Iraq Video

[tacman]

This has nothing to do with slots, but I felt compelled after watching it to post here to let others see and hear this exchange between members of our military and Iraqi police that they are training. You will NOT see this in the mainstream media. This video has some vulgar language so if you have a thin skin, maybe you should not watch.

 Dan (tacman)

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/r1GrdTakvl8&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/r1GrdTakvl8&rel=0</a>

[tjkeller]

Thanks for the post tacman.

My Brother was in one of the first waves of Troops sent to Iraq. Having almost 20yrs in the Army he was a Platoon Leader.
He was lucky enough to only go to Iraq once then upon coming home served at Ft. Knox (non deployment base) then
to Ft. Carson, CO. He was slated to go to Iraq again for a much longer tour but at 21yr mark he had 2 options...sign up
for 2-4 more years or retire. He retired.

NOW, the irony is he is trying to go back to Iraq for the very reason alluded to in this video. To teach/train/develop THEIR
forces. The Soldier in this video is not far off the mark. The REAL problem is that these people have lived in fear so long
that they simply don't know how to fight back. The approach this Soldier is taking is the way you must communicate to
get them to understand and take action. With Saddam it was dictatorship. People were dictated what to do and constantly
threatened.

Part of the reason this has gone so long is they simply don't know what/how to do. Now here we are trying to get them
to take control and fight back. It's going to take some SERIOUS Leadership and Dedication to get these guys trained and
on track. I can think of nobody better suited for this task than the United States Soldier!

MAY GOD BLESS ALL UNITED STATES SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR THE SACRIFICES THEY MAKE BOTH HERE AND ABROAD! 

[jay]

I disagree. The Arabs do not like Western Cultures. We are the infidels in their eyes.
No amount of money, leadership or lives are going to change what has been bread into them for the last 10 centuries.
      The best wars have always been religious wars.
      The crusades
      The Inquisition
      Sunni and Shites.
      Catholics and Protestants in Ireland.
Whether we liked Sadam or not you had to give the man credit that he was able to keep his thumb on a lot of radical religious characters.
We might be able to nuke the country and start again but as a culture we do not have the stomach for the up close wet work that includes torture and summary executions.
The movie starwars is a perfect example of how life imitates art. We are the empire (at least in their eyes) and while we are too busy worring about local politics, trade federations etc the small rebel groups are taking us apart. We can't win.

So whats the answer. My suggestion is that we outsource the security to Iran or Saudi Arabia. Arabs respect Arabs. They agree not to pursue the bomb, and we support their efforts through financial and humanitarian efforts. Besides it will give them something to focus on.. it will either work or we go nuke the lot of them.

[tjkeller]

Whether we liked Sadam or not you had to give the man credit that he was able to keep his thumb on a lot of radical religious characters.

Indeed. Certainly one truth hard to swallow but a good point nonetheless.

So whats the answer. My suggestion is that we outsource the security to Iran or Saudi Arabia. Arabs respect Arabs. They agree not to pursue the bomb, and we support their efforts through financial and humanitarian efforts. Besides it will give them something to focus on.. it will either work or we go nuke the lot of them.

Not a bad idea. It seems most likely Iran will make some kind of move when we leave. However, NOBODY seems to be stepping up to the plate currently. It is easy for us to
entertain our thoughts, opinions, ideas on the subject but truth be told USA is making the largest effort to get them trained and to stand on their own. Talk to any US Soldier
and they will paint a different picture than what we see. My statement about my Brother wanting to go back to help is solely based on his desire to help them stand on their
own. Granted there IS and ALWAYS will be Militia and Religious Sectors and Holy Wars in this region but these "Police Forces" have largely been built from the recruiting of
everyday citizens. Most have not been part of these fighting Militias etc. Those are the very groups being fought. So for a person who has never served in the Military is suddenly
needed to do so, imagine the shock...especially when the only thing they know is Saddam. For these specific people, troops of regular citizens, THEY do not know what they are
doing. THESE are also the people that thousands of United States Citizens via independent non-military organizations are voluntarily going over there to help. This is the avenue
my brother is pursuing. Many Ex-Military and/or Police/Law Enforcement personnel from the USA are currently in Iraq helping to train their forces. Not every Iraqi Citizen is Combat
Trained, nor are they ALL fighting religious wars. Many are no different than you or me...trying to make a life for themselves and their families. It is these people that my heart &
 prayers go out to.

