[Rhodes22-list] stirring the hornet's nest.... (political) -JohnMurtha chimes in

[Hank]

Bob,
 That came from me. I just forgot to sign my intro on the top. I received it
from my uncle who got it from one of his army buddies.
 Hank

 On 11/18/05, Robert Skinner <robert at squirrelhaven.com> wrote:
>
> Mike -
>
> What do you think of this? It showed up in my inbox, unsolicited,
> but may be valid. I trust no source any more, except friends who
> are coming back, and each of them has a necessarily limited view
> of the conflict/situation.
>
> How does it square with what you are hearing?
>
> Do you have an opinion about whether we should pull out?
> Or should we send in enuf troops to seal borders?
> Do we have enuf force to seal borders?
>
> /Bob
>
> > The following is a report from a grunt in Iraq and is something that
> will
> > almost never be shown on the left leaning news networks.
> >
> > Subject: Report From Down Range
> >
> > This was sent to me a West Coast USAR CW3 who got it from a Semper Fi,
> UAL
> > retired, east coast type.
> >
> > Hello to all my fellow gunners, military buffs, veterans and interested
> > guys. A couple of weekends ago I got to spend time with my son Jordan,
> who
> > was on his first leave since returning from Iraq. He is well (a little
> > thin), and already bored. He will be returning to Iraq for a second tour
> in
> > early 06 and has already re-enlisted early for 4 more years. He loves
> the
> > Marine Corps and is actually looking forward to returning to Iraq.
> >
> > Jordan spent 7 months at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi. Aka: Fort Apache.
> He
> > saw and did a lot and the following is what he told me about weapons,
> > equipment, tactics and other miscellaneous info which may be of interest
> to
> > you.
> >
> > Nothing is by any means classified. No politics here, just a Marine with
> a
> > birds eye views opinions:
> >
> > 1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the
> talcum
> > powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you
> feel
> > filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version
> is
> > more popular because its lighter and shorter, but it has jamming
> problems
> > also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gunsights and
> > weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not
> great in
> > a desert environment.
> >
> > They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the
> cinderblock
> > structure common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted
> on
> > to put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents
> shows a
> > high level of opiate use.
> >
> > 2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine
> > gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. Chronic
> > jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. (that fun
> in
> > the middle of a firefight).
> >
> > 3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert
> > environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns
> for
> > self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad
> guys
> > hit multiple times and still in the fight.
> >
> > 4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for
> clearing
> > houses to good effect.
> >
> > 5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun,
> > developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!).
> > Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts em down.
> Originally
> > developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being
> dismounted
> > and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the
> structure
> > over there.
> >
> > 6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. Ma deuce is
> still
> > worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper, puts
> > their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.
> >
> > 7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.
> > Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on
> one.
> > With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put em down with a
> torso
> > hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use
> the HK
> > military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45s are
> > being re-issued en masse.
> >
> > 8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a
> > modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight
> > Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the
> > sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round.
> >
> > 9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range
> and
> > accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out
> vehicle
> > suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy.
> > Definitely here to stay.
> >
> > 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win
> mag.
> > Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance. Snipers have been
> used
> > heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third
> tour
> > in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcocks record for
> > confirmed kills with OVER 100.
> >
> > 11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs.
> and
> > can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an
> > AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost unbearable in the
> > summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes
> for
> > head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit about the old body armor
> > making our guys vulnerable to the IEDs was a non-starter. The IED
> explosions
> > are enormous and body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most
> > cases.
> >
> > 12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular
> > performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very
> little
> > enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked at
> > night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the
> videos.
> >
> > 13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights
> are
> > Surefires, and the troops love em. Invaluable for night urban
> operations.
> > Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it.
> >
> > I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and
> ordnance
> > are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology, its the WWII
> and
> > Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry fighting is
> > frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.
> >
> > Bad guy weapons:
> >
> > 1) Mostly AK47s . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the
> > desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM belt
> fed
> > light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the enemy
> mostly
> > shoots like shit. Undisciplined spray and pray type fire. However, they
> are
> > seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran,
> > again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently marveled at the
> marksmanship
> > of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad
> > school that the Americans rely solely on technology, and can be easily
> > beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Lets just
> say
> > they know better now.
> >
> > 2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.
> Simple,
> > reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our up-armored
> > humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still
> > killing a lot of our guys.
> >
> > 3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet
> > anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in
