Is the US military THAT incompetent nowadays?

[trogdor]

--start clip--

In Baghdad, FBI agents searching for clues in the rubble at the U.N. headquarters determined that the bomb was made up of about 1,000 pounds of old ordnance, including mortar rounds, artillery shells, hand grenades and a 500-pound bomb, Special Agent Thomas Fuentes said.

The explosives were piled — without "any great degree of sophistication or expertise" — onto the back of a Soviet-made military flatbed truck known as a KAMAZ, not a cement truck as earlier thought, Fuentes said. The vehicle was driven to just outside the concrete wall recently built around the hotel and detonated. Some munitions failed to explode, and investigators and rescue workers had to dig through the site carefully Wednesday to avoid setting them off.

"These munitions were probably in the possession of Iraqi military during Saddam's regime," Fuentes said. "Someone with access to large military cache put them on truck and drove it down an open street." U.S. Army soldiers have turned up plentiful weapons caches across the country in past months.

--end clip--

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20030821/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_030820231348

So, let me get this straight. A bunch of Saddam's old army buddies get a Russian MILITARY truck, pile a bunch of kaboomers in the back, and just drive it down the streets that WE'RE SUPPOSED TO FRICKIN' OWN in Baghdad, and detonate it in front of the UN HQ. :wtf:

http://www.rus-sell.com/catalog727.html
This is a website that sells diecast models of this truck, so you can see what one looks like. We don't own any of these. NOBODY spotted it. Again, I say, :wtf:

[Maple]

1. Who notices war material

in a war zone?

The best place to hide something is in plain sight.

[ProudGerman]

2. I wouldn't really call imcompitance just yet

First off, we have no clue how prevalent that kind of truck is over there. Russians tend to build and export things in huge quantities. Those kinds of trucks could be popular delivery trucks for businesses and such.

Secondly, our troops aren't incompitant. They follow their orders to the best of their ability. This seems to me to be a leadership problem. Rumsfeld asleep at the wheel again.

Point your blame higher up. The troops do what they are told to do excellently, but can only do what they are told to do. You aren't taking their mindset into account.

[alcuno]

3. It's chaos!

Nothing looks out of place in chaos.

[stickdog]

13. Are you sure you don't mean KAOS?

Would you believe 1,500 pounds of military munitions and a troop of girl scouts?

Didn't think so.

[Tom Kitten]

4. Has Rummy given his spin yet?

It would be interesting to hear that...something like the UN refused American protection or something else deflecting blame on all that's going well for our regime over there...Wouldn't Secretary of State Colin Powell have something to say about this? Where is he? And do we even have an ambassador to the UN nowadays?

[Iluvleiberman]

5. I wouldn't blame the UN for resisting US protection

Cause Bush did it for revenge (maybe) for snubbing them.

[jody]

6. We don't have enough troops in Iraq to secure every target.

The real question is how rapidly will these unconventional warfare increase?

AWOL said the major military engagements were over and that's correct since the US absolutely the pace and extent of those engagements. Now the advantage has shifted to the other side and they might continue their unconventional warfare until the infidels leave the Middle East. I wouldn't be surprised if they did because really don't like a Judeo-Christian occupying army.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. YUP

And Paul Wolfowitz thought Iraq would be secure after the invasion. I prey to god he resigns.

[Jacobin]

7. How would you think that 130,000 scared troops in a country the size of

California are gonna successfully repress and control 35 million supremely pissed off Muslims whose country we just bombed the shit out of and are attempting to occupy?

You got magic?

[votein04]

8. WTF? Do you have any idea how large Bagdahd is?

Not to mention I heard today the UN - understandably so - didn't want any US security. They didn't want to be aligned to closely with the occupation.
They forgot that they harassed Saddam and his ilk for years I guess....forgot how often they bowed to US pressure in dealing with Iraq.
They're not quite as hated as the USA, but they're hated. Iraqis are exacting revenge for years of sanctions.

UN sanctions.


I do find it a little annoying that you'd be sitting at your computer desk in safetown USA and musing about how incompetent the entire US military is.

The military is very competent at the job they've been trained for. Bagdahd is HUGE and business - commerce that includes the movement of trucks - occurs as we type. You don't expect the military to be pulling over every truck on the road, do you?

Please don't give the right fodder against us by dissin' our brothers and sisters in arms.

[Kat 333]

10. There is no such place as safetown, USA

Thanks to Bush and his corrupt gang of thieves. It would be equally annoying to expect everyone to think that the entire US military, that is in Iraq, is quite competent. I think they have proven that is not the case with the disregard shown for the lives of innocent civilians and others.

[votein04]

11. Touche, or whatever that French word is...

I did imply that the ENTIRE military is competent...just as the original poster implied it is not. My bad.

I would qualify that by saying "on the whole" it is competent. You got over 100,000 US personel there facing the Iraqis everyday.....naturally you're going to get the f#$kups happening. Bad checkpoints...poorly handled searches..ect ect.

HOWEVER...I would not say that the military has shown "disregard" for lives. "Disregard" implies purposeful bad intent. Let's stick with incompetence.

Let's not forget the military is not the problem here....it's the suits (and occasional flight jackets) that decide to send the military.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

12. No, "disregard" means they didn't even think about it.

The US military doesn't think about civillian casualties any further than "how will this look on the news?". They deal with that problem by not letting it get on the news.

Take for example the damage done to the UN building. That was ONE 500 pound bomb delivered to the door before being detonated. How many 500 pound and larger bombs were dropped on Baghdad? How many of them were exactly on target? Does the US military even care, beyond the "cost efectiveness" issues of wasted bombs doing nothing but kill innocents?

That is what "disregard" means. The only time the US military thinks of civillian casualties is how the weapons that killed them were wasted, and how the people back home will react to them - who cares what the Iraqi civillians themselves think about it.

[diamond14]

14. OUR soldiers should not be doing police work, social work,

security work, rescue work and all the other jobs they are forced to do in Iraq....

BRING THEM HOME>>>>>>NOW

Boot bush* in 2004
http://www.democrats.org

[stickdog]

15. According to Kofi the report of the UN refusing security is disinfo. (NT)