Posted on 04/18/2008 5:40:39 AM PDT by RWB Patriot
BAGHDAD - A company of government troops in Sadr City retreated when they came under attack from Shiite militiamen who used the cover of a sandstorm, police said Friday.
The clashes overnight killed two people and injured nine, a police commander said. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release the information, said it was unclear whether there were any casualties among the soldiers.
The reports of the latest setback for the Iraqi army come after government officials acknowledged that during fighting last month against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra, more than 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and police deserted or refused to fight.
The police officer said militiamen belonging to the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched their attack shortly before midnight on army positions in Sadr City, a sprawling slum area of some 2.5 million people in eastern Baghdad.
The company responsible for that section withdrew, abandoning their positions, including their command post in al-Nasir police station, he said.
The officer did not know exactly how many troops were involved. An Iraqi infantry company normally has 150 men but many in the field are undermanned and have only 80-90.
U.S. troops responded with artillery fire, but no helicopters or unmanned drones were sighted, the officer said. There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi or U.S. military.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity
Sorry crAP this is not credible.......
Crap was the comment when the Basra desertions was first reported by anonymous sources.
Turned out to be true.
i’m guessing this one will also be true.
After five years, if the Iraqi Army is not ready to take the lead, they'll never be ready.
The Continental militia had their moments, too.
Perhaps it will but it will have to come from a source other than “anonymous”.
I don’t really doubt it given the attitude toward military commitment in most Arab countries. But until they can quote someone on record given APs record I’ll just pass thank you....
More anonymous Iraqi sources? They have zero credibility. I’ll wait for confirmation from our troops.
- This position will be held and the Section will remain here until relieved.
- The enemy cannot be allowed to interfere with this programme.
- If the Section cannot remain here alive it will remain here dead, but in any case it will remain here.
- Should any man, through shell shock or any other cause, attempt to surrender he will remain here dead.
- Should all guns be blown out the Section will use Mills bombs and other novelties.
- Finally, the position as stated, will be held.
Lt. F P Bethune.
Australian Army
Of all the available people in the world, AP has to hire a disgruntled Serb to report on Iraq. What a bunch of maroons.
I have been in sand storms in Iraq, and and visibility can be a matter of feet and yards. If they were under heavy attack they might have indeed pulled back to more secure or stronger positions. So my question is did they abandon their positions or did they pull back under heavy fire to regroup? Articles like this are pure bullshit and second guessing commanders on the ground.
The fighting in Sadr City/Basra is probably not being covered by regular reporters it’s just too dangerous. My theory is that many of the major News outlets are using local ‘stringers’ for the most dangerous News gathering activities. This war has gone on long enough that most of those ‘stringers’ have been compromised. They’re working for the other side. Not saying that this is the case with the AP, but it wouldn’t surprise me either.
also Bigguy, from my overseas travels, and being in conversations with “correspondents” decades ago, many, many stories then were written downstairs in the cocktail lounges of their hotels with “facts” based upon conversations around the bar - with others doing the same.
Some of these guys/gals have been doing this kind of reporting for a long time.
Excellant point. Ive been in the Kompseens(sp) too and what you say is true. March can be windy as hell and with the dust its a mess.
As to the Iraqis not fighting...or joining the other side this wouldnt surprise me one bit.
If I remember 1993 correctly, The Iraqi Army has a long and proud tradition of retreat and surrender. Maybe we should ask the French for advice on how to train these guys.
Context is everything.
Green US formations have a simular history.
At the start of 2007, the IA was 125,000 in 36 Brigades.
Now they are 200,000 in 48 Brigades.
Six of those Brigades formed in the last six months.
The 11th Division in east Baghdad commisioned without full set of support forces in Nov 2007.
- It has two experienced Brigades,
the 4th (Rusafa-SW border of Sadr City) on loan from 1st Div and
42nd (Adhamiyah-NW border of Sadr City).
- It has two new Brigades,
43rd (Bayaa-commisioned Jan2008) on loan to 6th Div and
44th (Sadr City-commisioned Dec2007).
Can you guess which Brigade the reporters are concentrating on?
Can you guess which Brigade JAM is targeting because they are green?
40 percent of the current Iraqi Army is less than a year old. They are training 118,000 new personnel per year and expanding that to 130,000 this year. By comparison, the US Army trains 89,000 per year to maintain its active force. It takes a over a decade to build a good SNCO or field grade officer. They haven’t had five years.
Context is everything.
The opening months of the Korean War saw GI's in headlong retreat in battle after battle. The introduction of Chinese troops into the Korean theater saw a similar development. These were entire divisions running pell mell. Guess what? In the end, the lines stabilized, and our boys whacked a million Chinese troops.
I don't think you can conclude much of anything from a couple of Iraqi companies bailing. That's assuming the report is accurate, which is a big assumption, given the current practice among reporters of slanting news reports to fit their ideological world views. Heck, I even saw a Telegraph news report some months back by a British reporter in Afghanistan who portrayed GI's maneuvering out of an ambush as cowards fleeing the line of battle. These intermediate news reports a few days into a battle mean nothing. Even minor battles take months to resolve.
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