The real Iraq: A soldiers point of view

[TARWMSRK]

Kind of an interesting (but long) read I got from a friend of mine. Beware of a little foul language if that gets under your skin.

quote:

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I got this via my USMC network and it is from a retired Marine whose son is back for his second tour there. It is an unvarnished version unfit for sensitive ears about what is going on over there versus what we hear in the "mainstream media."

Also, TODAY (10 November) is the 230th birthday of the Marine Corps. Yes, each Marine gets two standard issue birthdays per year. Happy birthday to me, all other Marines, and those Americans who appreciate our defending the country.

*** *** [Name Removed]

From the Mountain Man.this is a great update. Enjoy guys.

"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. Weve 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

Jordans area 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 Iraq being 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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[Guest $iLk]

My friend who spent a year over there believes that the insurgency is 99% homegrown and that the only thing sealing the Syrian border did was piss off Iraqi towns who's local economy goes to crap without Syrian trade.

He says the biggest problem is Iraqis with nothing better to do with Saddam's arsenal in their hands being convinced by Shieks to wage war on the visible American troops.

He also says that the Iraqi National Guard (or whatever there name is any given week) are good for little more than collecting a paycheck as they simply retreat when attacked.