Why "When They Stand Up, We'll Stand Down" Only Works in Bush-World, Not in the Real One
"…U.S. troops have developed a deep distrust of their Iraqi counterparts following a slew of incidents that suggest the troops they are training are cooperating with their enemies."
--"In Iraqi Town,Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006
"The graduation of nearly 1,000 new Iraqi Army soldiers in restive Anbar province took a disorderly turn Sunday when dozens of the men declared they would refuse to serve outside their home areas…They took an oath of service while U.S. and Iraqi officials delivered speeches hailing the event as an important step toward the formation of a national army. Then some soldiers started tearing their clothes off to demonstrate their rage."
--"Iraqis Begin Duty With Refusal," Washington Post, May 2, 2006.
"Horton said he gives Iraqi officers just minutes' notice when bringing them on a mission, and never tells them exactly where they will be going to prevent them from tipping off insurgents."
--"In Iraqi Town, Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006.
Over and over again, I see this administration reel off numbers of Iraqi Army troops that have been trained--usually inflated numbers, at that--as proof positive that this fledgling government needs only to get enough troops trained in its army, and then we can all go home.
Looking all decisive and commander-in-chief-y, Bush stated flat-out that, "When they stand up, we'll stand down."
It's such a great slogan. And this administration has succeeded in only one thing in their six years in office--coming up with all sorts of really great slogans.
Like this standing-up, standing-down business. Get enough troops trained, they will stand up for their fabulous new country, and salute our boys as they head for the house.
If only the real world were as simple as Bush-world. If only catchy, decisive-sounding slogans could really be TRUE. Wouldn't that be great? Our military is working very hard, as we speak, to train Iraqi army troops and police forces, and do you know what many of those well-trained troops are then doing?
"Earlier this month, a U.S. sniper team caught 14 policemen placing roadside bombs in the nearby town of Riyadh. More than 60 other police officers are named on a watch list of suspected insurgent collaborators, according to U.S. military policemen who train them. And last week a raging fire erupted from a sabotaged oil pipeline 50 feet from a police checkpoint…"
--In Iraqi Town, Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006.
I have read more cases than I can dig up in my files of American troops planning missions and local police or Iraqi army troops refusing to go along. When the commander insists, they suddenly have "intelligence" of a roadside bomb along the proposed route. Or of Iraqi police IN THE PAY OF THE INTERIOR MINISTRY, blowing up oil pipelines, with the full knowledge of their superiors.
And that doesn't even begin to address the problem of militia death squads. Just yesterday, the bodies of 43 Iraqi men, mostly Sunni, were discovered littering Baghdad from one end to the other. They were bound, gagged, tortured, and shot in the head. 43. In one night. In one town.
Training Iraqi army troops is just as problematic because they only want to serve at home, in their own regions. They are afraid that if, say, they are Sunni troops and are posted in Shi'ite areas, they will be murdered by the death squads. They are equally afraid that if they do not remain to defend their homes, the death squads will murder their families.
The graduation ceremony of 1,000 troops in the Anbar province is a highly visible embarrassment to an administration that insists such additions to the Iraqi army automatically solve the problems.
That particular graduation was filmed, and I saw the footage on ABC evening news, in case you don't trust the Post. The ceremony was going along peachy-keen, with all sorts of preening by administration mouthpieces and military brass. Then, midway through, an announcement was made that the Sunni troops would be posted in Shi'ite areas because the thinking goes that mixing Sunni troops with Shi'ite will cut down on death squads.
A loud roar of protest immediately went up from the assembled soldiers, and dozens of them angrily ripped off their uniforms and flung them to the ground.
"U.S. military authorities, who issued a statement that on Sunday night that made no mention of the incident, gave a more subdued account of what happened."
--"Iraqis Begin Duty With Refusal," Washington Post, May 2, 2006.
In other words, if we say it didn't happen, it didn't happen.
Even those Iraqi army troops who do cooperate and follow orders, do so in secret. They go home by public bus, in civilian clothes, and they tell no one what they are doing. They fear murderous reprisals against their families for even appearing to cooperate with the Americans.
