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| Iraq |
| U.S. Military Drills Adapt Amid Concerns |
| 2006-06-06 |
| Allegations that Marines killed unarmed men, women and children in Haditha are prompting questions about whether U.S. troops get proper training for a war against insurgents who walk freely among Iraqi civilians. The military has adapted its training, but troops say no one arrives in Iraq completely ready for the complexity and stress of a guerrilla war in which insurgents are loosely organized and fight with hit-and-run tactics on the streets of cities crowded with innocent bystanders. "Nothing is going to prepare you," Spc. Travis Gillette, a 26-year-old Army infantryman from Coldwater, Mich., said as he pulled deeply on a cigarette. "You can train up all you want, but you're not going to be prepared until you get here and mingle with the culture." The brass does try to prepare soldiers and Marines, though. From changes in boot camp, where recruits learn the basics of fighting in Iraq, to advanced training centers that teach commanders about urban insurgencies, the U.S. military has tailored its training at home for the mission in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Allegations that Marines killed unarmed men, women and children in Haditha are prompting questions about whether U.S. troops get proper training for a war against insurgents who walk freely among Iraqi civilians. Cause = Effect. The left doesn't get it anymore than their friends like the Paleos. This is why the Geneva Convention calls for combatants to wear distinctive clothing/markings so as to permit true civilians to attain a degree of protection in the conduct of war. This is why the Convention is NOT extended to those who do not comply with the requirement. This is why those captured on the battlefield end up in detention facilities like GITMO. This is why you also throw these a*holes into confinement when they routinely use civilians and 'protected' facilities [mosques, hospitals, schools] as protection and cover for their activities. This is not a game. |
| Posted by: Uloger Whease2177 2006-06-06 08:51 |
| #1 The Haditha investigation will not conclude until August, so let's give the speculation a rest. As for preparing troops for Iraq, this remains work in progress. Nothing matches the real thing, but training continues to be revise until it gets as close as possible. In other words, this is a meaningless hand wringing article. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-06 08:38 |