What Ever Happened to the Republican Guard?

Time ^ | 5/4/2003 | TERRY MCCARTHY I HINDIYAH

[Utah Girl]

Perhaps I should have posted an Oh duh! alert on this article. We know the Republican Guard changed clothes and ran.

[PackerBoy]

A. There are hardly elite, unless cowards qualify.
B. They are not Republican.
C. They didn't guard anything.

So we have nothing to fear about them still being around.

[Utah Girl]

Excellent. And I would think many of them would be in fear of being exposed by their neighbors as being members of the Republican Guard.

[Billy_bob_bob]

They went from "The Elite Republican Guards" to "The Republican Guards" to "Saddam made this s#!t up about there being guards there in the first place".

With apologies to the late, great Bill Hicks.

[eFudd]

They moved to Palm Beach Florida and registered as Democrats.

[Duramaximus]

The French gave them passports, and they moved to Ithaca, New York..... enough said.

[Consort]

They were trained to be soldiers, and when Iraq reconstitutes their military, many of them will reinlist to support their families. Not all of them were ideologs.

[steplock]

I would describe the their republican guard as being "smart" in this case. I don't honestly think that there is any army on this planet that wishes to face the United States Marines, let alone the entire force of the USA.

[q_an_a]

Do you think that TIME wants to do a hit piece that says, the amry didn't kill anyone they just ran. The left can't even admit that the military made them so scared they ran for their lives.

[muawiyah]

These men were not, in point of fact, cowardly. It takes quite a bit of courage to admit total defeat and just walk away.

They also have quite a bit of faith in our doing the right thing.

Nothing wrong with that at all!

[wireplay]

We should treat these men with respect. They did not choose this fight and many were either blackmailed or held on the frontlines against their will. I personally am happy that most of them lived and can rejoin society as productive citizens. Those that committed atrocities will be held accountable but the average grunt should go home and pick up their lives as best they can: I wish them well.

[browardchad]

I am ashamed of what happened," he says, waving a hand in front of his face as if to wipe away the memory.

Excellent -- shame was the goal. Remember it.

[McGavin999]

There's a big difference between those who supported Saddam and those who were conscripted into the army. The Iraqi people know who is who and will treat them accordingly.

I don't know why anyone would be surprised at this. We told them we were going after the military infrastructure and not them. We told them to stay away from the tanks and anti-aircraft guns. We did exactly what we said we would do.

[Newbomb Turk]

Look for them to vote in the next Florida election. As Democrats.

[Nick Danger]

We should treat these men with respect.

I agree. Over the years, there had been nine separate coup attempts against Saddam Hussein by Republican Guard officers.

That was the tenth.

[Kawolski]

Look for them to vote in the next Florida election. As Democrats. And they'll accidentally vote for Buchanan. ;)

[aruanan]

What Ever Happened to the Republican Guard?

Hey! That's the elite Republican Guard!

[red-dawg]

Here is what happened to them.

[detsaoT]

The French gave them passports, and they moved to Ithaca, New York..... enough said.

Ha! Quote of the day!

BLL- Heads up, they're heading y'er way!

;) ttt

[xJones]

In the open market in Mahmudiyah, five tanks were hit from the air while they were parked in alleyways so narrow that their gun turrets could not be turned. The storefront windows a few feet away were blown out, but otherwise the surrounding buildings are intact. In some cases, the Iraqis attempted to hide tanks and trucks from U.S. planes by parking them underneath freeway overpasses, and even though the vehicles were destroyed by laser-guided munitions that entered from the side, the bridges above were untouched. In other places, trucks lie demolished under scorched trees; the Iraqi soldiers apparently did not realize that palm fronds hide nothing from modern thermal-imaging devices.

Awesome. I can't say I blame them for deserting. They were so outmatched in every way, that it would have been worse than useless to even try to fight. And our forces were even talking to and e-mailing their military leaders during the war. Now that would be demoralizing in the extreme!