Reading The Pictures: The Mighty U.S. Trained And Supported Iraqi Army

If the U.S. general public was tuning in at all to the current goings-on in Iraq, this image alone could blow a major hole in the administration's rationale for being there.

After $22 billion spent training the Iraqi army, how does Team Petraeus justify the sight of Iraqi Security forces -- within days of launching an all-out attack on the Mahdi -- turning over their weapons to officials of Muqtada al-Sadr in exchange for Korans and olive branches?

And by the way, even if few Americans ever see the picture of these forty soldiers giving it up, you can bet (if you notice the guy taking video) that the Iraqi public is getting an eye full.

After years of effort, Iraqi army still can't 'stand up' (Star-Telegram/AP)
Cleric Suspends Battle in Basra by Shiite Militia (NYT)
The BAGnewsNotes Iraq Civil War posts

(image: Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images. Sadr City. March 30, 2008. nytimes.com)

Follow Michael Shaw on Twitter: www.twitter.com/bagnewsnotes

Comments

[Metacortex]

This pic doesn't show anything. Video would be more appropriate. Assuming the description is accurate, it only underscores the stupid mentality of the Bush admin., like a boyscout trying to help an old lady across the street only to find her beating him to death along the way and screaming she doesn't want across the street. Face it - the Iraqis want their own identity, not to be Iraqi-americans. Toppling Saddam was NOT in US interests and remaining in Iraq under non-negotiable terms with Iran is simply unrealistic. The Bush admin simply can't admit they f*cked up 5 years ago and persistent denial has become their foreign policy strategy.

ala, Dead Iraqi policy sketch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTSAFcLXqYY&feature=related

[thatvisionthing]

On the list of powerful things, guns are not at the top.

My idea on how this war -- US -- could have been stopped before we ever got started was if the Iraqis had set up GUNLESS marches with posters of their children and signs that said "You are not the boss of me." Take pictures of that, beam that around the world, and then let the world see it for what it is when George Bush attacks soverign people and defenseless children in their home.

Bush's "perception management" has turned things inside out, where we kill the people to free the people, where we the people here are willing to support candidates and policies that kill them the people there. It's tragic. The world was watching the Iraqis. Saddam had offered to debate George Bush. The whole thing could have been laid out for all sides to hear. We still don't know the people we're killing. And when things go so terribly badly, who even thinks of turning to the Constitution and the principles of reason among people everywhere to right this busted ship? All we have to do is pledge allegiance and salute the cross and we're still us, right? God blesses us and not others, right? It's 3 a.m., Higher Father on the line...

[Synoia]

After $22 billion spent training the Iraqi army, how does Team Petraeus justify the sight of Iraqi Security forces?

Beacuse the government can't do anything right.

And, becuase a mercenary, that is paid, US Military does not want to loose their funding? And, because with two year rotations in a job, which is the senior military pogram, no one is interested in achieving masurable goals, just keeping thier nose clean, aka "It was all right on my watch"

Systemically Corrupt & Systemically Incompetant?

[Paul]

Puppet government, puppet army.

[hopeless277]

You do have to admit that at least he's 'standing up' as he surrenders his weapons. Maybe that's all they were told they had to do.....sta­nd up.

[emerywood]

The argument for staying the course is a strange one : Now that we are there.....­... .
If only people would believe and respect that in marriage. Surely, there must
be a better explanation for not quitting a wrong war !

[wiseapple]

They only know to fight for their religious beliefs, and they have been doing it for centuries. We have thought we could train them to defend a democratic form of government, and they don't have the discipline or conviction to do that- they have never had a democratic form of government, they don't know the benefits of such government, thus find no reason to give up their lives for the sake of the invaders and their corporate leeches to maintain such a government that only looks weak in their eyes. Whose bright idea was this invasion anyway?

[jdbid1]

We can train our own combat troops in six months and send them off to war in a foreign land where they perform spectacularly. But for five years we haven't been able to train any substantial number of troops in their own country. And many of the ones we do train wind up taking off their uniforms, keeping their weapons and turning them on our troops. We need to get the hell out of there now!

[csavage]

Well said.....b­ut then again, Americans have a sense of nationhood of 230 years duration. Iraqis can trace their nationhood back to the end of the first World War-by the pen of the colonial powers that dominated the region, France and England. Then the Brits came back in '29 and stayed 30 years!

[SonnyBono]

"We can train our own combat troops in six months and send them off to war in a foreign land where they perform spectacularly. " - true enough but the US Army has professional NCOs in place and a funtioning command structure - we train individual soldiers to plug into existing combat formations where they are surrounded by trained and experienced soldiers and non-commissioned officers. Not to mention the supply channels and all the other behind the scenes necessary logistics that are essential to any organization.

We haven't accomplished anything in Iraq with the army because we have had idiots and morons at the helm - and no career officer is going to waste his time doing something when no one in the chain of command is interested in it. When Germany was reunited, the West German government sent thousands of experts into the East to help with reunification - when we invaded Iraq, we sent nine individuals who were all vetted for their loyalty to Bush not ability. It has been a bad plan - very badly executed by unqualified drones with no follow through.

During the Korean War, the South Korean army was a mess in 1950 but they became a real army - it took a lot of time, hard work and the commitment to make it happen. The Bush administration has always wanted to make war on the cheap - I guess you can call them the ADD warriors. Unfortunately, the rest of us wind up

[DumbDad]

Just think what those pictures of McCain with 'Pastor' John Hagee look like to any educated Iraqi! Our leaders are idiots.

[Hollyse]

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want...... The USA is certainly getting a lot of experience since we aren't getting the oil!

[calirighty]

Do you even know where we get our oil? I didn't think so.