Has anyone else ever wondered about those reports of

[boston bean]

Iraqi kidnappings and killings.

The MSM* tells us they are people who have stolen soldiers and police uniforms.

I think its bullshit spin. I think they are actually iraqi soldiers and iraqi police that have infiltrated.

But all you get from the news* is the line that they are stolen outfits to gain access.

What a buch of bullshit!!!!

WAKE UP AMERICA

Now this surge is going to embed our soldiers with the Iraqi's under their command. This is not going to be be good, for many reasons, besides this one.

[Cocoa]

1. don't forget the Salvador Option

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2152463.ece

<snip>

Ironically, these death squads are the direct by-product of US policy. At the beginning of 2004, with no end to the Sunni insurgency in sight, the Pentagon was reported to have decided to train Shia and Kurdish fighters to carry out "irregular missions". The policy, exposed in the US media, was called the "Salvador Option" after the US-backed counter-insurgency in Latin America more than 20 years ago, which led to 70,000 deaths and countless violations of human rights. Some of the most persistent allegations of abuse have been made against the Wolf Brigade. Their main US adviser until April last year was James Steele, who states in his autobiography that he commanded the US military group in El Salvador during the height of the guerrilla war. The complaints against Iraqi special forces continue.

While in Iraq, I interviewed Ahmed Sadoun, who was arrested in Mosul and held for seven months before being released without charge. He showed the marks on his body of beatings and burning. Mr Sadoun, 38, did not know which paramilitary group had seized him. But they were accompanied by American soldiers, and the Wolf Brigade was widely involved in suppressing disturbances in Mosul at the time.

As for the Mehdi army, the Americans fought a short and fierce battle with Mr Sadr's militia in Najaf two years ago. At the time, however, the Sunni insurgents were still the bigger threat, and it was deemed convenient to let Shia clerics organise a truce. Since then the Mehdi army has been left relatively untroubled by both the US and UK forces. When it briefly took over Amarah in a recent action and blew up a number of police stations, a British force was sent up from Basra, but did not intervene, leaving the Iraqi army to deal with the situation.

more...

[boston bean]

2. Do you think Bush is doing this because Saudi Arabia told him too

when cousin dick was there last to meet with them.

Saudi's are sunni and they may have threatened something if * let the Shi'ites kill the sunni's off.

boy we are in a pickle huh

Bush needs to go for this. his whole cabinet needs to go.

How dare they put america at such risk.

[GreenZoneLT]

3. Not quite right

The media report what the Iraqi police tell them, since the Iraqi police are the ones investigating the kidnapping. There's been considerable skepticism about the identity of those doing the kidnappings.

Also, the soldiers embedded with the Iraqis will be under U.S. command, not Iraqi. That's got its own set of problems (divided command = no command). The overall command of the new Baghdad security operation is two-headed, with a paired chain. It's a mess, and a lot of professionals don't think it will work.

[boston bean]

4. I have been hearing the american forces will be embedded with

iraqi forces under iraqi control.

Is that wrong?

[GreenZoneLT]

6. Yep, that's wrong

Small American units will be embedded with large Iraqi units that are under Iraqi command, but the Americans won't be under Iraqi command. Now, what that's going to mean in real life remains to be seen. If the Iraqi battalion commander tells the American platoon leader "We're going over here and kill these guys," it's not like the American platoon can stop them.

Overall command will have a dual chain of command that will give the Iraqis more control of the combined force, but the Americans will still have security responsibility for Baghdad province. That's probably the last province we'll turn over, even after Anbar. Right now, the Iraqis control security in three provinces, and they're supposed to have them all by November.

Iraqi central government control of Anbar, of course, is a fantasy.

[seabeyond]

5. i am still curious about the americans and british dressing up

and one of them found with explosive materials about a year ago