It's good to see some positive news.. I'm sick of reading all of the negative over there. Thanks for sharing and for your dad's friend's son there.
On 12/1/05, Tony <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > to all my peeps of the cf-community... this is from one of my > dad's vietnam friends who has a son that recently came home > and had a talk with his dad about what is/was going on over there. > > READ: 1 degree of separation from this story to me. It's 100% legit > the dude is one of my dad's friends from his Army unit from Vietnam > > Anyway, its a REAL account of whats going on over there... this is > not from a forward, this is not from anyone i do not know myself. this > is real. The only thing I did to the story was change his name to > Michael to protect his anonymity. > > the real deal in iraq: weapons, zarqawi, morale and the media. > > 1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the > talcum powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Michael > says > you feel filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 > carbine version is more popular because its lighter and shorter, but > it > has jamming problems also. They like the ability to mount the various > optical gun sights and weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the > weapon itself is not great in a desert environment. They all hate the > 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on the cinderblock structure > common over there and even torso hits cant be reliably counted on to > put the enemy down. Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents > shows > a high level of opiate use. > > 2) The M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light > machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of shit. > Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. > (that fun in the middle of a firefight). > > 3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert > environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns > for self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: > Bad guys hit multiple times and still in the fight. > > 4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for > clearing houses to good effect. > > 5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal. belt fed machine gun, > developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that > was!!). > Thumbs up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts em down. > Originally developed as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are > being dismounted and taken into the field by infantry. The 7.62 round > chews up the structure over there. > > 6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. Ma deuce is > still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight > stopper, puts their dicks in the dirt every time. The most coveted > weapon in-theater. > > 7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there. > Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands > on > one. With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put em down with > a torso hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol > work) use the HK military model and supposedly love it. The old > government model .45s are being re-issued en masse. > > 8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a > modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include > lightweight > Kevlar stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in > the sandy environment, and they love the 7.62 round. > > 9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range > and accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take > out > vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and > barricaded enemy. Definitely here to stay. > > 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 > win > mag. Heavily modified Remington 700s. Great performance. Snipers have > been used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper > on > his third tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos > Hathcocks > record for confirmed kills with OVER 100. > > 11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs. > and can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will > stop an AK-47 round. The bad news: Hot as shit to wear, almost > unbearable in the summer heat (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, > the enemy now goes for head shots whenever possible. All the bullshit > about the old body armor making our guys vulnerable to the IEDs was a > non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and body armor doesn't > make any difference at all in most cases. > > 12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular > performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very > little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being > whacked at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. Weve all > seen the videos. > > 13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights > are Surefires, and the troops love em. Invaluable for night urban > operations. Michael carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and > loved > it. > > I cant help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and > ordnance are 50 or more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology, > its > the WWII and Vietnam era weapons that everybody wants!!!! The infantry > fighting is frequent, up close and brutal. No quarter is given or > shown. > > Bad guy weapons: > > 1) Mostly AK47s . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in > the > desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills reliably. PKM > belt > fed light machine guns are also common and effective. Luckily, the > enemy mostly shoots like shit. Undisciplined spray and pray type fire. > However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially > sniper rifles. (Iran, again) Fun fact: Captured enemy have apparently > marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They > are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on > technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for > their > lack of toughness. Lets just say they know better now. > > 2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys.. > Simple, reliable and as common as dogshit. The enemy responded to our > up-armored humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank > range. Still killing a lot of our guys. > > 3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet > anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in > Michaels area were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 > 155mm > artillery shells and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell > phone, and the explosions are enormous. You're not safe in any > vehicle, > even an M1 tank. Driving is by far the most dangerous thing our guys > do > over there. Lately, they are much more sophisticated shape charges > (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the > ready made IEDs are supplied by Iran, who is also providing terrorists > (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in their use and tactics. > That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately. Their concealment > methods are ingenious, the latest being shape charges in Styrofoam > containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter all > Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb > disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war. > > 4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets > (with an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Michael's > NCOs > lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage inside the > wire. > Michael's base was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar > and > rocket fire, often at night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause > fatigue > (It did). More of a psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy > mortar teams would jump out of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then > haul ass in a matter of seconds. > > 5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective. Most communication is by > cell and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use > handheld GPS units for navigation and Google earth for overhead views > of our positions. Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. > Their explosives and bomb technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision > is rare. They are very careless with their equipment and the captured > GPS units and laptops are treasure troves of Intel when captured. > > Who are the bad guys?: > > Most of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They > operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are > mostly foreigners, non-Iraqi Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the > Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter Iraq through Syria(with, of > course, > the knowledge and complicity of the Syrian govt.) , and then travel > down the at line which is the trail of towns along > the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few > months. > Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as > suicide bombers or in sacrifice squads. Most, however, are hard core > terrorists from all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas > etc.) These are the guys running around murdering civilians en masse > and cutting heads off. The Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are > supposedly the most ruthless and the best fighters. (they have been > fighting the Russians for years). In the Baghdad area and south, most > of > the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led) Iraqi Shiites. The > Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local > govt., the police forces and the Army. The have had a massive spy and > agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80s. Most > of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago. > > Bad Guy Tactics: > > When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their asses kicked > every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges were very > common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally > sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming > and firing Aks and RPGs directly at our bases just to probe the > defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time. ( see the M2 and > M240 above). Michaels base was hit like this often. When engaged, they > have a tendency to flee to the same building, probably for what they > think will be a glorious last stand. Instead, we call in air and thats > the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as > Alpha Whiskey Romeos (Allahs Waiting Room). We have the laser guided > ground-air thing down to a science. The fast movers, mostly Marine > F-18s, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When caught > out > in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships cut > them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night. > Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all. Fun fact: The enemy > death toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why were > seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber > shit. The new strategy is simple: attrition. > > The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian > non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian > casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques > are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and > ammo and flee to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard > whatsoever for civilian casualties. They will terrorize locals and > murder without hesitation anyone believed to be sympathetic to the > Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping of family members > (especially children) is common to influence people they are trying to > influence but cant reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, > tribal leaders, etc.). > > The first thing our guys are told is don't get captured. They know > that > if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on the internet. > Zarqawi > openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live American > serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't > give a shit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were > actually > kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our > guys, every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option. > > The Iraqis are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a > shit. Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but > they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawis use of > suicide bombers, en masse, against the civilian population was a > serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqis were galvanized and the caliber > of recruits in the Army and the police forces went up, along with > their > motivation. It also led to an exponential increase in good intel > because the Iraqis are sick of the insurgent attacks against > civilians. > The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters. > > According to Michael, morale among our guys is very high. They not > only > believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They > are stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom > they almost universally view as against them. The embedded reporters > are despised and distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate > of 20-1 and then see shit like Are we losing in Iraq on TV and the > print media. For the most part, they are satisfied with their > equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line though, and they all say > this, there are not enough guys there to drive the final stake through > the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there aren't enough > troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran ands yria. The > Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of Iraqb eing an > American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there). > > Anyway guys, that's it, hope you found it interesting, I sure did. > > -- > ....tony > > Tony Weeg > tonyweeg [at] gmail [dot] com > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:185124 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
