When Iraqis Win Hearts and Minds of Jaded U.S. Soldiers

Flopping Aces ^ | 11-25-09 | Wordsmith

[Starman417]

U.S. Army Spc. Scott Guthrie stands watch on the roof of an Iraqi police station in Tunis, Iraq, Feb. 28, 2009. Guthrie is assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class James Wagner

Thomas Ricks posted a nice response by Lt. Joseph Somers, in reaction to a shootout in Diyala province between Iraqi Police (IP) and Iraqi Army (IA), questioning its meaning.

Lt. Somers sheds some light on the cause of the shootout; but the real gem is the second half of his letter:

I am the platoon leader responsible for this IA company. The IA on IP "shootout" was due to large egos, not sectarian rifts. The IA company is fairly competent. Last week we showed them how to clear rooms. A decent amount of them already knew how. One of the IA soldiers even made a correction on one of my soldiers. Today we taught them out to plot points on maps.

They are making arrests completely autonomous from US forces. Most of the time I don't even know about the raids they conduct until days after.

[RoadTest]

Wonderful news! Too bad we can’t do this in Iran, Venezuela and Pakistan. Can’t, because we’ve lost Washington.

[Crim]

I still think the Iraqis are going to prove to be staunch allies in the future...The free men “get it”...we’re leaving...just like we said we would when we went in....and if they want to remain free..they are gonna have to step it up...

Lets not forget this is the equivilent of opening an asylim and training the near sane to take care of themselves...

There arent enough words to describe what Saddam did to his own people....what his supporters did....I seriously doubt the free iraqi is going to forget any time soon....

[VOA]

“
I still think the Iraqis are going to prove to be staunch allies
in the future...
“

I’ve prayed that Iraqi/American entrepreneurs are already planning
affordable trips back to Iraq for US military personnel that served honorably in Gulf War I
or following operations.)

The Iraqis that figure out there are Americans that would be ready,
willing and able to spend some US dollars to visit the place they
liberated and eventually gave “hope and change” to a populace
exploited by Saddam Hussein and the Baathists...the sooner the economy
of Iraq will get back on a stable basis.

OK, I know that’s a Pollyanna vision for the future of Iraq.
But a country with a good petroleum economy, buttressed by a growing
tourism economy...sure could be a good “vision thing”.

[RoadTest]

“Lets not forget this is the equivilent of opening an asylim and training the near sane to take care of themselves...”

I don’t think the average citizen of Iraq would appreciate that analogy.

“I seriously doubt the free iraqi is going to forget any time soon....”

Yeah. Let’s hope they have longer memories than Americans.

[Crim]

“Lets not forget this is the equivilent of opening an asylim and training the near sane to take care of themselves...”

I don’t think the average citizen of Iraq would appreciate that analogy.”

Too frickin bad...I got friends who had their boots on the ground...that’s the best analogy I’ve found to date...

You got a better one?

[RoadTest]

“I don’t think the average citizen of Iraq would appreciate that analogy.”

Too frickin bad...I got friends who had their boots on the ground...that’s the best analogy I’ve found to date...

You got a better one?”

How about “- - - helped an oppressed people throw off a dictator and build a Democracy with freedom”?

I think you boots-on-the-ground friends might appreciate that better, too.

[Crim]

Tomato..dermater...