Posted on 03/12/2006 3:04:45 PM PST by jmc1969
The U.S. Army's plan was to fly us to Sadr City by helicopter. This was just not any FOB. This was FOB Hope. I'm sure everyone had a good laugh when the base was named.
FOB Hope, however, is no laughing matter. This transfer of power would have been unimaginable only two years ago; and it is still hard to believe - American forces giving Iraq's new army control of Sadr City - Baghdad's volatile Shiite slum.
Colonel Thomas Vail, the U.S. commander in this region of central Iraq told me, "Iraqi security forces are in charge and we've got to be very delicate about how we go about that right now."
It is a delicate balance because Sadr City is the stronghold of anti-American cleric al-Sadr. His Mehdi Army was fighting fierce battles against U.S. forces two years ago. Now, it is suspected of carrying out many of the sectarian attacks in Baghdad.
As we passed through Sadr City, there were no waves - only glares. Americans, the U.S. supported Iraqi Army, and Sunni Muslims, are not welcome here.
One of al-Sadr's field commanders said his men are in charge, not the new Iraqi Army. "The Mehdi Army does not obey any authority except its leadership".
At the base hand over ceremony, the Iraqi Army tried to demonstrate its power and commitment with an impressive martial arts demonstration and a parade featuring its new Humvees. The new Iraqi Colonel in charge said only his forces have legitimate authority here.
A clash is inevitable between these two opposing forces. A lot is at stake with the outcome, not the least of which is the timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Militias and sectarian violence will test this new U.S. trained Iraqi Army.
(Excerpt) Read more at onthescene.msnbc.com ...
Ping
Let's hope the Iraqi Army is up to meeting the challenge.
It would be nice if it pumped alot more weapons and money into the Iraqi Army. If Iraqi is going to stabilize its going to be the Army that does it. Right now the police are nothing more then a militia for Sadr and Harkim.
The Pentagon has been far too afraid of building a strong Iraqi Army since the war began.
Awww...couldn't we give 'em just a little fire support for old times' sake? Just until we have Mookie's head on a plate...
lol, good idea.
You, I and all of Freepdom know when the real story comes out on ARNEWS, or DoD.mil it will be nothing like what is being reported be the MSM types but, what the ARNEWS, or DoD.mil give us will be the truth.
"Let's hope the Iraqi Army is up to meeting the challenge"
You are exactly right. Unfortunately, hope is all we have to go on. It would be nice if a couple of hundred billion dollars bought something a little more certain than "hope".
If Bob was still with us I'm sure he'd have a joke ready.
Hmmmm, and just today a suicide bomber exploded in Sadar City and took out a lot of people.
AWWW...Mookie's head should have been on a street or side walk long ago. Unfortunately Mookie was prolly protected which is gonna cost us ...klinton-like.
mc
Sadr city is the equivalent to South Central LA. We call them militia there and gangs here.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ The guarded words of hope had barely been spoken on one side of the Tigris River before being drowned out by the thunder and terror of new bombings on the other.
Sunday's late-afternoon bloodbath _ at least 44 dead and 200 wounded _ at marketplaces in Sadr City, Baghdad's teeming Shiite Muslim slum, threatened to re-ignite Sunni-Shiite violence that shook Iraq for days after a holy site was bombed last month.
The attack came just minutes after leading politicians, in an unusual all-party meeting, made a show of determination to bridge the deep divides keeping them from forming a national-unity government.
Two car bombs _ one detonated by a suicide driver _ and four mortar rounds overwhelmed the announcement of an early first session of parliament after the meeting brokered by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.
The political leaders told reporters they would open meetings Monday in an attempt to break the deadlock on forming a unity government.
The attacks in Sadr City, quickly sealed off by Mahdi Army militiamen of the radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, caused pandemonium. Residents searched wildly for survivors and ambulances and trucks hauled away charred corpses.
Sirens wailed as ambulances More
"It would be nice if it pumped alot more weapons and money into the Iraqi Army. If Iraqi is going to stabilize its going to be the Army that does it. Right now the police are nothing more then a militia for Sadr and Harkim.
