I am very interested in this topic. I have heard the police are quite ethnic. The IA I thought otherwise. Your unit sounds like it is a good mix - not the same mix as the country (60% Shia, 20% Sunni, 20% Kurd), but mixed nonetheless. In BNs more ethnic, what is the mix in effective leadership positions? (Junior NCO, Senior NCO, Officers) Are they assigned to locales with the same ethnicity? Do they act sectarian to the local populations?
Well, in my BN, the Commander was a Kurd; but was the kind of Kurd that could work with Arabs. In a mixed area, the ethnic lines get blurred. He was an Arabic speaker, business guy. Never military until after the invasion. Not even Pesh. But people respected him in the AO. We had Shias for an XO and OPS officer. One was much better than the other. They were both Gulf vets and Iran vets. Both were pretty tough. The XO was clearly there for the power...the OPS officer was great. Worked more than any Arab I've ever encountered. He "got it"...IMO.
Basically, the NCOs were just treated like the jundees (soldiers), except for a few that had officer potential but didn't have the bribe money for a commission from MOD or OCS. It was HARD to get the team and squad leaders to take charge and accept responsibility. Don't get me wrong, some of the company commanders and platoon leaders were garbage, also. It's weird because Iraqis kind of put their studs on staff, instead of on the line sometimes. There were some good dudes in the line companies, but unfortunately, sometimes it's about who you know and not what you can do. We fought SO HARD to get a couple of guys to Officer School, but they didn't have the money or the connections. Sad.
Another item I am interested in. You have a front row seat. Are Iraqi NCOs demostrating improved leadership at all? How are they getting better? How are they falling short?
It's been two years, but people don't change that much. I heard that the NCO corps is improving; I sure hope so. They are the biggest challenge in the Iraqi Army. The Iraqi culture is kind of aristocratic, to where the officers make ALL the decisions. I hope we can change that.
Sounds like our government...messy isn't it?
Except our governments aren't ordering hits on people.
Kurds will get theirs for sure. I have seen, from afar, what I believe to be actions independent of Tehran. Like the Basra mission against Sadr forces. I worry about the lack of reconciliation between Shia and Sunni. I am very interested in this too.
What do your contacts tell you?
The Kurds are going to come out of this as the winners, but I don't think they will ever declare indepedence, which they basically have now. They tell me that the creeping Iranian influence is scary. PM me and I'll foward you some emails that I've gotten from them.
Dude, I am 5'8" and weigh 240 now. As a civilian would be good if they don't have weight restrictions....do they?
Not for civilians. We had a 60 year old man from Dallas that spoke Arabic, persian, turkish and Kurdish. He was a force multiplier.
I'll look into this. I have almost bought the Rosetta Stone - Arabic like 4 times now. I took 3 semesters of it in Seattle. Cool language.
Yeah, it is. I picked it up over there after getting about 8 weeks worth of class here in the states. Easier to read and write than you think.
Al'afu
You didn't offend me. I was a little shocked, since I have only heard that before from anti-war activists.
I think it is not a fair requirement, that to be a Hawk you have to either have served or be serving.
No, but it helps your cred, in my eyes. Career politicians that are hawks just rub me the wrong way. John McCain sending me to war? At least I respect him and know he's asking me to do something that he has done himself.
When we go to war, we need public support and good public support happens when you believe in the mission.
Unless said war is unjust (Walzer definition) and not for defense of the nation. In that case, I hope the public doesn't support it. Then the troops never have to deal with it.
This requires Hawks that are not serving. I like what Wolfowitz, Perle and Cheney have done.
I don't. I totally resent them and always will. Not only did they unnecessarily invade a country, but they didn't plan it worth a damn and then were to arrogant to admit they made any mistakes or acknowledge the hardships it put on us. It took a retired General and a West Point professor to come up with The Surge to save their butt.
I like what Bush has done. I think it is damn smart.
Oddly, I don't hold Bush responsible. I'm not sure he could envision what happened. And I kind of view him as aloof through the whole thing. I'm most disappointed in Powell. He could have stopped this. He knew it was wrong, but was the good Soldier, saluted, and did the King's bidding. He has to look at himself in the mirror at night. I hope it hurts.
We won't really know for years.
No, we won't. You might be right. I doubt it. Arabs are Arabs.
I think both Kirkuk and Open Lists are going to be ugly. Open Lists because it threatens the power structure that has formed from these groups. That is what may breakup some of this corruption - I said some mind you.
Yeah, the Kurds are just as corrupt, but since they don't kill Americans, I tend to like them better. Kirkuk is a powderkeg. It will be one of the last places we pull out of.
I would really like to read your papers.
I have them on an external hard drive somewhere. I'll try to dig them up for you.
