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Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: Attero Dominatus on March 28, 2008, 09:33:31 AM

Title: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides
Post by: Attero Dominatus on March 28, 2008, 09:33:31 AM
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babylonsister  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 07:29 AM
Original message
Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides
   
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Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides


Mehdi Army fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr hold their weapons while flashing the V sign in Basra-James Hider in Baghdad


Abu Iman barely flinched when the Iraqi Government ordered his unit of special police to move against al-Mahdi Army fighters in Basra.

His response, while swift, was not what British and US military trainers who have spent the past five years schooling the Iraqi security forces would have hoped for. He and 15 of his comrades took off their uniforms, kept their government-issued rifles and went over to the other side without a second thought.

Such turncoats are the thread that could unravel the British Army’s policy in southern Iraq. The military hoped that local forces would be able to combat extremists and allow the Army to withdraw gradually from the battle-scarred and untamed oil city that has fallen under the sway of Islamic fundamentalists, oil smugglers and petty tribal warlords. But if the British taught the police to shoot straight, they failed to instil a sense of unwavering loyalty to the State.

“We know the outcome of the fighting in advance because we already defeated the British in the streets of Basra and forced them to withdraw to their base,” Abu Iman told The Times.
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“If we go back a bit, everyone remembers the fight with the US in Najaf and the damage and defeat we inflicted on them. Do you think the Iraqi Army is better than those armies? We are right and the Government is wrong. {Nouri al} Maliki {the Iraqi Prime Minister} is driving his Government into the ground.”

The reason for his apparent switch of sides was simple: the 36-year-old was already a member of the al-Mahdi Army which, like other militias, has massively infiltrated the British-trained police force in the southern oil city. He claimed that hundreds of others from the 16,000-strong force have also defected to the rebels’ ranks.Abu Iman joined the new Iraqi police force after the invasion, joining the Mugawil, a special police unit infamous for brutality, kidnapping and sectarian murders.

more...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/articl...

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hobbit709  Donating Member  (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 07:33 AM
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1. But Fearless Leader tells us that we're winning.
   
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we are winning you idiot.

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Supersedeas  (1000+ posts) Journal  Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 09:45 AM
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5. returning Iraq to normal
   
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Ordr  (495 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 10:19 AM
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7. We might be the dumbest invaders ever.
   
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:bird:
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched si
Post by: jukin on March 28, 2008, 11:35:05 AM
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Ordr  (495 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 10:19 AM
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7. We might be the dumbest invaders ever.
   
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This blind squirrel DUmbass might be right.  IMHO, we should have gone in and flattened Najaf and other strongholds of the militias with prejudice.
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched si
Post by: Chris_ on March 28, 2008, 03:52:05 PM
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Ordr  (495 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 10:19 AM
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7. We might be the dumbest invaders ever.
   
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This blind squirrel DUmbass might be right.  IMHO, we should have gone in and flattened Najaf and other strongholds of the militias with prejudice.
We should have sprayed all our ammo, bombs and missiles with pig blood and announced that fact, complete with broadcasting the process on TV, etc.
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides
Post by: Airwolf on March 28, 2008, 10:03:33 PM
The Military loves nothing better then a target rich enviroment. I could care less for traitors of any kind. They play that game then they pay the price.
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched si
Post by: jukin on March 28, 2008, 11:28:52 PM
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Ordr  (495 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 10:19 AM
Response to Original message
7. We might be the dumbest invaders ever.
   
   Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top

This blind squirrel DUmbass might be right.  IMHO, we should have gone in and flattened Najaf and other strongholds of the militias with prejudice.
We should have sprayed all our ammo, bombs and missiles with pig blood and announced that fact, complete with broadcasting the process on TV, etc.

Oh but for a Black Jack Pershing in these days.
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched si
Post by: Airwolf on March 28, 2008, 11:40:38 PM
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Ordr  (495 posts) Click to send private message to this author  Click to view this author's profile  Click to add this author to your buddy list  Click to add this author to your Ignore list      Fri Mar-28-08 10:19 AM
Response to Original message
7. We might be the dumbest invaders ever.
   
   Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top

This blind squirrel DUmbass might be right.  IMHO, we should have gone in and flattened Najaf and other strongholds of the militias with prejudice.
We should have sprayed all our ammo, bombs and missiles with pig blood and announced that fact, complete with broadcasting the process on TV, etc.

Oh but for a Black Jack Pershing in these days.

Or better yet, a few Pershing II missiles and the nukes they had with them.
Title: Re: Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides
Post by: SSG Snuggle Bunny on March 29, 2008, 06:02:37 AM
Are these the same ass nuggets that were caterwauling over the years that we never should have disbanded the Iraqi army?

You know the one whose officer corps was based on political loyalty to Saddam as opposed to any real military efficacy.