Article

2005-09-27 Iraq

Iraqi Sergeants and the Fate of the Nation

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Steve 2005-09-27 09:34|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 During the Six Days War Israel suffered more casualties at the hands of the Jordanian Army than in the Egyptian and Syrian fronts put together. But Jordania's NCOs are NOT the best of the Middle west (cf what Ralph Peters said about the skill, or lack of it of an elite Jordanian unit during the crushing of Palestinian rebellion).

Posted by JFM">JFM 2005-09-27 10:44|| 2005-09-27 10:44|| Front Page Top

#2 For some reason, why do I think it won't be terribly hard to convince Saddam-era NCOs that they are far more important, responsible and respectable than they thought.
NCOs just *hate* the idea of being important and valuable.

/extreme sarcasm

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-09-27 14:03|| 2005-09-27 14:03|| Front Page Top

#3 Well, the Jordanians used to have the best force in the region. They haven't seen combat in thirty-five years now, so it's all hypothetical, I suppose. But a certain degree of degradation in the Jordanian force has been noted since the days of the Arab Legion. Ken Pollack claims that the removal of the British officer cadres in the early Sixties had a significant effect on the Jordanian armed forces. They certainly didn't do so well against the Syrians in 1970 when Syria tried to intervene in favor of the Palestinian revolt.

As for the Iraqis being the worst in the region, the Iraqi corps on the Golan Heights admittedly did worse than the Syrians did in '73, who weren't any shining beacon of competence themselves. However, the extended warfare of the Iran-Iraq War knocked a lot of the stupid out of the Iraqi Army, and Iraq's twenty-five years of near-continuous war has given everyone involved more experience than anyone really needs.

The Syrians haven't had any real combat experience since the Israelis pulped them in the Bekaa over twenty years ago, and their brand of bootleg Soviet doctrine doesn't age well in peacetime. I'd hand the hypothetical laurel of ineptitude to the modern Syrian army.

Posted by Mitch H.">Mitch H. 2005-09-27 14:11|| http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/]">[http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/] 2005-09-27 14:11|| Front Page Top

#4 In 1970 Jordanians were busy with the Palestinians, so Israel sent a flight of four F4 Phantoms to overfly a Syrian column. The Syrians understaood the hint and withdrew. I haven't heard about Jordanians and Syrians firing at one another but I could be wrong.

Anyway we weren't talking about if the Jordanian Army was strong enough to cope with Syria because size is a factor, but who had the best quality. Just as the 1940 Finnish Army wasn't strong enough to defeat the Red Army but would have made mincemeat of it if sizes had been comparable.

Posted by JFM">JFM 2005-09-27 16:00|| 2005-09-27 16:00|| Front Page Top

00:02 C-Low
23:56 JosephMendiola
23:56 anon1
23:54 anon1
23:53 JosephMendiola
23:49 JosephMendiola
23:47 C-Low
23:44 Phil Fraering
23:32 asedwich
23:31 JosephMendiola
23:28 closedanger
23:13 Frank G
23:09 Alaska Paul
23:01 Sock Puppet OÂ´ Doom
22:55 Edward Yee
22:55 Whiskey Mike
22:53 Frank G
22:51 CrazyFool
22:49 MunkarKat
22:47 Frank G
22:46 DMFD
22:46 CrazyFool
22:41 Tony (UK)
22:40 DMFD