Neighborhood Message Boards in Baghdad
The Adventures of Chester - "For the Brothers Who Have Not Used Weapons Before, Please Take This Advice..."
Quote:
Zeyad at
Healing Iraq has a long post which excerpts posts from neighborhood message boards in Baghdad. I believe they are mostly Sunni neighborhoods. Talk about learning on the fly. Here's an excerpt:
Quote:
Abdul Rahman – Iraq:
For the brothers who have not used weapons before, please take this advice:
1- Check your weapon if you have not used it before. You can ask your neighbour to teach you how to attach the magazine and to load and fire. Do not be ashamed that it would be said you don’t know how to use a weapon, as many people have not had a chance to.
2- Choose the appropriate spot on your roof that can provide you with cover and make it hard for the enemy to target you.
3- It is best if every two families gather in one house when the alarm of an attack is raised to keep spirits high.
4- When you shoot, try to make it intermittent so you do not waste your ammunition. Be patient until more fighters arrive and your neighbours start shooting too.
5- You may feel fear upon using a weapon for the first time or that something bad would happen to you, but think of your family and what awaits them if you are hesitant. Keep your honour and your children in front of your eye, and remember that they have burnt children with kerosene.
6- Make sure that you have an extra magazine because in the midst of action you may take away your weapon and forget your extra magazine. It is preferred that you tape two magazines together. Ask your neighbours how to do that. Practice with it several times.
7- Fear of using weapons will disappear with the first shot. Do not hesitate to pull the trigger and concentrate on hitting the enemy.
Read the whole thing.
Al Qaeda's attacks on Sadr City last week seem to have set Baghdad ablaze. From the tenor of the message boards, the posters are all exchanging intelligence on militia movements (it's telling that they refer to the Mahdi militia as the "Antichrist" militia) and locations, and advice on small unit tactics...
More at the links...
Perhaps we should have done this from the start.
It's too bad they have to teach each other. If we had been in those neighborhoods, living there, organizing the people, registering weapons, training them to police their own neighborhoods, building REAL rapport and trust, perhaps we would be in a better situation then we currently are. I say good for them. The Iraqi police cant be trusted, and our senior leadership is unwilling to really get our hands dirty with the people. So now they'll take care of themselves. And in the end, align themselves with organizations like the militias and terrorist groups. Instead of with the Iraqi government and the Coalition forces. This is a tactical success that is on the fast track to strategic failure.
