[overtaxed_canadian]

WTF is going on over there? This is insanity.

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[fooman]

As drudge says, send jenna bush...

[TalBlack]

Let me explain: We are not a country of Men anymore rather we are a nation of eunichs and feminazies. Guns are bad, they frighten people and make us seem billeigerent and smallminded....or something like that.....

[theFIRMbss]

>It has not gone unnoticed by American troops, or the Iraqis that are attacking them, that nearly all the Americans attacked are Army troops

We have a "free" press.
This strikes me as darn big news.
Why isn't this crap

headlines on Newsweek,
instead of that gay marriage
garbage?! Free press?! GAaak!

[section9]

So THAT'S it!

That's correct. Very few Marines have been killed since the end of land combat.

I cannot f*%king believe that we are using that kind of restrictive ROE. This must change. Rumsfeld himself has to make this change, immediately if not sooner, or resign.

This is an outrage.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[BeAllYouCanBe]

"Army convoys do not display any weapons"

Wonderful, my son is on convoy duty - he travels between Kuwait and Nasiryah. Orginally he had a .50 cal machine gun.

So how does that go? When guns are outlawed only the outlaws will have guns!!

[theFIRMbss]

>Unlike the Marines, Army convoys do not display any weapons... Marine convoys bristle with weapons...

Fire whomever
is in charge of the Army.
Promote the Marine...

[Radix]

Typical Army BS. I read the entire article. Our troops are being shot at and executed, and these aholes up the ladder are concerned about 5 o'clock shadows, and keeping the Troops in short supply of AMMO!

It is an outrage and they must be out of their effing minds. They are going to have some serious problems with retention after this crap. It is really pissing me off.

[squidly]

It gives me no pleasure to say that I'm not surprised at all. Very reminiscent of the ROE in Lebanon, '83.

[Courier]

We don't want to do anything to scare the Religion of Peace folks. They are frightened by guns.

[rageaholic]

yes, and while we are at it, they should not be called "soldiers" lest some more of those sensitive arabs be offended. They should be called "uniformed assistants." Female soldiers are of course to be called "non-male uniformed assistants."

[boomop1]

This sh** has to cease, sounds like Bosnia, our troops in Baghdad are targets of opportunity, sending them downtown milling with the populous is insane. My son says every day is like the movie Ground Hog day, a lot of people have had good intentions, but have no common sense. The expected outcome did not happen, I know the country is swarming with special ops let them do their job and reinforce them as needed. I am troubled (a Daschileism) about this continuing loss of life, and limiting their self defense by rules of engagement that only apply to us is insane.

[Yo-Yo]

The Marines learned the hard way in Beruit Lebanon that carrying unloaded weapons was worse than useless. The Army is now re-learning that same lesson, one brave Soldier at a time.

[TheCrusader]

Shades of Vietnam, stupid rules of engagement. Remember the vietcong running into rubber tree plantations because for a time Americans were under orders not to fire into the rubber trees? Or they would run into Cambodia, also 'off limits' to U.S. troops. It's time to leave Iraq now anyway - Saddam & the Saddamites aren't coming back, and the spec ops swarming all over Iraq will keep an eye on any further developments. Those ungrateful sub-species of humans aren't worth another drop of American blood.

[verity]

You believe everything you read?

[XHogPilot]

Insanity indeed! BTT

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Three months of BS from the mainstream DNC PR agents and Freepers are ready to fire RUMMY??? What the H?

Somebody forgot to tell these guys:

Mass Reenlistment Marks July 4th Celebration in Baghdad [Morale at bottom? Bunk.]
DoD ^ | July 5, 2003 | U.S. Army Pfc. James Matise / 101st Airborne Division

As for "massive casualties":

There were more US casualties in one Chicago porch accident  last week (13 fatalities and at least 57 wounded)  than we had US casualties across all of Iraq during the two weeks of a Operation Scorpion, a major campaign to root out some really bad guys - June 15-June 29.

 

Out of ~146,000 troops in Iraq, our US troops suffered 7 fatalities due to hostile fire. 2 unknown - missing troops recovered - foul play presumed. 3 non-hostile (unspecified) fatalities.

1 fatality and 2 wounded in vehicle accident responding to Marines who were engaged by hostile forces...for a total of 33 total casualties across a nation the size of California w/ a population of ~ 24 million: 13 total fatalities, 20 wounded.

 

And look what the troops involved in Operation Scorpion alone accomplished:

 

***During Operation Desert Scorpion which lasted from June 15 to June 29, the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division conducted multiple raids resulting in 1,330 individuals being detained. Confiscated weapons include 497 AK-47s, 235 hand grenades, 124 rocket-propelled grenades, 22 machine guns, 130 pistols and 100 rifles and 8,122 rounds of ammunition. The division also confiscated $9,463,000 in U.S. dollars, 1,557,000,000 in Iraqi Dinars, 1,071 bars of gold and 52 vehicles.***  Link

Our troops rock!

Yet every day during three major, aggressive operations in June - when our guys were intentionally drawing enemy fire to root out the bad guys (and taking 'em out!), the press treated our awesome warriors as some poor victim dupes of an incompetent administration. Bunk! The press couldn't be more wrong - or more damn insulting!

 

Our troops, our military leaders - and our CIC deserve better from the press.

If someone in the Army is giving the command NOT to travel with weapons showing, it did not come from the top.