I disagree. The Arabs do not like Western Cultures. We are the infidels in their eyes.

This is a blanket statement. Blanket statements are rarely going to be entirely true. While yes, this may be a general consensus, it is not true for ALL Arabs. Proof of this can be
found no further than our very own back door. I have lived and worked in Boise, ID and Minneapolis, MN. Both of these cities are large hubs for foreign immigrants especially from
these regions. I am certain there are other cities and many out there who could attest the same. In Minneapolis, of my 200+ person staff, easily more than half were of Muslim Religion.
These people as I have gotten to know them have taught me that much of what happens is not the teachings of the Koran. I am in NO WAY a Religious Scholar but I can see
that there sure are lots of these people seeking "better lives" in immigrating to other countries. If we are indeed "infidels in their eyes" why are they coming here? Again, this is a
blanket statement...not true across the board. The same can be said about Iraqis. Has it been so long ago that we do not remember Iraqis dancing in the streets, celebrating, and
praising US and Coalition Forces? The problem now is THEY should have taken control of their country at this point.


In regard to the video tacman shared, I don't think it appropriate the Soldier had to F-Bomb the way he did but if that's what it takes to get them to stand up and take charge
of their Country so we can leave,....then so be it.
I would be just as thrilled should Saudi Arabia jump in, as suggested, and take over so we can bring our Troops home.   Lord knows, we have our own problems to reslove! 


Again:
MAY GOD BLESS ALL UNITED STATES SOLDIERS AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR THE SACRIFICES THEY MAKE BOTH HERE AND ABROAD!   

[Op-Bell]

Arabs, Iraqis and Iranians may prefer their own culture to ours - though I question that blanket statement - but that's their choice. It doesn't make them hate us. What makes people hate us is when we interfere with them, like by sponsoring the series of coups that brought Saddam Hussein to power, or the coup that overthrew the elected Mossadegh government and put the Shah of Iran in power. Let's not forget that Saddam was our guy, until he nationalized the oil industry, and Mossadegh was overthrown because he, er, nationalized the oil industry. The Shah was at least as nasty a SOB as Saddam Hussein, though we don't hear a lot about that because he never double-crossed us, but the Iranians know whose fault it was. Then there was that war between the two where we armed both sides to make it last as long as possible. But neither Iran nor Iraq has Arabs. Arabs hate us because of Israel, and the US is Israel's principal backer. They probably also hate us because they hate the Sauds, and we put the Sauds in power and keep them there, so long as they don't nationalize the oil industry. Our misfortune is that all these groups are Muslim, so a few wild-eyed preachers can make common cause of natural enemies.

So, there's a bunch of people who would like to kill us because of what our country did to theirs. Some of them succeeded. It's not personal. They kill Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Arabs, women, children - they make no distinction, they just do it because we're Americans. It's really quite unfair - I didn't do anything to them, nor did you, nor did any of the people in the WTC. But when we talk casually about nuking them if they arm themselves, are we not thinking exactly the same way?

I'm glad we're doing something to train the Iraqi forces. It is, quite literally, the least we can do. But I also think it's time we learned the lessons of the past sixty years and worked out that interfering in the politics of other countries, for political or commercial reasons, has consequences that come back to haunt the next generation. It's never worked. This god damned war probably cost more than all the money made by all the oil companies in the region in the last 100 years. Waste of money, waste of life. Like TJ said, we have our own problems to sort out. Let's get out and leave them alone.