thedrifter
04-02-03, 08:05 AM
Thoughts On The Mind Set Of The Iraqi Regime And Fighting Men;
Our Place In The Scheme Of Things;
~ And ~
Why We Should Be There
1) As organized fighting troops, the Arabs in general and the Iraqi troops in particular are douche-bags! They are all tribal, and given the opportunity, they will go home to their individual tribes if the "stuff hits the fan!" This is a true story out of their own mouths and Lawrence's experiences in the theater during WWI.
2) Many of the tribes have blood feuds going, and if they aren't "having at" some common enemy, they will fight one another (this is also true and was the bane of Lawrence's existence during the Arab Revolt in WWI). After a battle, his entire force would dissolve (fade back into the hills, and he might not see them for weeks or months). Such behavior is enough to drive a sane military man "nutzo."
3) While they ARE militarily incompetent on a group level, they are dangerous and very cruel on a one-to-one basis. I certainly wouldn't want to be captured by one! As I said before, the troops would capture small animals in the desert and take great delight in dismembering them while still alive just to hear them scream!
4) The much vaunted "Bedouin Warrior" is pure myth. The term Bedouin is simply Arabic for "desert dweller." These desert dwellers come from a number of tribes, almost none of them being related to one another. They don't play well together, and generally will not take orders from an officer or NCO from a tribe they do not like (of course this holds true for the civilized tribes also). The Bedouins are without question, the stupidest (or at best, the least educated) of all the Arabs. Most of the current leaders like to claim "Bedouin blood" in their background(s) but this is much like it being somewhat romantic for someone in the States to claim some Indian blood in the family tree - mostly BS, but it sounds good!
5) The officers are usually pretty well educated, but lazier than all get out, and have the troops carry their rifles and packs for them when we weren't watching closely. They don't like to run (any of the Arabs, not just the officers!), and often fall out on even a reasonably easy 3-mile jaunt. I used to have a line almost 3-miles long every morning - He++, I was an ancient old character, and even I could even run the kids in the ground. It's not that they CAN'T make it, they just don't have any personal pride when it comes to "gutting it out" - basically, they have no bottom (or as we used to say, they just don't have any "give a $hi+")! Every so often one of the young lieutenants would try me on for size on the runs, come up along side, grin and take off running. I would simply pull up even, grin back (even though I might be "dying") and within 15 or 20-yards, these worthy's would "blow a rod" and head for the ditch!
6) When they would get tired of training (repeated running of such things as a squad or platoon in the assault), they would simply pack up their gear and march off. Repeated fanny chewings, or thinly disguised insults were of no avail, they simply would say "we are tired of this and we are going home to rest!" That's a no $hi++er! Reporting them to the Navy Commander (the sort of "titular Commandant" of the Saudi Arabian Marine Corps) would avail nothing. I often asked the young lieutenants. if they planned on fighting for the Saudi Corps if Saudi Arabia was attacked? Almost to a man would say "Oh no Mr. Culver, I would go home to my village!" Somewhat flabbergasted, I would then ask them why they were even in the Corps, and they would all say that their father sent them - This must be kinda' like sending your incorrigible sons off to the Army in the U.S. back before the turn of the last century. Of course you have to remember that the youngsters over there are not afforded the opportunities to go "neck" with the young lovelies on Saturday Night, or go out and get "sloshed" at the local watering hole! Needless to say, when they come to the States, they go "hog wild" (pun intended!).
7) Before any comparisons between the fighting abilities of the various Arabic countries are made, the Saudis, the Iraqis, the Jordanians, Syrians, and the Egyptians are all Arabs, and will fight no better than the Saudi diaper-heads. While I have never been involved with the Iranians, they take great offense at being thought of as Arabs and consider themselves Persians... However their conduct in the 7-year Iran/Iraq war was also abysmal! It's no wonder that the Israelis are well respected militarily in the Mid-East, they ain't so darned good, they are simply playing against the 15th string team!
8) During Desert Shield (Gulf War I), I predicted (in print - I still have the newspaper) and to the General Staff at Quantico (nobody else had spent much time in the region at the time including the CIA) that the ground war (when it started) would be over in 3-days to 3-weeks! I missed it by about 12 hours!) and I thought the guys in the conference room were gonna' die laughing! I got a call from USMC Counter-Intelligence concerning that prediction (after the fact, and when the war was over) and wanted to know where I got my information. I told 'em that if you live in a hole with these little clowns for three years, you get to where you think like 'em (shudder!). Needless to say, we spent very little time behind a desk, but had lots of hands on experience!
Why ain't things going so slick this time? Easy, we're trying to keep from "Shooting the Dog"- as in Ruby Ridge. The first time (Gulf War I), we were authorized to kill people and break things, which the U.S. Military does well. Now we're trying to do-in vampire bats with a fly swatter! We'll win, and I understand WHY we're doing this, but not "Killing the Dog" is going to complicate things greatly! Conversely, if we take our time, do it slowly and with a minimum of casualties on both sides, we may well wind up with a friendly (or at least not hostile) nation that will not use the experience as an excuse to fly planes into skyscrapers, or release anthrax, VX, or small pox in revenge following getting their butts kicked all over the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys ...and they will owe us big time! But then it didn't work with the French either, now did it?
