Sadr City - New attack plan

Sooooooo-
I was listening to the Media which said that we (along with Iraqi Forces) will soon be attacking Sadr City (yes I know I didn't spell it right). The report says that all the men have been recruited to join the cities militia. Since the city is entirely combatants, couldn't we just carpet bomb the region and save time.

Just a thought

 

It's still a residential suburb as far as I know.
Any such operation would have to be approved by the Shiite dominated Iraqi government. Not very likely.

 

if it were any other situation I'd probably agree but since the concensus of the population in that particular region is chanting "kill kill kill de American" I say that it will be much easier to discern who is shooting at yo and therefore we lay carpet :up:

 

I think Bush is going to prove you wrong there. His patience has worn thin with Maliki. The man is either going to step up or find himself without a big brother to turn to.

 

People will join the militia and not be active members! They join out of fear of reprisals!
There are many good people who reside in Sadr City (formerly Saddam City).
The militia's view on people is that you are either with me or against.

 

If they say no then that get wacked, if they say yes.. we wack em. Sounds like a good time to move....

 

If it says a single Marine from so much as stepping on a rusty nail I hope they level the shithole and burn the ruble.

 

and we let that government exist!
Which is something they tend to forget!!

 

Not so easy to move when you are supporting a family of 15 or so since the family dynamics is much stronger there then here!

 

"if he runs, he's V.C...."

 

If he stands still, he is a well disciplined VC

 

same ol problem, not enough troops

 

Just change the rules of the game ie take the reigns off of those already there!
Just my opinion

 

If a Marine kills an insurgent he should be thanked not debriefed by a team of lawyers for 6 hours.

 

Exactly!!! As long as it was a good kill!!
Mistakes are made and that is a part of war, a soldier can't be afraid to pull the trigger or it could mean his and his fellow soldiers lives!!

Release many of the restrictions on the soldiers and leadership and see what happens. I think the outcome would be good!

Somehow the military and public has a flawed idea of what is expected, accepted and taboo in Iraq!! We tiptoe around to ensure we do not injure/hurt or however you will the culture.


Just my opinion

 

Sorry, Stefan, but most here don't think you guys on the ground in the trenches have a clue. Just ask them. Hope you guys get what you need to do your job and clean up that mess.

 

The guys on the ground should get everything they ask for. State of the Art Body armor should NOT be debated in Congress.

 

The outcome may very well be better than what we've had so far.

But why, in your opionion, is the pentagon and the administration maintaining the restrictions? Ignorance, political fear? And how much of a factor is the fear of the negative consequences of a visible, aggressive campaign that kills more bad guys but also more civilians yet still may not bring about lasting stability?

 

The Marines, soldiers, an airman kill a dozen or more insurgents every days and are not debriefed by lawyers except in the most questionable of circumstances. Who and how many the Americans kill isn't even a issue any more since it's only a drop in the bucket.

The kind of restrictions Americans have been is more in the "you can't go into that neighborhood because it's controlled by so and so Shiite militia" and "don't mess with so and so insurgent leader because his brother in law is so and so" type of Iraqi government imposed bureaucratic restriction. The type of restriction GWB was reffering to in his speech.

Americans will never be allowed to kill indiscriminately and those that do should and will be treated as criminals.

 

Tom, ignoring this gung-ho b.s. did you read the post I made in the troop surge thread about arrest procedures?

Perhaps those are the real repercussions of Abu Ghraib. In which case everyone here who said it wouldn't matter were completely wrong.

What the article also discusses that I didn't include is that the Iraqi courts are letting most of the Shiites who get arrested go free. These together are the restrictions that are worth discussing.