And if the Americans were to try and force-feed, say, Kurdish troops on a Sunni area, they would have a whole new war to fight.
How in the world are American Marines and army troops who are training the Iraqi army supposed to go about their jobs when they know full-well that the same techniques they are teaching these guys will then be used against them?
How in the world are they supposed to train people who they know hate them?
How are they supposed to arm and train men they can't trust?
Yes, there have been reported incidents of successful joint missions, and of American officers claiming that they would trust their Iraqi counterparts with their lives. But it all depends upon which part of the country the training is taking place. And the higher the rank of the military spokesman, the more likely they will be saying what they know they are supposed to say.
As my son says, "We stand them up for the media and tell them to smile . Then we go on about our business."
American troops have reported far more cases of Iraqi army troops running from firefights, standing back laughing when Americans hit a roadside bomb, and simply disappearing altogether from duty. I have also read too many cases where the Americans may like a given commander, only to lose him to murderous violence by enemies who would punish him for cooperating with the U.S. And the punishment is savage.
But for every genuine friend to America, there are just as many of those Iraqi army troops who will shake hands warmly with the Americans by day, and then sneak out by night to set the roadside bomb that will destroy them come dawn.
And what about the religious leaders who tell the Iraqi troops that if they cooperate with the Americans, they won't go to heaven? It is happening.
But, unlike the Iraqi army, our American Marines and army troops DO obey their commander-in-chief. And if he says, We must train the Iraqi army troops come hell or high water, then they do as they have been ordered.
Even if it kills them.
--"In Iraqi Town,Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006
"The graduation of nearly 1,000 new Iraqi Army soldiers in restive Anbar province took a disorderly turn Sunday when dozens of the men declared they would refuse to serve outside their home areas…They took an oath of service while U.S. and Iraqi officials delivered speeches hailing the event as an important step toward the formation of a national army. Then some soldiers started tearing their clothes off to demonstrate their rage."
--"Iraqis Begin Duty With Refusal," Washington Post, May 2, 2006.
"Horton said he gives Iraqi officers just minutes' notice when bringing them on a mission, and never tells them exactly where they will be going to prevent them from tipping off insurgents."
--"In Iraqi Town, Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006.
Over and over again, I see this administration reel off numbers of Iraqi Army troops that have been trained--usually inflated numbers, at that--as proof positive that this fledgling government needs only to get enough troops trained in its army, and then we can all go home.
Looking all decisive and commander-in-chief-y, Bush stated flat-out that, "When they stand up, we'll stand down."
It's such a great slogan. And this administration has succeeded in only one thing in their six years in office--coming up with all sorts of really great slogans.
Like this standing-up, standing-down business. Get enough troops trained, they will stand up for their fabulous new country, and salute our boys as they head for the house.
If only the real world were as simple as Bush-world. If only catchy, decisive-sounding slogans could really be TRUE. Wouldn't that be great? Our military is working very hard, as we speak, to train Iraqi army troops and police forces, and do you know what many of those well-trained troops are then doing?
"Earlier this month, a U.S. sniper team caught 14 policemen placing roadside bombs in the nearby town of Riyadh. More than 60 other police officers are named on a watch list of suspected insurgent collaborators, according to U.S. military policemen who train them. And last week a raging fire erupted from a sabotaged oil pipeline 50 feet from a police checkpoint…"
--In Iraqi Town, Trainees Are Also Suspects," Washington Post, April 29, 2006.
I have read more cases than I can dig up in my files of American troops planning missions and local police or Iraqi army troops refusing to go along. When the commander insists, they suddenly have "intelligence" of a roadside bomb along the proposed route. Or of Iraqi police IN THE PAY OF THE INTERIOR MINISTRY, blowing up oil pipelines, with the full knowledge of their superiors.
And that doesn't even begin to address the problem of militia death squads. Just yesterday, the bodies of 43 Iraqi men, mostly Sunni, were discovered littering Baghdad from one end to the other. They were bound, gagged, tortured, and shot in the head. 43. In one night. In one town.
