[Cincinatus]

I found this interesting.

[Cincinatus]

For some reason, this paragraph got chopped off:

Bad Guy Tactics:

When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing AK's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre Gunships cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.

[Long Island Pete]

God bless each and everyone of our fighting forces. We love you and want you all home soon.

[woofie]

Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group.

There are some "experts" on FR who have expertly said otherwise

[lesser_satan]

They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our positions.

Why the hell don't they tell Google to black out Iraq from Google Earth coverage, and if they don't comply their satellite will be destroyed? (or maybe on the next shuttle mission they can have the astronauts set up a big picture of Helen Thomas in front of the lens)

[Gator101]

The new strategy is just simple: attrition

I would modify that to say it's attrition with the goal of gaining the attention of the Western media who use it as ammo to turn western populations against the war. At 20-1 I would say the bad guys are losing horribly in a straight up war of attrition. Too bad our traitorous media can't report it that way.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters (they have been fighting the Russians for years).

That is exactly correct. I know something about Chechens personally. They are not Arab but Caucasian, and mostly Sunni. They have been fighting the Russians for nearly two hundred years, and very nearly defeated the Tzars in the mid-nineteenth century under their legendary chieftan, Shamil, the Lion of Daghestan (pictured below).

Most people make the mistake of assuming that their conflict with Russia was about religion, i.e. Muslim vs. Orthodox Christian, when it fact their motivations were and remain entirely nationalistic. Chechens are bold, fierce fighters and will typically fight to the death. Most Arabs are afraid of them. They were so tough that Stalin had them deported wholesale, along with the Crimean Tatars, to Siberia. Those that escaped ended up in Jordan, where they and their descendants essentially constitute the cream of the current Jordanian Army Officer Corps.

The bottom line is that if our troops are running into these guys, then they truly have their hands full.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chechens

http://www.nupi.no/cgi-win/Russland/etnisk_b.exe?Chechenian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imam_Shamil

[elhombrelibre]

It was what I saw and heard when I was there.

[Gunny Gene]

This is supposed to be a "WAR". Why are we still playing pattycake with these assholes? Just level the damn place.

[taxed2death]

"Most were detonated by cell phone..."

You'd think by now some genius on our side would be able to jam these signals locally (within a 300-500 mile range)...
even sat phones.

[HChampagne]

Our troops should not be on the roads anyway and subject to IEDs. We should stay out in the desert and if an Iraqi saw an American Soldier or Marine it means that said Iraqi is about to die. We must make the Iraqis so afraid of us that they forget their hatred of one another. But we do not have the stomach for that.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

They use handheld GPS units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our positions.

Unless Google is both supplying hi-resolution images of Iraq, and updating those images on an ongoing basis, I don't see how it would be useful beyond a very basic understanding of the terrain.

My house is not visible on Google Earth, as it's out in the boonies, where Google Earth's resolution is extremely low.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

Excellent, thanks, a great belated Christmas gift.

[RacerX1128]

He's right. You NEVER see or hear this reported by the DBM. Never will. The only way this will ever end is by continuous lousy ratings(TV) and subscriptions (Newspapers). I used to get the LA Times just for he Sunday crossword. Not anymore.

[TigersEye]

It is an interesting "in-country" view of things. I first got this in e-mail about two years ago. The version I got was much longer and detailed comparisons and evaluations of all the typical small arms used by both American forces and "insurgents."