At any rate, we're fighting dip-manures, not serious soldiers, but amateurs can kill you just as dead a well motivated Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine. And as some sage pointed out many years ago, amateurs are more dangerous than professionals because the armatures ain't predictable! Their last resort will be to resort to NBC (Nuclear, Biological/Chemical) stuff, and that will forevermore give them a tremendous black eye in the eyes of the world, and in many cases even their Arab neighbors! If we could prove Saddam is dead or at least a hospitalized vegetable, many Iraqis would probably simply surrender and not ever consider using NBC agents. While the thought of launching a VX attack would be a last ditch panic stricken option, gas (or biological agents) would be a double edged sword as they are "airborne"and with the rather severe wind storms, much would be dissipated. ...And don't forget, the wind blows both ways!
Those who accuse us of fighting the war for the oil simply don't understand the problem. We don't personally need the oil, but we definitely don't want Saddam to control it either (or worse yet those "Frog Eating SOBs") - with his people starving, he built 9 new sumptuous palaces, and upped his security while his people starved, blaming it all on the United States of course! It is apparently not uncommon to have your ears cut off on the spot for disagreeing with that Ogre, and some who have been accused of disloyal statements have had their tongues cut out and literally nailed to the wall while they watched.
The second reason for taking out this den of evil is that Saddam supplies aid and comfort to those who would see us injured or destroyed. I liken the actions in the Mid-East to a modern extension of the Monroe Doctrine as applied to a world made ever so much smaller by modern technology. Saddam NEEDS to be taken out as a threat to our safety, sovereignty and well being much as we refused to allow the European powers get a toe hold in the new world in the 19th Century. It is well that other countries fear us ever so slightly that will give them pause to think twice when considering harming America or her citizens where ever they might be in the world& Teddy Roosevelt said it best when he talked of walking softly but carrying a big stick. I wish to harm no man (generic term ladies), but I'll step aside or kowtow to none.
In a parody of the old letter asking if there really was a Santa Claus, I can answer it this way - "Yes Virginia, there really are Evil Goblins in the world, and thank goodness there are those who will risk their lives and their futures to make the world a better place in which to live!"
Best regards and Semper Fi,
Dick
Sempers,
Roger
Our Place In The Scheme Of Things;
~ And ~
Why We Should Be There
1) As organized fighting troops, the Arabs in general and the Iraqi troops in particular are douche-bags! They are all tribal, and given the opportunity, they will go home to their individual tribes if the "stuff hits the fan!" This is a true story out of their own mouths and Lawrence's experiences in the theater during WWI.
2) Many of the tribes have blood feuds going, and if they aren't "having at" some common enemy, they will fight one another (this is also true and was the bane of Lawrence's existence during the Arab Revolt in WWI). After a battle, his entire force would dissolve (fade back into the hills, and he might not see them for weeks or months). Such behavior is enough to drive a sane military man "nutzo."
3) While they ARE militarily incompetent on a group level, they are dangerous and very cruel on a one-to-one basis. I certainly wouldn't want to be captured by one! As I said before, the troops would capture small animals in the desert and take great delight in dismembering them while still alive just to hear them scream!
4) The much vaunted "Bedouin Warrior" is pure myth. The term Bedouin is simply Arabic for "desert dweller." These desert dwellers come from a number of tribes, almost none of them being related to one another. They don't play well together, and generally will not take orders from an officer or NCO from a tribe they do not like (of course this holds true for the civilized tribes also). The Bedouins are without question, the stupidest (or at best, the least educated) of all the Arabs. Most of the current leaders like to claim "Bedouin blood" in their background(s) but this is much like it being somewhat romantic for someone in the States to claim some Indian blood in the family tree - mostly BS, but it sounds good!
5) The officers are usually pretty well educated, but lazier than all get out, and have the troops carry their rifles and packs for them when we weren't watching closely. They don't like to run (any of the Arabs, not just the officers!), and often fall out on even a reasonably easy 3-mile jaunt. I used to have a line almost 3-miles long every morning - He++, I was an ancient old character, and even I could even run the kids in the ground. It's not that they CAN'T make it, they just don't have any personal pride when it comes to "gutting it out" - basically, they have no bottom (or as we used to say, they just don't have any "give a $hi+")! Every so often one of the young lieutenants would try me on for size on the runs, come up along side, grin and take off running. I would simply pull up even, grin back (even though I might be "dying") and within 15 or 20-yards, these worthy's would "blow a rod" and head for the ditch!
