thedrifter
06-17-04, 08:46 AM
How Much Is That Uzi In The Window?
By Evan Wright
LOS ANGELES -- To the American troops in Iraq being subjected to a daily
rain of fire from roadside bombs, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, it
often seems that the insurgents have limitless stocks of munitions. In fact,
in the time I spent embedded with a platoon there, I heard more than one
marine joke that the insurgents must have more bullets to spare than the
Americans.
But it's no joke: some military officials told me that the Iraqis have so
many weapons that they are suspected of exporting them over the Syrian
border. And for this bounty, they can thank the Pentagon. Of all the
blunders American military leaders have made in Iraq, one of the least
talked about is how they succeeded in arming the insurgents.
By the time of the coalition invasion, Iraq had one of the largest
conventional arms stockpiles in the world. According to one American
military estimate, this included three million tons of bombs and bullets;
millions of AK-47's and other rifles, rocket launchers and mortar tubes; and
thousands of more sophisticated arms like ground-to-air missiles. Much of
the arsenal was stored in vast warehouse complexes, some of which occupied
several square miles. As war approached, Iraqi commanders ordered these
mountains of munitions to be dispersed across the country in thousands of
small caches.
The marines I was embedded with - a forward reconnaissance unit at the front
of the initial invasion - were stunned by the sheer amounts of weaponry they
saw as we raced across some 400 miles to Baghdad. Along much of the route,
Iraqi forces had dug holes every couple of hundred yards in which they'd
piled grenades, mortars and other munitions. Village schools, health clinics
and other government buildings had been turned into ammunition dumps. New
rifles, sometimes still sealed in plastic bags, littered the roadsides like
trash along a blighted American highway.
But under orders to reach Baghdad as quickly as possible, the marines rarely
had a chance to remove, destroy or even mark the stockpiles. In one village,
combat engineers (led by local children whom they had bribed with bags of
Skittles candies) discovered an underground bunker crammed with dozens of
sophisticated air-to-ground missiles. Yet higher-ups in the division
insisted that there was no time to destroy them. The marines moved on,
leaving the missiles unguarded.
The job of removing ordnance was complicated by the fact that many of the
combat engineers in the invasion were not adequately trained for the task.
Munitions are not easy to destroy.
Ellie
By Evan Wright
LOS ANGELES -- To the American troops in Iraq being subjected to a daily
rain of fire from roadside bombs, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, it
often seems that the insurgents have limitless stocks of munitions. In fact,
in the time I spent embedded with a platoon there, I heard more than one
marine joke that the insurgents must have more bullets to spare than the
Americans.
But it's no joke: some military officials told me that the Iraqis have so
many weapons that they are suspected of exporting them over the Syrian
border. And for this bounty, they can thank the Pentagon. Of all the
blunders American military leaders have made in Iraq, one of the least
talked about is how they succeeded in arming the insurgents.
By the time of the coalition invasion, Iraq had one of the largest
conventional arms stockpiles in the world. According to one American
military estimate, this included three million tons of bombs and bullets;
millions of AK-47's and other rifles, rocket launchers and mortar tubes; and
thousands of more sophisticated arms like ground-to-air missiles. Much of
the arsenal was stored in vast warehouse complexes, some of which occupied
several square miles. As war approached, Iraqi commanders ordered these
mountains of munitions to be dispersed across the country in thousands of
small caches.
The marines I was embedded with - a forward reconnaissance unit at the front
of the initial invasion - were stunned by the sheer amounts of weaponry they
saw as we raced across some 400 miles to Baghdad. Along much of the route,
Iraqi forces had dug holes every couple of hundred yards in which they'd
piled grenades, mortars and other munitions. Village schools, health clinics
and other government buildings had been turned into ammunition dumps. New
rifles, sometimes still sealed in plastic bags, littered the roadsides like
trash along a blighted American highway.
But under orders to reach Baghdad as quickly as possible, the marines rarely
had a chance to remove, destroy or even mark the stockpiles. In one village,
combat engineers (led by local children whom they had bribed with bags of
Skittles candies) discovered an underground bunker crammed with dozens of
sophisticated air-to-ground missiles. Yet higher-ups in the division
insisted that there was no time to destroy them. The marines moved on,
leaving the missiles unguarded.
The job of removing ordnance was complicated by the fact that many of the
combat engineers in the invasion were not adequately trained for the task.
Munitions are not easy to destroy.
Ellie