Article

2004-09-29 Iraq-Jordan

Lack of proper equipment hinders Iraqi border patrols

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Posted by Dan Darling 2004-09-29 1:19:24 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I tried unsucessfully to find the link from a couple of months ago where the Coalition was rebuilding 20 or so border stations from scratch - I think they were on the Syrian border. This Rooters story looks should be weighed against the information available at this link.

Posted by Super Hose 2004-09-29 2:22:19 AM|| 2004-09-29 2:22:19 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Rooters By Ed Cropley.

Glad you were there Ed. Or were you? Weren't you really safe at a bar in the green zone in Bagdad many many miles away. Isn't this all a pack of lies. How would we know either way? No picture of you with the folks you were interviewing. Just "quagmire" BS and racist, defeatist blather. What I said about you Mr Cropley is just as apt to be true since you have no pictures or other evidence to prove you were even there. Please forgive me for not trusting your liberal commie ass or reporting. OK.

Maybe some Marine will do us a favor and have a firearms "accident" right behind your ear.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2004-09-29 2:59:01 AM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2004-09-29 2:59:01 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 All visitors to Iraq are now meant to obtain visas in advance, to try to make it harder for foreign militants to enter the country.

Oh yeah, that'll put a wrench into their plans.

"Walid! We can't get a visa, so how in the hell are we going to get into Iraq to make jihad now?"

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2004-09-29 10:26:23 AM|| 2004-09-29 10:26:23 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 If Iraq's borders are so porous, why are most of the fighters either fresh Iraqi Shiite recruits for Sadr or Saddam's former security men trying to regain their former perks? The reality is that this is (mainly) a home-grown insurgency.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-09-29 11:20:58 AM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2004-09-29 11:20:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 ZF - sounds like there's a substantial number of non-Iraqi fighters....30-40% ?

Posted by Frank G 2004-09-29 11:23:58 AM|| 2004-09-29 11:23:58 AM|| Front Page Top

#6 More to the point, these border guards are pretty much just sentries. They're not expected to do any fighting. Giving these guys sophisticated equipment would be like casting pearls before swine, right before they sell it off to the mujahideen. The fact that these guys are getting little ammunition and equipment may also be an indicator that our GI's don't really trust them, but are too diplomatic to say so out loud.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-09-29 11:25:00 AM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2004-09-29 11:25:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#7 FG: ZF - sounds like there's a substantial number of non-Iraqi fighters....30-40% ?

Saddam's security apparatus numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Where the heck are they? I can't believe they all decided to actually work for a living. Many of the American commanders have indicated that most of the guerrilla dead are Iraqi fighters. If most of them were foreigners, why bother taking their dead with them? It's not like they would have any intelligence value for the coalition, given its inability to freely question people in Muslim countries.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-09-29 11:27:48 AM|| [http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2004-09-29 11:27:48 AM|| Front Page Top

#8 good points - I'm only conveying my understanding from reports....

Posted by Frank G 2004-09-29 11:33:27 AM|| 2004-09-29 11:33:27 AM|| Front Page Top

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