Why It's Taking So Long for the Iraqi Army to "Stand Up"

[smoogatz]

so we can stand down. I told you this would happen.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/video/page/0,,1927660,00.html

[bigtree]

1. they're standing

Bush is sitting on his hands


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[Tom Joad]

2. Iraqis are standing up. And doing everything they can to end the

US occupation.

[lonestarnot]

3. Because they're tired, hungry and want to sit down and let someone

else do it? :shrug:

[bigbrother05]

4. KNR

[sweettater]

5. They are standing up..............

with their "brothers". Blood is thicker than water. (us being the water)

[JohnnyRingo]

6. I don't think Buxh really wants them to ...by design

From the beginning, he planned on a 250,000 man "security force", and a 12,000 man army.

The biggest question that never gets asked is where is the Iraqi Air Force? Are they flying their old MiGs or our F/A-18s? The answer, of course, is neither.
If there were Iraqi fighter jocks training in American hardware, Fox News would be there filming it.

Where is the Iraq armor? What happened to the Middle East's largest force of Russian tanks?
How about the Iraqi Artillery Corps?

In that neck of the woods, all of these elements are needed to protect themselves from oil thirsty neighbors. Obviously, we intend to supply these needs indefinitely.

It's my observation that we're just forming a heavily armed force of reluctant Arab speaking policemen to control the civilian population through deadly force.
I can't imagine that obedience would overcome National pride, and ordering Iraqis to kill their friends and relatives will go over as well there as it would here.

It's no wonder resentment for Americans runs rampant there.

[TahitiNut]

7. You get TahitiNut's KSOTO Award for today.

:thumbsup: It just takes three words to answer: "Iraqi Air Force"

[Drum]

8. I totally agree!

They're there just waffling with infantry...and damn straight FOX would be there 24/7 for combat-porn, were there any to photograph. Like the rest of the US occupation & laughable reconstruction efforts, the work that our soldiers and service-folk are doing seems waaaay overfunded and tragically unfocussed, and losing hearts and minds of Iraqis. Clearly, the only people wanting the American soldiers (and the mercenaries) to be/stay in Iraq are a group of powerful politicians and dealers in money...certainly no one who's directly involved wants Americans anywhere near Iraq. There was no plan to succeed in any real terms (as put forth by the hawks,) which makes the cynical questions naturally arise: What was the real goal in all this? By what mechanisms is it all happening?

If we know the mechanism, can we therefore stop or reverse it? :eyes:

Thx JohnnyRingo.

You too smoogatz: good link!

[smoogatz]

9. Good point.

It's also pretty apparent that they've turned the knob way down on training the Iraqi security force (or whatever you want to call it) because American troops don't trust them not to turn their weapons on American troops--which is apparently what's going on, and has been with some regularity. The NIA is the insurgency. Oh, what a clusterfuck they weave.