Oerdin's Iraq thread.

[Ted Striker]

Ya man change your post so you don't get in trouble.

[Chemical Ollie]

According to what I read, I believe Bush is right on the Najaf issue. That town is sacred to the Shia's. Going in there with guns blazing would be like bombing the mosque in Jerusalem or something. The hornets would really start to swarm after that.

[East Street Trader]

It is not foolish for those who answer politically for what is happening to worry about fire fights in Iraqi cities. No doubt trained soldiers will kill fewer people caught in the crossfire than would I but no degree of professionalism can hope entirely to eliminate such casualties.

It is now being said that you can expect to be in Iraq for at least two years. My own guess is that two decades may be just as likely.

On that sort of timescale the task is not to win a series of fire fights but to cut the men of violence off from the rest of the people. And each and every civilian killed makes that task substantially harder.

Whether the task is doable at all I have no idea. It is certainly dauntingly hard.

And particularly hard on those like you, asked to be fired upon and not to fire back.

Keep your patience if you can.

And use every ounce of your professionalism to keep yourself as safe as you possibly can.

[Dinner]

Re: Re: Latest news.

Originally posted by Ted Striker
That's bs man. How can we get the word out so we can put an end to that kind of madness? Anyway to send the story to the press? Maybe I should point the LA Times to your blog?

I don't want to be part of any hassle. The military has lots of rules and regulations about making public statements which it seldom if ever inforces but they drag them out when ever someone makes them look bad. If you say something to a newspaper then they will likely come looking for me and then I could get in trouble so please don't.

[Kropotkin]

Micromanagement worked great for Hitler! Kind of...

[Spiffor]

Keep your head down Oerdin, and take care

(and I agree with Ollie - btw, if you can't fire your weapons, why do you go to these zones at all?)

[Alexander's Horse]

Re: Re: Latest news.

Originally posted by Ted Striker


That's bs man. How can we get the word out so we can put an end to that kind of madness? Anyway to send the story to the press? Maybe I should point the LA Times to your blog?

Don't be a moron Ted.

[Barinthus]

Oerdin - saw this on www.cnn.com today. IIRC you didn't think much of those Stryker vehicles...

As the Pentagon is rushing to increase the number of armored Humvees in Iraq, the head of the U.S. Army Forces Command is complaining the reinforced vehicles don't provide adequate protection for U.S. troops battling insurgents, according to a memo obtained by CNN. In a memo to the Army chief of staff dated March 30, Gen. Larry Ellis writes, "Commanders in the field are reporting to me that the Up-Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeling Vehicle (HMMWV) is not providing the solution the Army hoped to achieve." Ellis calls for doubling this year's order for the Army's new Stryker armored vehicle, and rushing them to Iraq. "It is imperative that the Army accelerates the production of Stryker vehicles to support current operations," the general writes.

[Barinthus]

doublepost

[Auntie H]

So what do you do for lunch now, just not get any??

[oerdin's sis]

I will add some power bar type things to my package!! I hope it gets there fast!!

[chequita guevara]

Do you need lunch money?

[Kropotkin]

Don't give him lunch money, the nasty iraqi boys will just steal them.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Auntie H
So what do you do for lunch now, just not get any??

MREs.

[Snowflake]

I'm sending some instant noodles to Shang. But the package shipment time is around 45 day I heard.

I could send some to you too Oerdin if you like.