The Pentagon has been far too afraid of building a strong Iraqi Army since the war began."
Agreed. I have been saying this for a couple of years now. The Iraqis should have tanks and artillery.
Frankly, I think it's pretty obvious that we don't trust them enough to give them these things because we're afraid they will be aimed at American troops.
I know, others are always telling me that I'm wrong, that we have to train infantry first and build up from there, but I don't buy it.
I think we are afraid to arm the Iraqis heavily because we don't trust them. If this is true, I don't see much hope for the situation there.
Further proof that NBC and the rest of the MSM are pissed off because they have not been able to instigate a civil war through their biased reports.
"Agreed. I have been saying this for a couple of years now. The Iraqis should have tanks and artillery. Frankly, I think it's pretty obvious that we don't trust them enough to give them these things because we're afraid they will be aimed at American troops.
I know, others are always telling me that I'm wrong, that we have to train infantry first and build up from there, but I don't buy it."
The Army is the one Iraqi institution that I have any faith in. Just go to Iraq the Model or any blog and you will see that they all regard the Iraqi Army highly. The Pentagon is paranoid of three things. One that our own weapons will be one day used against us like in Afghanistan and two that the Iraqi Army will resort to Saddam like tactics if we give them planes, artillery, and tanks. Three that the mostly secular Army with overthrow the religious leadership in Iraq one day.
And, by allowing these fears to limit greatly what we give the Iraqi Army we have allowed the Madhi Army and the Badr militia and other pro-Iranian groups to grow in the security vacuum, it has also allowed the insurgents to kill far more American Iraqi troops and civilians, and has IMHO done no good whatsoever and quite a bit of harm.
The Iraqi Army often has had to buy its weapons from the black market to at least have as good weapons as the insurgents and that is just pathetic.
We are feeding into pro-Iranian fools like Sadr, and Harkim by not supplying the Iraqi Army with the weapons to make them the most powerful war fighting institution in Iraq.
"The Pentagon is paranoid of three things. One that our own weapons will be one day used against us like in Afghanistan and two that the Iraqi Army will resort to Saddam like tactics if we give them planes, artillery, and tanks. Three that the mostly secular Army with overthrow the religious leadership in Iraq one day."
It seems to me that this is a pretty high-level decision that should be made by Rumsfeld or Bush in consultation with the Pentagon---not made by the Pentagon. It sounds like the war is simply not being managed effectively. Our military is designed to carry out the policy designed by our civilian government---which is as it should be. Osinceur military is not designed to make policies---nor should they be.
That has been one of the biggest problems of the war.
Guess who was the one that ordered the Iraqi Army disbanded? Bremer was the one who fell on the sword for the decision, but the actual person that ordered it was Wolfawitz and he was convinced to do so by Chalabi.
It should have been a highly debated question by the top officals at the WH and DoD, instead it wasn't debated hardly at all.
"Guess who was the one that ordered the Iraqi Army disbanded? Bremer was the one who fell on the sword for the decision, but the actual person that ordered it was Wolfawitz and he was convinced to do so by Chalabi.
It should have been a highly debated question by the top officals at the WH and DoD, instead it wasn't debated hardly at all."
I have always thought that Allawi was the quality guy, not Chalabi. Wolfowitz has been full of misjudgments, clearly.
That is quite interesting, I didn't know how that decision was made. You are right, it should have been made by Bush and his advisers.
The fact is, much as I appreciate the way Bush launched the attack on Afghanistan after 9/11 and his vigorously lead in the antiterrorism fight throughout the world---Bush is is not quite enough of a warrior for the Iraq war. Remember when he backed off from the first attack in Falluja? That was a classic blunder, and not just in retrospect.
How about the way he almost backed off and slipped the date of the first Iraqi election? Remember that? Everything would've been lost at that point if he had caved. For like a month, he said nothing while low level administrative people gave ambiguous answers. Allawi alone held the "no date slippage" position.
Eventually, Bush came out and made a statement that the election would not slot. Unfortunately, during that month, Allawi's political position inside Iraq rated irrevocably. He was labeled as an American stooge and could not recover.
Too bad. Allawi is a great man.
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