limited to just NYT, CNN anymore and have direct insight thru soldiers that have been there, are there, MilBlogs and Iraqis themselves, btw who live there daily without CF to protect them. None of them paint it like you think we want it. Most all tell the truth about the death and destruction. But they also tell of the progress being made, of the success, and not just failures.
I know its a bloody war. None of us deny its a bloody, dangerous war for our soldiers and for the Iraqis.
Thank you for your service, but there are many who have served and disagree with you about the way the Media has portrayed this war.
And I disagree with you.
If you think NYT is not biased, then we respectfully disagree. If you think CNN is not biased, then there is no hope in discussing anything at all with you.
Do you watch and agree with Olberman too?
There is a video that Hannity captured while he was in Iraq. The soldiers said, let them complete their job, let them finish, and stand by them. Of course we all want them to come home safely. No one wants war in Afghanistan either. Nor did we want past wars, like the Korean war.
Hoax Meister,
In WWII we lost 400,000 men and women. According to your logic, we should’ve stopped on the very first day. According to your logic, French are more important than Iraqis to have freedom. There are many valid analogies to be drawn.
This is going to be generational long warfare, unless something entirely worse comes to fruition, like Iran with nukes. In that case, all bets are off as what may happen in the future. It appears right now, we’re on the path to allowing Iran do whatever it wants as it keeps claiming Israel will be wiped off the face of the earth. This is the same rantings of a madman we all know, Hitler.
We must all be prepared, understand clearly and decide this kind of event will not happen again.
Reality
Why not link a few of the articles? The only point I was trying to get across by using DUI, is the readiness of certain media outlets to dwell on US and civilian casualties. Portraying the numbers as large and horrible. It doesn’t bother you that these people are furthering THEIR agenda on the blood of our soldiers?
Hoax Meister: Please stop ignoring the history of warfare, the history of the U.S., and the science of military tactics. Anyone can easily pick out the mistakes, poor planning, bad decisions and many other horrors that are part of the very essence of warfare to show that winning is impossible. If winning meant deposing Saddam, we have already won. If it also included a free election and the establishment of a new government, we have already won. But there was one more objective of Bush foreign policy and security. This is the stability of the democracy or republic that is now Iraq. This will help ensure a chance for peace in the despot-driven Middle- East. This is an ambitious objective and a grand one. It has not yet been achieved. In my opinion it has not yet been achieved partly because of anti-Bush political forces that have broadcast comfort to the enemy since almost the beginning. Procede to the bathroom and look in the mirror.
FB: Check out this link: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070101/cooperweb>this out.
Doubts about the war come about from objective sources–the war itself.
LJ,
The nation is absolutely NOT an objective source and they don’t even pretend to be.
What’s never mentioned is that the insurgents don’t possess air or armor, and don’t seem to be hampered by their lack of training. The US military training the Iraqi army has been going on for years and is (A) a waste of time, as they possess little to no internal motivation and (B) potentially treasonous, when we have to go back into Iraq in ten or twenty years and face the guys we trained and armed.
My son is with 1/24 so I have been particularly interested in reading these reports from Fallujah. It’s good – though hard – to know what is going on there.
To Dave and Vic who think that “the action” is in Baghdad and elsewhere in “restive Anbar province” I would ask how many Marines have to die, lose limbs, and be otherwise injured in Fallujah for it to seem dangerous enough for someone to write about? 1/24 has lost 11 Marines since mid-October (Charlie Co who Bill is embedded with has lost 5), and the other battalions around Fallujah have lost many more during that time period. They die from sniper shots and IED’s. The bad news is that it is restive and dangerous in many locations right now – Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi and a host of other more rural towns.
Bill, I have a question for you. Our Marines are not allowed to tell us ANYTHING about where they are and what they are doing. And as Michael Whitehead indicates above, the USMC doesn’t even indicate the cause of death so as to prevent the enemy having knowledge of the effects of their actions. But your reports – as much as I thirst for knowledge about my son – contain many, many details about who lives where, how they proceed in an ambush, how effective the Iraqi police are and are not, names, etc. Are your stories (and other embeds) cleared by the military? How do they comply with op sec that we families hear so much about? I’d like the insurgents to have to work hard themselves to find out all this stuff rather than be able to just read about it online. Please comment if you can on this subject.
Carl,
a) You should try hanging out with the Iraqi soldiers and see what they really think about fighting the insurgents. And two and a half years isn’t all that long in training an army (that’s when we started with the new model.)
b) It seems you fail to see the logical contradiction since it is “a waste of time, as they possess little to no internal motivation.”
Proud Marine Mom,
As a former soldier, OPSEC is an issue I am deeply concerned with. I am not out here to get anyone killed.