> > Jordansarea were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm
> > artillery
> > shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and
> the
> > explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1
> tank.
> > Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there.
> Lately,
> > they are much more sophisticated shape charges (Iranian) specifically
> > designed to penetrate armor.
> >
> > Fact: Most of the ready made IEDs are supplied by Iran, who is also
> > providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their
> use
> > and tactics. Thats why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their
> > concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in
> > Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that
> litter
> > all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb
> > disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.
> >
> > 4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets
> (with
> > an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordans NCOs lost a
> leg
> > to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage inside the wire. Jordans
> base
> > was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire,
> often
> > at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a
> > psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would
> jump
> > out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul ass in a matter of
> > seconds.
> >
> > 5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by
> cell
> > and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld
> GPS
> > units for navigation and Google earth for overhead views of our
> positions.
> > Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives
> and
> > bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very
> > careless with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are
> > treasure troves of Intel when captured.
> >
> > Who are the bad guys?:
> >
> > Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They
> operate
> > mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly
> foreigners,
> > non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and
> Europe).
> > Most enter Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and
> complicity
> > of the Syrian govt.) , and then travel down the at line which is the
> trail
> > of towns along the Euphrates River that weve been hitting hard for the
> last
> > few months. Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end
> up
> > as suicide bombers or in sacrifice squads. Most, however, are hard core
> > terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.)
> > These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse and
> cutting
> > heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the
> > most ruthless and the best fighters. (they have been fighting the
> Russians
> > for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are
> > Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been
> very
> > adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt., the police forces and the
> Army.
> > The have had a massive spy and agitator network there since the
> Iran-Iraq
> > war in the early 80s. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured
> or
> > gave up long ago.
> >
> > Bad Guy Tactics:
> >
> > When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked
> every
> > time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very common
> > earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10
> man
> > teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and firing Aks and
> RPGs
> > directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They get mowed down
> like
> > grass every time. (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordans base was hit like
> > this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to the same
> building,
> > probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we
> call
> > in air and thats the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are
> > referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeos (Allahs Waiting Room). We have the
> laser
> > guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly
> Marine
> > F-18s, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught out
> in
> > the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut them
> to
> > ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. Interestingly,
> > artillery is hardly used at all.
> >
> > Fun fact:
> >
> > The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why
> were
> > seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber shit.
> The
> > new strategy is simple: attrition.
> >
> > The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian
> > non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian
> > casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are
> > locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and
> > flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for
> civilian
> > casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation
> anyone
> > believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt.
> > Kidnapping of family members (especially children) is common to
> influence
> > people they are trying to influence but cant reach, such as local govt.
> > officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.).
> >
> > The first thing our guys are told is don't get captured. They know that
> if
> > captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet. Zarqawi
> openly
> > offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American serviceman.
> This
> > motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a shit about the
> > war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually kidnapped by common
> > criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys, every fight is to
> the
> > death. Surrender is not an option.
> >
> > The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a shit.
> > Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they
> are
> > getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawis use of suicide
> bombers, en
> > masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake.
> Many
> > Iraqis were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the
> > police forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an
> > exponential increase in good intel because the Iraqis are sick of the
> > insurgent attacks against civilians.
> >
> > The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.
> >
> > According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only
> > believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are
> > stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they
> > almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are
> despised
> > and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and
> then
> > see shit like Are we losing in Iraq on TV and the print media. For the
> most
> > part, they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership.
> Bottom
> > line though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys there to
> drive
> > the final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because
> there
> > aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and
> > Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of
> > Iraqbeing an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases
> > there).
> >
> > Anyway guys, thats it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did.
>
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