Daddyg Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 CNN From the article: "Increasing troops could show more force, could incite the insurgents or get them to back off. You never really know. They do what they want to do -- that's what makes it so hard." Seems like a roll of the dice... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCH Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 "Most of the soldiers who spoke with CNN said they believe that if the fresh troops are used in the right way, the increase could be a significant help." Of course it is a roll of the dice. If everyone knew what the result would be beforehand, there wouldn't be much need for warfare. THE SIDE THAT WAS GOING TO LOSE PROBABLY WOULDN'T SHOW UP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 every operation in every shithole has always been one where more numbers, more equipment and less involvement by UN and Politicians would have helped....whether Colombia, Peru, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bosnia, Croatia, etc.......being able to chase bad guys no matter where they go or what they were doing or who they are friends with...is a huge help. not having to scrounge and outfit your own gear....find steel to sit on in a hummer to keep your balls intact.....or siphon diesel out of the other units trucks to put in your furnace in winter.... i think if used right with no political restrictions.....the increase would be significant. before they expected us to do GOOD ENOUGH and rely on the locals to pick up the slack....it aint going to happen like that and NEVER DOES. We did not ask the Germans and Japanese to help patrol their own streets and bring peace after WWII.....we did not use Bosnians, Croats or Slavs in that region to bring peace....we did it ourself with allies entirely for the most part. Same holds true here.... At least from my limited experience in this field of work.....21 years and counting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCH Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 i think if used right with no political restrictions.....the increase would be significant. There is the key words and tricky phrase Brock. It is also almost impossible to get the political restrictions out of the equation though. IMO, we go to war because the political path didn't achieve the desired results. War is dirty business that the friggin' politicians should stay out of until the war is over. It would save a lot of our troops lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 you are correct and even though i am a contractor now and not active duty...it is a fine line and one best handled by warfighters not those on vendetta for politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyg Posted January 12, 2007 Author Share Posted January 12, 2007 (edited) Our troops know how to get it done. We have the manpower and firepower to pretty much overwhelm any foe if we have the will, but politics will never be taken out of the equation and our troops will wind up on the shit end of that stick every time. We need to support those troops, but if we go with a show of force....there's a lot of bad guys out there. It'll take the Iraqi's a long time to get a handle on this and we'll be seen as occupiers and continue to provoke resistance. What a friggin screwed up mess. Edited January 12, 2007 by Daddyg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 Yep. A textbook example of political Alzheimers. The real question isn't why, it's why anyone would think it would play out any other way. Invest faith in a politician, believe his focus grouped message crafted to play us like a bass in a lily pond, give him a long leash without forcing him to prove himself and then be dismayed when he reveals himself after the cards have been dealt. We can thank ourselves for this mess. We let those DC shitheels loose to fuck this all up and they happily went about the job. It's that old scorpion and frog story. "Why you sting me Mr. Scorpion when you promised you would not?" "Why, because I'm a scorpion froggie. It's what I do." George Sr, the last smart war president. We all fussed and squawked when he turned Shwarzkoff away from Baghdad but he was saving us from ourselves. We had a win and little of the baggage. Clean. What we have now is a lot of things but clean ain't one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCH Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 War ain't supposed to be clean. Never was, never will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paolabob Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I have a son-in-law leaving the end of this month for basic training. I have had conversations with this young man about his reasons for making this decision and he is sincere, focused and clear headed about it. My prayers go out for him, his wife(my daughter) and thier two totaly awesome children, as well as all the other soldiers in harms way and the families at home who wait for thier return. God speed boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary2Wheels Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 I have a son-in-law leaving the end of this month for basic training. I have had conversations with this young man about his reasons for making this decision and he is sincere, focused and clear headed about it. My prayers go out for him, his wife(my daughter) and thier two totaly awesome children, as well as all the other soldiers in harms way and the families at home who wait for thier return. God speed boy. ...and keep him well.My view on this is that Iraq has gone to hell.Another mother's son of Uncle sam...or 20,000 wil not undo what's done now.Move ALL our efforts out of Iraq,and focus on Afghanistan,and Africa to build support for the search for T-cells.The Iraquis will fight each other,until they decide to STOP fighting and heal their own country,like every other nation on the planet..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homer Posted January 13, 2007 Share Posted January 13, 2007 if i were prez iraq woulda been a mirror by now that you use to check the underside of airplanes...we'd tap it for oil every now and then too.... problem solved in the middle east... fuck the politicians.. eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firebird77clone Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 I'ts not a matter of troop numbers as much as troop utilization. I have spoken to an MP fresh returned from Bagdhad, and ( she ) said that they WERE NOT ALLOWED TO RETURN FIRE until they got PERMISSION from higher up. By then the insurgents were usually gone. BULLSHIT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallRider Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 I Iraqi troops will be selecting and leading future missions, are our troops doomed to failure they even arrive? Isn't letting the Iraqis select and lead missions like turning over the asylum to the inmates? Let me try that again . . . If Iraqi troops will be selecting and leading future missions, are our troops doomed to failure before they even arrive? Isn't letting the Iraqis select and lead missions like turning over the asylum to the inmates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary2Wheels Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 ....seems to me at this point,there is no clear picture of exactly who and what an 'Iraqui' looks like....go from there.The decriptive phrase 'Chinese fire drill' used to fit,but now the Chinese are amateurs...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 I served in the first rotation in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) with the 4th Infantry Division. Was there May 03-04. I said it then and will say it again. We need(ed) more troops to maintain an overwelmingly, constant and choking presence in Bagdhad to DESTROY all traces of Iranian insurgance, thus giving free Iraqi's the ability to maintain the rule of law and peace in that big ugly city. I retired in May of 05 and still feel the same way! (in the mortal words of Forrest Gump)...Thats all I have to say about!! that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.