A Real good read

[gei]

Subject: A Marine's IMPORTANT SLANT ON THE WAR


>
> HERE IS NEWS THAT YOU WILL NEVER SEE IN THE US MEDIA AND YOU DON'T
> HAVE TO PLOW THROUGH ADVERTISING? THESE ARE MY HEROS, STRAIGHT OUT FACTS,
> NO UPPER EAST SIDE SPIN, JUST WHAT IT'S LIKE.
>
>
> This email from a Marine who's in Iraq. No politics here; just a
> Marine with
 a bird's eye view opinion:



>
> US Weapons:
>
> 1) The M-16 rifle:
 Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the
> talcum powder like sand over
there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you
> feel filthy 2 minutes after
coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine
> version is more popular because 
it's lighter and shorter, but it has
> jamming problems also. They lack the 
ability to mount the various optical
> gun sights and weapons lights on the
 pica tinny rails, but the weapon
> itself is not great in a desert environment.
They all hate the 556 mm (..223)
> round. Poor penetration on the cinder block 
structure common over there and
> even torso hits can't be reliably counted on
to put the enemy down.
>
> Fun fact: Random autopsies on dead insurgents show 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's
> fun in the middle 
of a firefight).

>
> 3) The M9 Beretta 9 mm:
 Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in
> desert environment; but they all hate
 the 9 mm cartridge. The use of
> handguns for self-defense is actually fairly
common.. Same old story on the 9
> mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in 
the fight.
>
> 4) Mossberg 12 ga.. 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 around 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
> .45's 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. It is definitely here to stay.

>
> 10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300
> win mag. Heavily modified Remington
 700's. Great performance. Snipers have
> been used heavily to great effect.
 Rumor has it a marine sniper on his
> third tour in Anbar province has actually 
exceeded Carlos Hathcock's 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 
IED's 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.
 We've
> all seen the videos.

>
> 13) Lights:
 Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal
> lights are Surefire's, 
and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban
> operations. Jordan
 carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved
> it. I can’t help but 
notice that most of the good fighting weapons and
> ordnance are 50 or more
 years old!! With all our technology, it's 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 AK47's. 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)
>
> 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
> Jordan 's area were in
 abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155 mm
> 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 readymade IED's 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 cinder blocks 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 122 mm
> rockets (with an 18 km range) are 
becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan 's
> NCO's lost a leg to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the
> wire." Jordan'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.




>
> 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. Let's
> just say they know better 
now.

>
> 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 
"rat 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 various "sacrifice
> squads."
>
> Most, however, are hardcore
 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.'s, the police forces, and the Army. They have had a 
massive spy and
> agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 
80's. 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 AK's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the
> defenses. They get mowed down like grass every time (see the M2 and M240
> above). 
Jordan's 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 
that's the end of that,
> more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to 
as Alpha Whiskey
> Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We have the laser guided 
ground-air thing
> down to a science.
>
> The fast movers, mostly Marine F-18's,
 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 facts:
The enemy death toll is supposedly between 45-50
> thousand. That is why we're 
seeing less and less infantry attacks and more
> IED, suicide bomber shit. The 
new strategy is just 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
> inflicting 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 can't 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 Iraqi's are a mixed bag.
> Some fight well; others aren't worth a
 damn. Most do okay with American
> support. Finding leaders is hard, but they 
are getting better. 


It is
> widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en masse, against 
the
> civilian population was a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were

> galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police forces
> went 
right up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential

> increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent
> attacks
 against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless
> fighters.


>
> Morale:
 According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high.
> They not only
 believe that 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, is that 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 and Syria. The Iranians and the Syrians just

> can't stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of
> course,
permanent US bases there).
>
> Anyway, that's it, hope you found it interesting.
>
>
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> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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>

 

[Lindy]

Re: A Real good read

Interesting piece, albeit a bit dated. The comment that it would never be reported in the mainstream media is interesting, because this exact piece, the source of which was never verified, was printed in the Washinton Times on November 21, 2005.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/nov/21/20051121-093501-9601r/

It's also a little suspicious. It comments on the M24 sniper rifle, which is not used by Marines. There are other reasons to doubt its authenticity.

A Google search on a phrase in that piece turns up 561 references.

 

[rero360]

Re: A Real good read

I agree Lindy, I was over there in late '06 most of '07 and all of the stuff he's talking about being new was old news when I got there i.e. EFPs and the like.

 

[gei]

Re: A Real good read

Someone emiled it to me yesterday, thought I would post it.