Iraqi forces may need years of preparation

[sabra]

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/world/12486474.htm

Iraqi forces may need years of preparation

HIT, Iraq - (KRT) - American Sgt. LaDaunte Strickland, sweat pouring down his face, stared at the four Iraqi soldiers sitting in the shade of a truck.

They were supposed to be helping Strickland and a group of U.S. Marines man a vehicle-control point, a basic operation in which troops hope to catch insurgents at traffic stops they set up quickly on the roadsides.

"Come on. Come on! Get up," said Strickland, 30, of Cleveland, stabbing a cigar in the air to make his point. "Damn, will you PLEASE get up!"
The Iraqis didn't stir. Without an interpreter - a common occurrence -the Iraqis didn't understand Strickland, no matter how loud he got.

Three weeks of patrols and interviews in restive Anbar province suggested that Iraqi security forces will need years of preparation before they're ready to take charge of the complex and violent tribal areas of western Iraq. President Bush has said repeatedly that U.S. troops will withdraw only when Iraqi troops are ready to take over.

[Journeyman]

1. Oh, yeah, it's the lack of an interpreter that causes the delays. . .

as though no one in an American uniform has ever played charades, and no Iraqi can possibly comprehend pantomime. Failure to understand a signal to stand isn't a failure to communicate -- it's a failure to give a damn.

"Just pay me -- dinar or dinero, dollars if it has to be -- and let me try to put my family's life back together."

Yeah. That's what most Iraqis want. Same as us all: Peace, a little food, a safe place to rest & raise children.

[redwitch]

2. An interpreter would help- charades only goes so far.

But you're right, people everywhere want the same things and really, they should have them.

[Robeson]

3. I wonder how many Americans would follow the orders of an invading...

...army in our country, as they jabbed their cigars in the air, cursing out orders to us? Not many, I'd bet.

[0007]

4. In other words the U.S. does not plan to ever leave those

14 military installations. The Iraqi soldiers are just shills and U.S. bait.

[AValdoux]

5. The Iraqi people...

...will defend Iraq when it is THEIR country again. Are these the same people who battled Iran for what 10 years?


AValdoux

[Maple]

6. This sounds like an old Irish trick

against the British. Play dumb, be lazy, always claim you don't understand even if you speak the language fluently, do everything very slowly, make every mistake possible, 'accidently' break things.

Passive resistance.

Drove the Brits nuts.

[achtung_circus]

7. Best explanation yet. nt