Big Guns For Iraq? Not So Fast.

[Rose Siding]

EVEN though President Bush keeps saying American forces won't leave Iraq until its forces can fight on their own, the United States isn't rushing to give the Iraqi military heavy weapons.

There is an official explanation for that - that such things take time.
...
In public, the commanders cite many reasons for the slow pace of equipping the Iraqis: the supply chain is long, Iraq's soldiers are barely trained and largely untested, and the rebels they face are better fought with rifles than tanks.

In private, some officers acknowledge other concerns, too. "We're worried about civil war or a coup," said a senior American officer in Baghdad charged with outfitting Iraq's new army. He would not agree to be identified because the concerns he was discussing are so sensitive.

Indeed, Iraqi commanders are growing restive, saying their troops are dying at three times the rate of American soldiers because they lack basic equipment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/28/weekinreview/28smith.html

[indepat]

1. It will likely never be over over there

[NNN0LHI]

2. Give them some F-16's. Thats the ticket n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. "they don't need helicopters when they have American military support."

.
.
.

From the Posted Article:

At the same time, the Americans are building at least four semi-permanent military bases that could hold 18,000 troops each. These are usually described as way stations on the eventual route home for the Americans, places where they will stay while ever-more-capable Iraqi troops engage the insurgents on their own. But that will clearly take time. Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top military commander in Iraq, when asked this month about how the bases would be used, dismissed the question: "You're talking years away." And if Iraq's politics remain unstable, the bases could offer a continuing rationale for not providing heavier weaponry, since the Americans would still be close by for the Iraqis to rely on.

"We're trying to build an army to fight the current fight," one American officer said when asked about the Iraqi complaints. "It's too early to start talking about M1A1 tanks, and they don't need helicopters when they have American military support."
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Simply put

The Murikkkans have no intention of leaving . . .

and will throw the poorer equipped Iraqis in front of them . . .

Murikkka's cannon fodder,

protecting itself by creating Iraqi cannon fodder

America - "Home of the Brave"

yeah right

[bemildred]

4. Gosh, you'd almost suspect there was a lack of trust ... nt

[FightingIrish]

5. Maybe they can use that same excuse for

not properly equipping our own troops.

[wli]

6. they're not properly equipping the Americans, either n/t

[daleo]

7. They are afraid the guns would be turned on them.

As they leave Iraq eventually in futility.