The Iraqi Army shows their stuff
A few days ago, the enemy conducted a coordinated, complex, and violent attack against the headquarters of one of the Iraqi Army companies in our sector. However, I think it is a fair bet that most people did not hear about it, even though some of our guys did find it mentioned obscurely in an article online.
The attack started with a HUGE explosion from a VBIED -- a flat-bed truck drove into the compound and detonated. After that, the AIF (our acronym for the enemy, since we have acronyms for everything, is AIF -- anti-Iraqi forces) stormed the compound. In the past, if the only thing you read is the major media, you would assume the sequence of events for one of these episodes to be: (1) big explosion to begin (2) RPG, rocket fire and small arms fire (3) IP/IA run away (4) AIF take over compound until we come and kill them.
However, this time something different happened. After the initial blast, instead of running away the Iraqi Army soldiers at the guard towers got up, returned to their posts and repelled the attack. When the AIF stormed the compound, they undoubtedly expected little resistance, and they were gunned down. In fact, the fighting was largely over by the time our guys got there.
We helped them out, make no mistake. We helped them exploit the defense of their headquarters and eventually apprehend some of the attackers and their equipment (to include a video camera that they used to film the attack -- useful to us in identifying the enemy KIAs as well as identifying individuals who were part of the attack and may have gotten away).
Now, why did this not make the news in a big way? Maybe because of the body count -- no friendly soldiers (Iraqi or U.S.) died in this incident. Big body counts make the news. Maybe because it wasn't in a big city, I don't know. But it was definitely newsworthy because Iraqi soldiers stood their ground in a situation where they may have fled in the past. And that is definitely a good thing.
Our exit strategy in this country centers around the ability of the Iraqi security forces to assume responsibility for the security of their country. This battle was a positive indicator that the Iraqi Army is developing into a competent fighting force.
Be safe, drink water.
Phil
The attack started with a HUGE explosion from a VBIED -- a flat-bed truck drove into the compound and detonated. After that, the AIF (our acronym for the enemy, since we have acronyms for everything, is AIF -- anti-Iraqi forces) stormed the compound. In the past, if the only thing you read is the major media, you would assume the sequence of events for one of these episodes to be: (1) big explosion to begin (2) RPG, rocket fire and small arms fire (3) IP/IA run away (4) AIF take over compound until we come and kill them.
However, this time something different happened. After the initial blast, instead of running away the Iraqi Army soldiers at the guard towers got up, returned to their posts and repelled the attack. When the AIF stormed the compound, they undoubtedly expected little resistance, and they were gunned down. In fact, the fighting was largely over by the time our guys got there.
We helped them out, make no mistake. We helped them exploit the defense of their headquarters and eventually apprehend some of the attackers and their equipment (to include a video camera that they used to film the attack -- useful to us in identifying the enemy KIAs as well as identifying individuals who were part of the attack and may have gotten away).
Now, why did this not make the news in a big way? Maybe because of the body count -- no friendly soldiers (Iraqi or U.S.) died in this incident. Big body counts make the news. Maybe because it wasn't in a big city, I don't know. But it was definitely newsworthy because Iraqi soldiers stood their ground in a situation where they may have fled in the past. And that is definitely a good thing.
Our exit strategy in this country centers around the ability of the Iraqi security forces to assume responsibility for the security of their country. This battle was a positive indicator that the Iraqi Army is developing into a competent fighting force.
Be safe, drink water.
Phil
posted at 2:08 PM
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