This LATimes piece maintains that Iraq commanders favor applying the advisory effort underway at the end of the Vietnam war.
"…an influx of military advisors and a speeded-up handover to indigenous forces followed by a gradual U.S. withdrawal."
It might well work, as it almost did in Vietnam–unless an impatient Congress and president pull the plug on funding, as happened in 1975.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the upcoming US commander in Iraq, knows the price of war intimately.
"His son Anthony, then a 26-year-old cavalry lieutenant leading an armoured platoon in the city, had been injured in a rocket attack that almost severed his left arm…Military doctors were forced to amputate…"
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Tagged Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, US Army
"America seems to have become confused and [losing] sight of the fundamentals of the issue and even who the real enemy is. Of course this was aided by a massive propaganda assault aimed directly at the American public from abroad and from within. Yet this is absolutely not a partisan issue. It is tragic that this matter is used for partisan purposes and for electoral considerations. When the ship of state starts sinking, it will take down everybody with it. You ask us Iraqis about this. And this is war, my friends. You can’t have half wars."
"He was first an infantryman, then a paratrooper, serving in the 101st Airborne Division, and, finally, a Green Beret. A crack shot, foster brother Jim Cracraft told the Modesto Bee, Nguyen’s ambition was to join the military. Recognized as a master marksman, Nguyen (38) became an instructor at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center in 2003 and, later, shipped out to Iraq."
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Posted in Iraq, The War, Troops
Tagged Green Berets, Iraq, John F. Kennedy School of Special Warfare, SFC Tung Nguyen
“’It’s too soon to say we have failed,’ he said. ‘We can’t keep talking about it as if it’s a disaster or a failure.’ …Abizaid said there was reason to believe…the situation in Iraq would ultimately stabilise. He said extremists in the region, including Osama bin Laden and al Qaida, had yet to go ‘mainstream’."
In Vietnam, generals saying things like this were not backed up by the troops. Abizaid is.
Welcome home to some 21,000 troops of the 4th Infantry Division who will be returning from Iraq on a staggered schedule to Fort Hood, northwest of Austin, between now and Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, orders are being cut for more troops from the 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas, the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and a Stryker brigade at Fort Lewis, Washington, to return to Iraq.
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Tagged 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Iraq, Third Infantry Division
Women marines at the gates of Fallujah. Yeah, that Fallujah.
"Working in two shifts with four Marines, they search hundreds of Iraqi women daily. Searching purses and a physical check of the individuals, the Marines are searching for weapons, anything suspicious and also ensuring Iraqis turn their cell phones off before crossing the border. ‘The signal from the phone could trigger a planted bomb,’ said Lance Cpl. Genevieve R. Kocourek, a combat engineer with Company A., 7th Engineer Support Battalion, CLB-8, 2nd MLG."
Good stuff from a Marine’s blog, Live in Iraq.
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