6) When they would get tired of training (repeated running of such things as a squad or platoon in the assault), they would simply pack up their gear and march off. Repeated fanny chewings, or thinly disguised insults were of no avail, they simply would say "we are tired of this and we are going home to rest!" That's a no $hi++er! Reporting them to the Navy Commander (the sort of "titular Commandant" of the Saudi Arabian Marine Corps) would avail nothing. I often asked the young lieutenants. if they planned on fighting for the Saudi Corps if Saudi Arabia was attacked? Almost to a man would say "Oh no Mr. Culver, I would go home to my village!" Somewhat flabbergasted, I would then ask them why they were even in the Corps, and they would all say that their father sent them - This must be kinda' like sending your incorrigible sons off to the Army in the U.S. back before the turn of the last century. Of course you have to remember that the youngsters over there are not afforded the opportunities to go "neck" with the young lovelies on Saturday Night, or go out and get "sloshed" at the local watering hole! Needless to say, when they come to the States, they go "hog wild" (pun intended!).
7) Before any comparisons between the fighting abilities of the various Arabic countries are made, the Saudis, the Iraqis, the Jordanians, Syrians, and the Egyptians are all Arabs, and will fight no better than the Saudi diaper-heads. While I have never been involved with the Iranians, they take great offense at being thought of as Arabs and consider themselves Persians... However their conduct in the 7-year Iran/Iraq war was also abysmal! It's no wonder that the Israelis are well respected militarily in the Mid-East, they ain't so darned good, they are simply playing against the 15th string team!
8) During Desert Shield (Gulf War I), I predicted (in print - I still have the newspaper) and to the General Staff at Quantico (nobody else had spent much time in the region at the time including the CIA) that the ground war (when it started) would be over in 3-days to 3-weeks! I missed it by about 12 hours!) and I thought the guys in the conference room were gonna' die laughing! I got a call from USMC Counter-Intelligence concerning that prediction (after the fact, and when the war was over) and wanted to know where I got my information. I told 'em that if you live in a hole with these little clowns for three years, you get to where you think like 'em (shudder!). Needless to say, we spent very little time behind a desk, but had lots of hands on experience!
Why ain't things going so slick this time? Easy, we're trying to keep from "Shooting the Dog"- as in Ruby Ridge. The first time (Gulf War I), we were authorized to kill people and break things, which the U.S. Military does well. Now we're trying to do-in vampire bats with a fly swatter! We'll win, and I understand WHY we're doing this, but not "Killing the Dog" is going to complicate things greatly! Conversely, if we take our time, do it slowly and with a minimum of casualties on both sides, we may well wind up with a friendly (or at least not hostile) nation that will not use the experience as an excuse to fly planes into skyscrapers, or release anthrax, VX, or small pox in revenge following getting their butts kicked all over the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys ...and they will owe us big time! But then it didn't work with the French either, now did it?
At any rate, we're fighting dip-manures, not serious soldiers, but amateurs can kill you just as dead a well motivated Soldier, Sailor, Airman, or Marine. And as some sage pointed out many years ago, amateurs are more dangerous than professionals because the armatures ain't predictable! Their last resort will be to resort to NBC (Nuclear, Biological/Chemical) stuff, and that will forevermore give them a tremendous black eye in the eyes of the world, and in many cases even their Arab neighbors! If we could prove Saddam is dead or at least a hospitalized vegetable, many Iraqis would probably simply surrender and not ever consider using NBC agents. While the thought of launching a VX attack would be a last ditch panic stricken option, gas (or biological agents) would be a double edged sword as they are "airborne"and with the rather severe wind storms, much would be dissipated. ...And don't forget, the wind blows both ways!
Those who accuse us of fighting the war for the oil simply don't understand the problem. We don't personally need the oil, but we definitely don't want Saddam to control it either (or worse yet those "Frog Eating SOBs") - with his people starving, he built 9 new sumptuous palaces, and upped his security while his people starved, blaming it all on the United States of course! It is apparently not uncommon to have your ears cut off on the spot for disagreeing with that Ogre, and some who have been accused of disloyal statements have had their tongues cut out and literally nailed to the wall while they watched.
The second reason for taking out this den of evil is that Saddam supplies aid and comfort to those who would see us injured or destroyed. I liken the actions in the Mid-East to a modern extension of the Monroe Doctrine as applied to a world made ever so much smaller by modern technology. Saddam NEEDS to be taken out as a threat to our safety, sovereignty and well being much as we refused to allow the European powers get a toe hold in the new world in the 19th Century. It is well that other countries fear us ever so slightly that will give them pause to think twice when considering harming America or her citizens where ever they might be in the world& Teddy Roosevelt said it best when he talked of walking softly but carrying a big stick. I wish to harm no man (generic term ladies), but I'll step aside or kowtow to none.
In a parody of the old letter asking if there really was a Santa Claus, I can answer it this way - "Yes Virginia, there really are Evil Goblins in the world, and thank goodness there are those who will risk their lives and their futures to make the world a better place in which to live!"
Best regards and Semper Fi,
Dick
Sempers,
Roger