Posted on 05/14/2009 8:42:39 PM PDT by PeteePie
BAGHDAD -- Under the glare of a Humvee's headlights, Brad Blauser broke a sweat assembling a pediatric wheelchair as a small group of Iraqi soldiers observed quietly.
The idea was to train the Iraqis so that when the time came to distribute the wheelchairs, Blauser and the 20 or so U.S. soldiers who coordinated the giveaway could fade into the background as Iraqi troops presented 32 fully assembled wheelchairs to disabled children.
"We're trying to build rapport," said Staff Sgt. Craig Jackson, 34, of Pennsylvania, one of the squad leaders working with Blauser. "Show them that their government is trying to help its people."
But the mission in Fadhil, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad, showed quite the opposite. It raised questions that haunt U.S. troops as they prepare to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 30: When the Americans leave, how will the Iraqi forces behave? Will the billions of dollars and thousands of lives spent propping up and legitimizing the Iraqi government prove to have been a poor investment?
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Time will tell but I doubt the Post will tell you the truth about it.
And select their new dictator.
These people couldn’t survive without a leader that will dictate their every move. I give them six months after we leave and they will have another Saddam Hussein in place.
I have been saying this for more than two years, and I believe I will be vindicated in the long run, unfortunately.
Huh? That’s what the Iraqis have BEEN doing for the past couple of years. They couldn’t get that country running overnight!
Help me out here. Are you suggesting we give them time and they’ll get better at it or are you saying they’ve been behaving badly the past couple years, as the article illustrates?
I’m saying that the Iraqis started stepping up a couple of years ago. It will take some time before they are fully in control, but they’ve been doing pretty well, from what I’ve been able to tell, even with the very limited reportage from the MSM.
I hope you’re right but I have my reservations. I’m dissapointed that a group of their soldiers take no sense of duty or interest in helping others as they themselves have been helped as a culture, a people, and a country.
That country has no memory of a heritage in which they helped themselves, or were innovative. There have been three generations now that have ONLY known subjugation and terror, either from within by way of Sadaam and his lunatic sons, or without by way of al Queda and Iranian surrogates.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.