My apologies, I am not aware of the restrictions you speak of, so I cannot intelligently comment on this. I do know that as an embedded reporter, I am given guidelines on what I can and cannot say and do out here. I have yet to violate these guidelines in three embeds. And I haven’t had a complaint out here yet. I do know the Marines are reading.
I am very careful about information on deaths of soldiers and Marines. I check to make sure I am not providing information that is not available or considered classified in any way. There is no requirement that I do this (only not to name names of those killed or wounded before the families are contacted). But if you notice I do not do this.
On the raid, I really didn’t provide any real, useful details. I just said we moved up to a house, some guys covered the assault. I checked with Charlie’s company commander after posting and he did not have any issues with the information published. The enemy has observed us for almost 4 years, they know how we approach a house by now.
As far as talking about the effectiveness of the IP and IA, if I couldn’t discuss this, there would be no reason to come out here. They, and not us, are the future here and the American public needs to know the positives and negatives.
My best wishes to you and your son in the 1/24. They are doing good out here, and despite their losses, I can tell you the Marines I met have great morale.
Bill – Thank you so much for your response. I hope, and think it’s so, that you took my comments as they were intended — really just questions. I would certainly expect that if the military didn’t like what you were posting, they would tell you. I don’t have much experience with the military – or with war zones – so much of what I read is new to me.
I imagine you are right that the insurgents have been watching us for years. And we have uniforms and vehicles and they can know who we are. Sadly, that is what makes it easier for them to target our troops with snipers and IED’s. I hope our intelligence gathering has benefitted from 4 years of experience with them. Sadly, they are an elusive enemy and we can’t watch them as easily.
I learn a lot by reading all the sources available. Of course, I pay closer attention to information on 1/24, but read about all the other military units, too. And follow developments, both political and military, throughout Iraq. It’s good to read something about the Iraqi police and army, so keep watching as to how that is proceeding. They seem pretty tenuous right now in most places.
Thank you for the work you do. We all do need to be informed. Unfortunately, there are plenty of folks who choose not to pay much attention at all. My personal goal is to educate as many people in my life as possible by telling them they know someone there. I keep them up-to-date on my son, and also provide a little history and geography of Iraq while I’m at it. Education is the key.
Mark: The objective part of the Nation report (regardless of how one regards The Nation) are the words by soldiers. I posted The Nation report in response to Fred Beloit who implies that if it were not for the MSM, we would be getting the truth presumably from the objective sources of the Pentagon and and White House.
In short, The Nation article reports the words of soldiers who have come to another conclusion while participating in this War. That is as objective as the kinds of reports Mr. Roggio reports. It doesn’t prove anything other than to say people can come to condemn the war without being poisoned by the MSM.
If you think the MSM is causing problems in this war you should read U.S. Grant’s memoirs. Newspapers in the North were calling for his head as he desperately manuevered to try and find a way to capture Vicksburg. When he took command of all Union forces and was locked in a struggle with Bobby Lee, he was ordered to pull troops off the line to put down draft riots in New York. The Civil War was an important, but very unpopular war. The strength of our country is in our diversity of opinion. We all must remember that if someone is against the war in Iraq that they are not necessarily un-patriotic. On the other hand, not every supporter of the war is a Bush apologist.
Abandoning all hope of government talking points?
It’s not every day that the MSM reviews and reports on blogs, but the Christian Science Monitor’s Dante Chinni took the time to review Bill Roggio’s excellent blogging from Iraq in an article titled “The value of a pro-war blogger’s…
MW: If you are understanding me to be blaming the MSM for our troubles in Iraq, that is not the case. I was in fact responding to Fred Beloit further up who was carrying that banner.
My opposition to the war has not come from the MSM (anything but), but instead from a number of sources. Here is just one: Gen. William Odom, former head of the NSA.
http://niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=00146
For the record, in my last post above, I was not refering to the MSM when I wrote: “… anti-Bush political forces that have broadcast comfort to the enemy.” I was referring to people like the following: Reid, Pelosi, Kennedy, Kerry, Carter, Gore, Clinton, Hollywood leftists, and, yes to a few former generals like Odom.
The post makes no mention of the judicial process required to conduct a search of an Iraqi citizen’s home.
Why not?
Readers would like to know if the judicial system is up and running, and if this raid was properly conducted under the authority of the state.
Was it? How so?
Under the emergency laws instated by the legal, elected government of Iraq, the raid was legal. These types of raids occur on a nightly basis an d there is nothing illegal about the. Every one I’ve been on, I seen the US and Iraqi soldiers treat the citizens with respect. There is a judicial system, but it doesn’t work very well, and tends to release known insurgents as the judges are often intimidated.