Are the Iraqis we are "training" the former military?

[underpants]

I can't find anything anywhere stating who these bozos were a year or three years ago.

Are they the fearsome fighting force that we were supposed to fear and the third excuse used for going war? OR are the insurgents basically what is left of the former military less those who had the misfortune of taking on the US military and those who just took the chance to get out of any commitment to the Iraqi military?

Does anyone know WHO these bozos are?

Yes I said bozos-After two days in basic training even the most screw ball group of enlistees look more "together" than anything I have seen on TV or in documentaries and I am assuming that the stock footage that we see are the more crack units the ones that that we are supposed to be proud of.

Anyone? Anything?

[BJW]

1. A relative of mine recently returned from Iraq

told me that the vaunted "Iraqi airforce" he saw at the base he was stationed at was just a couple of Iraqi guys training on a grand total of THREE PIPER CUB airplanes.

[underpants]

2. The Iraqis were never known much for their airforce

this is a fact that no one pointed out before the war not even the anti-war side. Apparently the Iranian air defense tore them apart in that war and .....well they never did hit one single UN airspace airplane with their air defense.

Funny no one pointed that out prewar but then we all made assumptions like assuming that the US would win and that postwar planning was in the works any postwar planning maybe sending out an email about scheduling a meeting about postwar planning anything---admit it we all assumed that one now didn't we?

[HereSince1628]

4. My understanding is that much of the Iraqi Air Force is under the sand

The planes were purposefully buried.

Do I really remember some planes flying to Iran before the first gulf war, or is that just something out of a Dale Brown novel???????

[BJW]

6. No--your memory is working just fine

There WAS REALLY BIG hullabaloo in GW1 that supposedly Iran was allowing Iraq to fly planes to Iran and hide them there, and possibly use them to bomb US troops.

Wow--and to think they were hiding PIPER CUBS!!!

Puh-leeez....

[keta11]

3. Are these Iraqis they are training not gonna use

their acquired skills against the US in some terrorist attack later on?

[Porcupine]

5. Nope they are future insurgents.

What a deal the Iraqi resistance has. Take a kid, send him to the US military to get fed up, immunized, trained and equipped. He also gets a wad of pay to send back to his family. Since there are few toe to toe battles he's as safe under our wing as he would be at home.

When push comes to shove he can fade down an alley and get a free ride from the resistance in exchange for his weapons and gear. Hell even the ARVN wasn't this free and easy about desertion.