Iraqi tactics - Post your critics here

[Chris 62]

Rummy likes to shoot his mouth off to much.

Try the logon now.

[Chris 62]

Remember Reb, your just MtG there, not MichealtheGreat. I think Bloomy killed all the FFZ e-mails.

Navy misses you, BTW.

[DanS]

Navy should start posting here again.

Kontiki: Please note that everything I mentioned was temporary. It could peel away very quickly, and I expect that it will, if we don't have to shoot up the place too badly. Umm Qasr is a case-in-point.

[MichaeltheGreat]

I had one of each there - MtG had admin privs, MichaeltheGreat had regular user privs, so I could check out forum access rules.

I've gotta head south, then I'll check in over there.

[Chris 62]

Better hurry, Claudia is p1ssed.

Dan, why not pay us a visit?

Give you a break from this lot.

[LTEC!]

not pissed. just matter of dinner sooner or dinner later.
or no dinner
:P

[Adam Smith]

Another Devious Iraqi Tactic

http://slate.msn.com/id/2080812/

Iraqis are giving passing Americans the "thumbs up" sign, which the troops interpret as a symbol of support. But many veteran travelers insist that the gesture is a crass Middle Eastern insult. How should coalition forces take those skyward thumbs?

Depends on how media savvy those Iraqi bystanders may be. It's true that "thumbs up" traditionally translates as the foulest of Iraqi insults—the most straightforward interpretation is "Up yours, pal!" The sign has a similarly pejorative meaning in parts of West Africa, Russia, Australia, Iran, Greece, and Sardinia, according to Roger E. Axtell's book Gestures: The Do's and Taboos of Body Language Around the World. So, it's possible that the ostensibly cheering Iraqis are, in fact, silently voicing their displeasure.

But it's also possible that they understand the Western meaning of upturned thumbs, an explanation that the Army's Defense Language Institute subscribes to. According to a recent DLI manual on international gestures, after the first Gulf War "Middle Easterners of the Arabian Peninsula adopted this hand movement, along with the OK sign, as a symbol of cooperation toward freedom." Iraqi civilians may have noted this shifting meaning, perhaps via TV reports.

[MichaeltheGreat]

The best thing is that can claim whichever meaning is convenient, at the time.

[Mr. President]

"But I was giving you a thumbs-up, Mr. American Capitalist Pig-Dog! Aaargh!"

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Jaakko
It seems that troops undertaking such tactics don't necessarily qualify for POW status, but otherwise it's a legitimate tactic for a defending guerrilla force.

Yup. These tactics aren't much different from things Special Forces do. A lot of stuff the SAS/SBS (probably the US Special Forces) did is quite unspeakable.

[Jaakko]

Originally posted by Chris 62
I have to repeat, the Iraqi tactics are totally useless.

As for winning the PR war, that's even more laughable.

Only the usual "hate the US" bashers think the coalition is losing, and as usual, their simple minds can't comprehend military tactics, so they seek archaic examples that have no bearing on the modern world.

Such fools spew on at length about concepts they can't understand, while presenting as evidence centuries old examples of wars long over, fought in eras with different rules and different concepts.

A better cross section of the PR war would be to listen to the Iraqi people, who can't wait to be rid of Saddam, rather than some fool who thinks the US is happily carpet bombing everything in sight.

BTW, the government and the US Army never said it would be a fast war, the PRESS said that.

As far as this replies to my post...

The Arab street is not taking this war well, Chris. Really.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Chris 62
Thus far, Iraqi tactics are worse than useless.

Well, your view is countered by William Wallace, who said in an interview that they (the Iraqis) are fighting completely differently than previously imagined.

That can only be effective - throwing your enemy into chaos.

[Chris 62]

What are the loss rates?

What have the Iraqis suceeded in doing?

As for the "arab world" not taking it well, I heard the same tune in Afghanistan.

Didn't seem to matter there, either.

Listen to what the exiles say, and the Iraqi liberated say, it's a lot different from what Al Jeezeera says.

[Jaakko]

This isn't quite the same as Afghanistan Chris. Apart from the news articles available, this thread on the SDMB is quite informative.

As for the exiled Iraqis, they aren't exactly the most unified group, and that's reflected in their stances towards this war as well. I've seen or read both pro- and anti-war interviews of exiled Iraqis.

And in Iraq, it's still too early to make a judgment. Suffice to say, hatred of Saddam does not necessarily (or even likely) correlate with being pro-American.

[Agathon]

Why don't we wait until the real fighting starts - in Bagdhad and Tikrit.

Anyway, the US will probably manage to oust the Baath regime, but I'll bet that's about when the real fun will start.