Why does it take 12 weeks to train a US soldier to go put their life

[BR_Parkway]

on the line so they can train an Iraqi soldier for two years?

How can these dumbasses in the mis-administration think that they are being successful?

[BrainRants]

1. Great point, I'm not sure that question has been raised yet.

Time to start using it in LTE's

[cynatnite]

2. The conditions are different

For one thing they have far more limited resources than us when it comes to training and those Iraqis have to be rotated through for a period of probably around 6-12 weeks. That's just basic training. How to handle a weapon, etc.

It's more training to do things such as carrying out operations. What I've seen is that most of these guys are still under the supervision of the US military and is rarely without.

There is a high unemployment rate and insurgents do attack those working with the US, too. I've also heard since our troops don't know who the enemy is so they don't trust these guys much at all.

I do think that all of this doesn't make it a very favorable atmosphere for anyone and it's possible there has been a lot of setback in the training.

I'm not surprised by how slow it is to get an Iraqi force going.

[Horse with no Name]

3. Why not fly them to the states and train them alongside our soldiers?

Why don't they do what makes sense?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Or, at least a core cadre of them.

Send them back to train and instill esprit d'corps.

[JackintheGreen]

11. Because the French suggested it

Not only the French, but the Germans and I think several other European nations have offered to assist in training an officer corps outside of Iraq.

I don't have a link, but this came up at about the same time that the US was denying foreign companies access to rebuilding contracts ("If they won't pay the price, they can't reap the benefits..."). I seem to recall Chris Matthews mentioning it yet again last night after *'s doohicky.

[RaleighNCDUer]

12. Egypt and other ME countries have offered to provide training

in their own countries, away from the threat of insurgent attacks.

Bushco rejected the offer.

Ya see, Halliburton doesn't make any money if the training is done out of country.

[Boomer]

9. It's a pretty messed up situation

There have been several posts on DU of articles describing the conditions of "training" for the Iraqis:

* Unairconditioned tents with few facilities while US troops are billeted in in better quarters

* Old, malfunctioning weaponry while US troops carry heavy firepower

* Lack of respect or trust between both camps

* Lack of communication due to poor language/culture skills on both sides

* The incredible risk Iraqis are taking to even be seen with Americans, much less working with them.

[H5N1]

4. 12 weeks is not long enough to learn... ping pong

[Kraklen]

6. Americans can learn faster because they're racially superior.

See, you've got to think like a Republican for any of their behaviour to make sense.

[MsTryska]

7. I've been wondering the same thing.

our troops get 12 weeks training..not sure how much cops get....

but the best i can figure - it's because the entire infrastructure has to be replaced.

[Tommymac]

8. The training of Iraqi's is taking a long time because...

They are not all being trained as counter-insurgents.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped... /

A former Pentagon official, journalist, and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Leslie Gelb, a man with considerable political and military knowledge, came back from a fact-finding trip in Iraq talking about the ''gap between those who work there, who were really careful of every word they uttered of prediction or analysis, and the expansive, sometimes, I think, totally unrealistic optimism you hear from people back in Washington."

In a report to the council, Gelb was scathing about America efforts to train an Iraqi army. ''If you ask any Iraqi leader, they will tell you these people can't fight. They just aren't trained. And yet we're cranking them out like rabbits." As for plans to train a 10 division Iraqi army by next year, Gelb was scathing. ''It became very apparent to me that these 10 divisions were to fight some future war against Iran. It had nothing to do, nothing to do," with taking Iraq over from the Americans and fighting the insurgents.

[sandnsea]

10. In fairness

Soldiers train after basic too. Different jobs require different levels of training, some are many, many months. But we do need to compile a list of those kinds of questions, how many troops are needed overall, how many police in each city, and keep track of the numbers that are there. Do all the cities have an elected government, courts, and some sort of justice system in place. The specific names of companies that are supposed to provide electricity, water, roads, and their progress. The contracts and names of the actual bases that are being built, pictures where possible.

If we were to find out that all the cities have governments and police, then there's no reason for our troops to be in the cities at all. We need more specific facts.

[cynatnite]

14. If we got more specifics it may just turn out to be much worse

It wouldn't surprise me given how 'rosey' this regime has painted the war.

On edit: When Rumsfeld was in front of the Senate Arms Committee he wouldn't tell McCain how many Iraqis were fully trained. Said it was 'secret'.

[Johonny]

13. There are no officers

You can't have an army without leaders. They have no experienced generals. I mean they killed, imprisoned, or are fighting any of the Iraqi's that are needed to lead the new army. So to build a new army without officers takes a lot longer. I doubt we are really training officers, which is why I doubt there will ever be an Iraqi army every in place to replace us. Basically you have a Kurdish army, a Sunni Militia and a Shiite prop government that uses the US as it’s muscle.