Pentagon: 1/3 of New Iraqi Soldiers Quit

[phillybri]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031210/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_army_1

WASHINGTON - Plans to deploy the first battalion of Iraq (news - web sites)'s new army are in doubt because a third of the soldiers trained by the U.S.-led occupation authority have quit, defense officials said Wednesday.

Touted as a key to Iraq's future, the 700-man battalion lost some 250 men over recent weeks as they were preparing to begin operations this month, Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said.

[Richardo]

1. Note to Rumsfeld: You might try paying them a tad more than...

...$60 a month ($2/day). Nation building on the cheap - yeah, that'll work. :eyes:

[SlavesandBulldozers]

2. hooray!

Rumsfeld's on a roll. How much does this Administration have to do to make everybody realize they are a bunch on unqualified a^s-monkeys

[BrotherBuzz]

3. Shades of ARVN

[saigon68]

21. "Shades of ARVN" NO SHIT---- Its IRAQ-NAM

It worked out real good the first time-----NOT AT ALL

Remember the Vietnamese military that ran the Black-Markets??? The Generals with their loot in Swiss Banks?

[young_at_heart]

4. Where was our intelligence on this?

I've read that it was "assumed" that the Iraq people would take care of their own problems once our invasion was over. Are the adults really in charge?

[Aidoneus]

5. so crude and clumsy as to be unintentionally hilarious, in a way

the occupation forces likely just trained and armed the next round of resistance fighters.

[POed_Ex_Repub]

6. If it's this bad already...

Imagine how many defections they'll have when these people actually see action...

[sendero]

11. bingo :) n/t

.

[Zero Gravitas]

15. my thoughts excatly

This Adminsitration is the fascist version of the Keystone Cops. Idiots.

[CaptainClark23]

7. What did they leave with?

Did they take their issued sidearms?

How 'bout them spiffy new trousers we bought?

We know they took all the training when they left.

All that knowledge of Security SOP, formations, etc...

I imagine that sort of smarts can come in handy, hmm?

Were they issued ID Cards and did they take those too? Another handy item.

Pathetic.

[theorist]

9. Right!

These guys now have intelligence that can only strengthen the insurgency. This is a bad sign of things to come. At this rate the US will have a real quagmire on their hands. Especially when these batallions start getting slaughtered.

[Beetwasher]

8. If They Are Saying 1/3 Quit, I Can Guarantee It's Probably 1/2

I wish I could laugh at this story, but it's so fucked up and so bad and our boys are in so much fucking trouble, I find it hard to...

These fucking incompetent, heartless scumbags...

[Barrett808]

18. They claim 1/3 "resigned" -- how many deserted?

Also, check this out:

"About three-quarters of the recruits in the first battalion were also soldiers of the 400,000-man Iraq army."

So a quarter of those who resigned are likely to be ex-Iraqi army. How many of them will offer their expertise to the insurgency?

[burrowowl]

19. Good point eom

[JackSwift]

10. Oooo! Ooooo! I remember Vietnamization!

It worked really well.

Let's hope the next Iraqi dictator is better than Hussein.

[Fridays Child]

12. Thanks for the training. Now, excuse us while we warm up our RPGs.

An article from the other day quoted an Iraqi soldier to the effect that they detest the American occupation forces.

[Walt Starr]

13. Okay, we trined them and they quit

How many of the 250 are going to be in the field next week shooting at our guys?

[Zhade]

16. I keep seeing that quote. Does anyone have a source for it?

Not that I distrust Greg Palast - I think he's incredible - but because I want a source to shove in "Get over it"-types' faces.

[TolstoyAndy]

20. Palast was paraphrasing Baker

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=299&row=0

"Just last week Baker said, 'I fixed the election in Florida for George Bush.' That was the substance of his remarks to an audience of Russian big wigs as reported to me by my somewhat astonished colleagues with BBC television."

[RamboLiberal]

14. Same thing is happening in Afghanistan

This administration can't do a dang thing well.

[phillybri]

17. Kick for the evening crew

:kick: