Oerdin's Iraq thread - Continued

[johnj92131]

Here is the first two paragraphs ofanother story about fighting in Anbar province today from the Washington Post.


Marines Kill 25 Iraqis in Intense Fighting in Ramadi
14 Americans Wounded, 25 Iraqis Captured
By Paul Garwood
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 22, 2004; 5:51 AM


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Marines killed 25 insurgents and captured 25 others during several hours of fierce fighting in Ramadi, a hotbed of insurgents battling U.S. and Iraqi forces, the American military said Thursday.

The fighting Wednesday in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, wounded 14 U.S. servicemen, but none sustained life threatening injuries and 10 have returned to duty, according to a Marine statement.


Link to the full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jul22.html

[johnj92131]

Here is the first two paragraphs ofanother story about fighting in Anbar province today from the Washington Post.


Marines Kill 25 Iraqis in Intense Fighting in Ramadi
14 Americans Wounded, 25 Iraqis Captured
By Paul Garwood
Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 22, 2004; 5:51 AM


BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Marines killed 25 insurgents and captured 25 others during several hours of fierce fighting in Ramadi, a hotbed of insurgents battling U.S. and Iraqi forces, the American military said Thursday.

The fighting Wednesday in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, wounded 14 U.S. servicemen, but none sustained life threatening injuries and 10 have returned to duty, according to a Marine statement.


Link to the full story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Jul22.html

[Auntie H]

[SIZE=1] . People in Arabia eat with their hands instead of silverware or if you are worried about getting dirty fingers then you use a piece of flat breed to scope up the food as you eat. It's a little weird to eat with your fingers from a community bowl where everyone else is also touching the food but I got over it fairly quickly.


during .

I hope you remembered t use your RIGHT hand only as in the Arab world the left hand is considered unclean as it is used to clean one's self after certain bodily functions!

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
Aarrgghh!! I suppose that's Fahrenheit? Here it's the coldest summer in 70 years. Not a single day above 20 C so far.

My stay in Sweden was great nonetheless. Even though the nights and the water were a bit chilly

[johnj92131]

Originally posted by Auntie H


I hope you remembered t use your RIGHT hand only as in the Arab world the left hand is considered unclean as it is used to clean one's self after certain bodily functions!

That has to be a problem when you are naturally LEFT handed as Oerdin is!

[Az]

but when it's 135 degrees outside eight hours can seem like a very long time.

At least it's dry.

[Barinthus]

http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/iraq.pdf

You can see how big Al-Anbar is...

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Auntie H
I hope you remembered t use your RIGHT hand only as in the Arab world the left hand is considered unclean as it is used to clean one's self after certain bodily functions!

Of course. I've been to all of the cultural awareness classes so I'm aware of various things such as left hand taboos and not showing the bottoms of your feet to people.

[Lonestar]

Oerdin, they got any Strykers there?

I've read on another blog (army-type) who was *****ing about how the Stryker weighs more than the M113 but has less armor...this true?

[Dinner]

Yes and yes.

[debeest]

Huh! What's up with the bottoms of feet?

[Dinner]

They are considered to be very dirty and it is an insult if you show someone the bottoms of your feet. This wouldn't be so bad except everyone sits on the floor so if you aren't careful you can end up pissing people off.

You may recall the picture of Iraqis standing on the fallen statue of Saddam and/or beating it with their shoes. In Arabia standing on something or beating it with shoes is about as insulting as you can get (short of calling someone a jew).

[debeest]

Thanks!

You know, mouths are much dirtier than feet -- germwise, anyway. I'm sticking my tongue out at Saddam right now....

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I have noticed that some units do a much better job then other units at pacifying the populace and gaining their trust. In general the gun-ho units fair the worst. They're the ones who shoot at everything that looks suspicious or sometimes even hose a general area without seeing a specific target. These units tend to ignore Psyop and CA because "they aren't real infantry soldiers" and as a result they never get key communicators in the city to start seeing things their way, they don't bother setting up media assets because they see the locals as their enemies, and they tend to break down doors and treat detainees roughly.

---

This is what I have been saying on Apolyton for almost a year and a half, but most Americans won't listen. They think deploying the Marines as peace-keepers and use air strikes in urban areas is the way to win a war of liberation.

USA, USA, USA!!!

[Chemical Ollie]

Oerdin, you seem to have gained some increased responsibility during your deployment. Any theoretical chance you will go home as a leutenant, or is a West Point graduation mandatory before you can? Question is not really personal, I'm just curious of US Army policy.

My buddy who is a multiple UN peace-keeping veteran (6 UN missions = 3 years of war-zone deployment, plus one mission as a civilian contractor) was asked to go on an 8th assignment. When he was reluctant, they told him he would be promoted from private to leutenant, without even serving as a sergeant in between, just like that.

(He still declined, since his GF was pregnant and his priorities had changed now that he was older.)