lennart
01-03-04, 13:55
...Tens of thousands are on the move now as the Pentagon carries out the largest rotation of forces in its history, relieving battle-weary soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait with fresh forces. By late March, 130,000 troops will be leaving Iraq and 105,000, including some of the 319th, will arrive. As many as 50% of these will be reservists or National Guard....
...The shock of deployment was even greater for veterans like Maritess Leyson, 37, a computer systems administrator from Chicago who describes her 18 years in the army reserves as a "hobby job". When the call came last November, the single parent was in a panic to try to soften the news for her three teenage children. Then she had to find them a home after her sister balked at taking them. "When it was time for me to go, it hit me like a brick wall, oh my goodness," she says. "It's scary, but I signed on the dotted line."
None of the reservists raises the possibility that they might be killed - their instructors do that for them. "If the Iraqis executed an ambush with any degree of efficiency some of you might not come home," says Major Shawn Marshall, after drill.
What he does not need to say is that the death toll in Iraq has been especially high for reservists, National Guard members and support units. There is no frontline in Iraq, and no zone of safety for non-combat forces. Most reservists and support units have not been trained for a guerrilla war - with lethal consequences.
They simply do not know how to fight. Some freeze in training exercises. At the firing range, they blast away, and the targets still stand. They were trained in technical skills, not combat capabilities.
"These people are what I call bullet magnets," says Colonel Rick Phillips, who is in charge of training. "What they find over there is that these kids aren't pulling the trigger. They are waiting to engage."...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1159141,00.html
Zodra de Iraakse rebellen dit door krijgen kan er een bloedbad volgen... En Irakis hebben ook internet.
Trouwens als de National Guard in Irak zit. Welk leger beschermt dan Amerika zelf :confused:
...The shock of deployment was even greater for veterans like Maritess Leyson, 37, a computer systems administrator from Chicago who describes her 18 years in the army reserves as a "hobby job". When the call came last November, the single parent was in a panic to try to soften the news for her three teenage children. Then she had to find them a home after her sister balked at taking them. "When it was time for me to go, it hit me like a brick wall, oh my goodness," she says. "It's scary, but I signed on the dotted line."
None of the reservists raises the possibility that they might be killed - their instructors do that for them. "If the Iraqis executed an ambush with any degree of efficiency some of you might not come home," says Major Shawn Marshall, after drill.
What he does not need to say is that the death toll in Iraq has been especially high for reservists, National Guard members and support units. There is no frontline in Iraq, and no zone of safety for non-combat forces. Most reservists and support units have not been trained for a guerrilla war - with lethal consequences.
They simply do not know how to fight. Some freeze in training exercises. At the firing range, they blast away, and the targets still stand. They were trained in technical skills, not combat capabilities.
"These people are what I call bullet magnets," says Colonel Rick Phillips, who is in charge of training. "What they find over there is that these kids aren't pulling the trigger. They are waiting to engage."...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1159141,00.html
Zodra de Iraakse rebellen dit door krijgen kan er een bloedbad volgen... En Irakis hebben ook internet.
Trouwens als de National Guard in Irak zit. Welk leger beschermt dan Amerika zelf :confused: