The remembering started early today. May he rest in peace.

So, let me get this straight. We are supposed to pay the Iraqi military for shooting at us?

Guns in response to rocks... I know, you guys, let's play Israelis and Palestines! I'll be the Israelis.

Good Morning America.
The American Forces in Iraq seem to be the best equipped in the world for high intensity operations
(ask the former Iraqui Republican Guard), however they appear to be woefully ill equipped for low intensity crowd control operations, and urban internal security patrolling. Our army spent long and painful years learning these skills in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Aden. Perhaps we should share these skills with our comrades in Baghdad

Good Morning America.
The American Forces in Iraq seem to be the best equipped in the world for high intensity operations
(ask the former Iraqui Republican Guard), however they appear to be woefully ill equipped for low intensity crowd control operations, and urban internal security patrolling. Our army spent long and painful years learning these skills in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Aden. Perhaps we should share these skills with our comrades in Baghdad

Pass - What's your point? Straight up.

I think we warned them way back in the beginning about throwing rocks. Pass...you seem to think this was overreaction.....these dumbasses kill people with stones.

Iraqi should know:

1. If you throw stones, you may die for it.
2. If you surround some of our troops and things get out of hand, you may die for it.
3. If you want paid, if you tell the right people, you'll probably get paid. Don't get out of control because a handfull of random troops can't pay you.
4. Don't riot, you may die for it.
5. If you shoot at the troops, you, and maybe some others around you, will die.
6. If you will just be patient, you will end up with a country you can be proud of.
7. If you stand in the way of peaceful progress leading to the forming of a democracy, you will be jailed or may die for it.
8. If you try to stir up the Iraqi people and lead them against the Americans, you may be shot, jailed, or die for it.
9. The deal about 17 virgins waiting for you martyrs... was a joke. You assumed it was 17 females........they're men.

There is a very simple solution for this, bring in Kurdish troops to start patrolling the Sunni cities. Make it abundantly clear that the only thing standing between the Baathists and letting the Kurds take their revenge is the good grace of the US army. That will change some attitudes.

I think that my point is, that the Brits are very good at what we call low intensity oprations,(we don't have the money to support the high intensity ops that the US does), currently we are sitting in a fairly permissive area,Basra, perhaps we should move a Bn or two North to support the US forces.
I'm very certain that if high intensity operations started in southern Iraq we would be asking for aid from Old Ironsides or the 3rd ID very quickly. I'm equally certain that we would get it.

YO! People who live in Baathhouses shouldn't... Forget it. Jeff B - You're correct. They know what the rules are. Those pesky Republican Guards who haven't been paid? Tough. Regular conscripts? They have a valid argument. High-speed broadband Internet access? Good. I'm still waitin' for Pass to cast the first stone...

Honestly.... What did the Iraqis think would happen?? I don't think all Iraqis are stupid but c'mon man. "Lets all throw rocks at those soldiers from a dif. country that are holding guns. Then they'll give us money, Yah!"

Just heard on the news.....the Ace of Diamonds in the 55 most wanted cards is in custody. He was the highest card in the deck, I think that is relative to his importance. His name was 'Abid' something. Wouldn't Sodom and his boys be the highest cards???

I also caught an interview with an Iraqi military official. He said that there was NO payments due to Iraqi troops. That could not have been a ligitimate issue for this little riot.

ABID HAMID MAHMUD AL-TIKRITI

or rikki tikki tavi

or somethin...

ABID HAMID MAHMUD AL-TIKRITI was the 'Top Aide to Sodom'. Need to get/make him talk. Truth, not propaganda.

Hey Mark;

How about getting out of work Afghani Muhajadeen to gaurd the Republican Guard riots?

Worked for Qublai Khan, but first he killed about 3 million in todays terms...

Just a thought. But maybe the Iraqis would like to form the new security forces in Afghanistan?

Make em mercs, yeah thats it...

I dont think we need to go quite that far. Its abundantly clear that the Baathists who lived high on the hog under Hussein are the ones shooting up our troops and causing trouble. We need to nip this in the bud and thusfar we have been far too 'nice' to these guys to strike any fear into them. Putting Kurdish patrols with American officers would send a strong message about whos in charge now. God knows the Kurds had to live under the Suniis long enough.

These guys are really pushing it!
Had the roles been reversed and they had invaded the U.S.(beyond reality, of course), every last one of our troops, assuming they were not executed, would be imprisoned in shitholes and treated like animals.
NSW, Army SF and RECON would probably have been lined up against the wall right off the bat.
The Republican Guard is the closest thing they have to our own elite forces, though they don't come very close in all but local reputation, and these guys are demanding BACK PAY?
I always thought "moxi" was a Jewish word, now I think the Republican Guard should be ceded the trademark by default!

I agree with the point made earlier about redeploying a British unit to the north, but doubt London wants anything to do with that idea.

There are things Americans can learn from British forces about low-intensity, civil order operations, but Basra is the appropriate classroom, not zones of active hostility by the old regime's diehard supporters. As for the Kurdish patrol idea, that would lead to communal bloodshed on an exponentially greater scale that anything we have seen in Iraq to this point. We may see that kind of bloodshed eventually anyway, but I'd rather put it off until after the British and Americans leave the country.

I agree with Ubique.

This would be a good time to call in the Brit SAS. They have exactly this kind of experience from all those years in Ulster and are both trained and experienced at addressing this kind of urban situation.
They pretty much have it down to a science.

It's really not the kind of work for regular troops, who are indoctrinated for conventional combat ops. The best course would be to bring in SAS people and hook them up with U.S. personnel, ideally Ranger or RECON, who are more heavily trained to improvise and deal with the kind of stress that goes with operating in an environment where there is a high risk of collateral damage and a priority of avoiding it.

The binational forces could work together and our people could benefit from the SAS expertise, becoming better equipped to do the urban stuff on their own.

It would be like "on the job networking".

Pardon me, Zathras, I was typing while you were commenting.

Why don't those army guys go get a job? McD's
and Bureger King are hiring. What do they want,
a handout from oil sales ?? Gona be a LONG time
for that. Let em' loot....

Vf - Uhhhmmm. That last line is a bit bothersome, you might say. You get a second chance to make a reasonable comeback, before I lock and load. Starting NOW.

How many Republican Guard were there? These people and their families are not going to go away and it sounds like they are beginning to get financially desperate. I think something along the lines of South Africa's Truth & Reconciliation Commission might serve a useful purpose here. These people need to be rehabilitated, retrained and feel like they have a future in their own country, not just left to simmer and be pawns for hardline Batthist higher-ups intent on making mischief and taking revenge. Give every Iraqi a shareholder's stake in their country's oil with cash dividends paid every year. Give them the job of protecting their own pipelines, wells, gas stations, electric power and water systems and pay them bonuses for performance. Most people just want a living wage, a decent life, and to feel good about what they are doing. If they are invested in their country they won't be taking potshots at our soldiers doing the jobs they should be doing.

BANG.....to late, no second chances here.

Amandavirginia........heck, let's bring 'em back here and put them to work. $20 per week is a bargain. Want to see our economy skyrocket??? Tell GM they only gotta pay $20 per week.

Did I get VF???

Jeff B - Nice shot! Couldn'tve done better myownself.

This stupidity just highlights the difficulties this country will have coming into the 21st century. They are like retarded sheep walking in circles.