Acts by a 7000 Mile Screwdriver

[tw]

from The Washington Post of 25 September 2004
Demise of Iraqi Units Symbolic of U.S. Errors
The police outpost here is supposed to house 90 armed members of Iraq's National Guard. Their job is to keep watch over a stretch of six-lane highway, deterring insurgents from laying roadside bombs and trying to blow up a bridge over the nearby Tharthar Canal.

But when the U.S. Marine commander responsible for the area visited the outpost this month, he found six bedraggled guardsmen on duty. None of them was patrolling. The Iraqi officer in charge was missing. And their weapons had been locked up by the Marines after a guardsman detonated a grenade inside the compound.

The unit's demise underscores the degree to which errors committed by civilian and military leaders during the 15 months of rule by the U.S.-led occupation authority continue to impede the U.S. effort to combat a vexing insurgency and rebuild Iraq's shattered government and economy. ...

The guardsmen in Saqlawiya, who come from the nearby city of Fallujah, were not always this pathetic. Early this year, their battalion was lauded by the U.S. military for repelling insurgent attacks on the mayor's office and police headquarters in Fallujah. They were, as one Army officer put it in March, "a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dark place."

The battalion disintegrated in April because of an order by the White House and the Pentagon to have the Marines lay siege to Fallujah -- a decision top Marine officials now acknowledge was a profound mistake. As Marines advanced into the city, the guardsmen were put in an untenable position: Either flee, or join the Marines in fighting Iraqi neighbors -- and risk violent retribution. The guardsmen fled.

When the Marines were ordered by Washington to pull out of the city and hand over security responsibilities to a brigade of former Iraqi army soldiers -- another grave miscalculation, in the eyes of Marine commanders -- the National Guardsmen returned to work. They manned checkpoints and conducted patrols with the former soldiers, who called themselves the Fallujah Brigade.

But before long, an alliance of foreign-born and local insurgents eviscerated both the Fallujah Brigade and the two National Guard battalions in the city.

Soldiers in the brigade who had been former insurgents were either lured back into the resistance or intimidated into submission. The commanders of both National Guard battalions were kidnapped by militants loyal to Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian-born militant who is now the most wanted man in Iraq. One commander was beheaded; the other is missing and presumed dead. As soon as the commanders were captured, the battalions melted away.

Some Marine officers contend that if they had not been ordered to invade Fallujah after the March 31 killing and mutilation of four American security contractors, the city's National Guard battalions and security forces would be functioning.

The decisons of Washington are typical of what happens when leaders far away think they are smarter than commanders in the field. That is, after all, a concept encouraged by business school educations. Curious. That is George Jr's college degree.

Once upon a time, we learned from Vietnam not to make this mistake. To not micromanage a war from the other side of the world. That, of course, assumes this nation's leader was learning when he was instead doing drugs and alcohol.

The devil is in these details. Stories like this have even been reported from "Voice of Russia". These would be stories that Rush Limbaugh forgets to report. But then Rush and George Jr both say Iraq is getting better. Really? What happened to the Fallujah Brigade - once a promising battalion of a new Iraqi army? A 7000 mile screwdriver.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I can’t help but wonder if most of these guys in the brigade just couldn’t find any other job. Knowing they could fade into the city (they are Iraqis, after all), if the shit hit the fan, makes it a better deal.

Not to hijack the thread;
The Marine I’ve been writing to in Fallujah, is back at Camp Pendleton, CA.
He (they) had 45 minutes notice to pack and get on the trucks for a 2 day convoy to Kuwait.
Then 22 hours air time to CA, via Germany and Baltimore.
4 weeks debriefing before he’s allowed to come home on leave.
They’ve been told they’re on a 7 month rotation.
Now back to the regularly scheduled thread.

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

The Marine I’ve been writing to in Fallujah, is back at Camp Pendleton, CA. He (they) had 45 minutes notice to pack and get on the trucks for a 2 day convoy to Kuwait.

Considering the number of times previous units were taken out of the airport and put back on the line, then one can imagine what that Marine commander was thinking. The minute they get orders to go home, then get out of country as fast as possible. Was it the 1st Armor that was recalled to duty four times before they finally and really got out of country? In some cases, the soldiers were on the plane when ordered back to combat duty. Once you get orders to go home - then run before Rumsfeld and others in Washington change decisions.

[wolf]

my friend's brother is likely to be reactivated. He's hoping for Germany, or anywhere without sand.