Training Iraqi army troops is just as problematic because they only want to serve at home, in their own regions. They are afraid that if, say, they are Sunni troops and are posted in Shi'ite areas, they will be murdered by the death squads. They are equally afraid that if they do not remain to defend their homes, the death squads will murder their families.
The graduation ceremony of 1,000 troops in the Anbar province is a highly visible embarrassment to an administration that insists such additions to the Iraqi army automatically solve the problems.
That particular graduation was filmed, and I saw the footage on ABC evening news, in case you don't trust the Post. The ceremony was going along peachy-keen, with all sorts of preening by administration mouthpieces and military brass. Then, midway through, an announcement was made that the Sunni troops would be posted in Shi'ite areas because the thinking goes that mixing Sunni troops with Shi'ite will cut down on death squads.
A loud roar of protest immediately went up from the assembled soldiers, and dozens of them angrily ripped off their uniforms and flung them to the ground.
"U.S. military authorities, who issued a statement that on Sunday night that made no mention of the incident, gave a more subdued account of what happened."
--"Iraqis Begin Duty With Refusal," Washington Post, May 2, 2006.
In other words, if we say it didn't happen, it didn't happen.
Even those Iraqi army troops who do cooperate and follow orders, do so in secret. They go home by public bus, in civilian clothes, and they tell no one what they are doing. They fear murderous reprisals against their families for even appearing to cooperate with the Americans.
And if the Americans were to try and force-feed, say, Kurdish troops on a Sunni area, they would have a whole new war to fight.
How in the world are American Marines and army troops who are training the Iraqi army supposed to go about their jobs when they know full-well that the same techniques they are teaching these guys will then be used against them?
How in the world are they supposed to train people who they know hate them?
How are they supposed to arm and train men they can't trust?
Yes, there have been reported incidents of successful joint missions, and of American officers claiming that they would trust their Iraqi counterparts with their lives. But it all depends upon which part of the country the training is taking place. And the higher the rank of the military spokesman, the more likely they will be saying what they know they are supposed to say.
As my son says, "We stand them up for the media and tell them to smile . Then we go on about our business."
American troops have reported far more cases of Iraqi army troops running from firefights, standing back laughing when Americans hit a roadside bomb, and simply disappearing altogether from duty. I have also read too many cases where the Americans may like a given commander, only to lose him to murderous violence by enemies who would punish him for cooperating with the U.S. And the punishment is savage.
But for every genuine friend to America, there are just as many of those Iraqi army troops who will shake hands warmly with the Americans by day, and then sneak out by night to set the roadside bomb that will destroy them come dawn.
And what about the religious leaders who tell the Iraqi troops that if they cooperate with the Americans, they won't go to heaven? It is happening.
But, unlike the Iraqi army, our American Marines and army troops DO obey their commander-in-chief. And if he says, We must train the Iraqi army troops come hell or high water, then they do as they have been ordered.
Even if it kills them.
posted by Deanie Mills at 6:41 PM
2 Comments:
Absolutely correct.
I've got friends in our Military Police Corp scattered all over the country, pretty much, except some of the Western provinces and Kurdish areas. The best trainees are in Southern Iraq, where it's predominately Shi'ite. In Baghdad and Tikrit the trainees are about half and half. The more specialized the troop, the more loyal. The common soldiers often flee unless given more then the shake-and-bake course. I have, however, heard good things about the police, excluding those in and around Sadr City.
I'm glad you've heard some good things, M.P. (which I now think must be what you do rather than your name; so forgive an ignorant impertinence.)
I told my Republican husband that, truthfully? Even though I would have to eat most of my words, I really WANT this thing to work out. I WANT my son's sacrifices and the sacrifices of all you guys to COUNT for something. Every day I search for good news, for signs of progress--no matter how modest.
Back in the 60's, I refused to march with the war protesters because I had so many family and friends over there and I wanted some kind of resolution that would honor them. I feel that same way now, which is why I don't hang out down in Crawford with Cindy and the gang. Simplistic solutions just don't work.
If there are some good officers (other than Sadr City of course), then there is hope of rooting out the death squads and militias and maybe getting down to providing security for that miserable country, in time.
Semper fi,
Deanie
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