Iraqi troops protest after graduation parade

[struggle4progress]

HABBANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Newly graduated Iraqi soldiers protested after a passing out parade on Sunday saying they were promised they would serve only in their hometowns ...

Some took off their shirts and threw them down in anger. Others yelled at their officers and threatened to quit. One officer yelled back, telling them to leave, witnesses said ...

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/5/1/worldupdates/2006-05-01T040541Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_-247172-1&sec=Worldupdates

[msongs]

1. for this thousands of americans died. time to go eh? nt

[lonestarnot]

2. Oh what's this you say??? Military doesn't keep their PROMISES?

BBBBBWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAA :rofl:

[alfredo]

3. The green weenie.

I do remember the promises they made when I joined. I remember the pictures of the beautiful brick barracks they showed me. When I got there my barracks was awful. No insulation. the exterior boards had shrunk to the point where you could see outside through the boards. In the morning you'd have to brush the snow off the floor and footlocker.

The plumbing in the latrine broke and the floor was dug up. The urinal had months old urine in it, and so did the hole in the floor. You had to press up against the wall and edge your way along the muddy strip of floor to the shower and toilets. Because the exterior boards had shrunk, rain and snow could come through. That made the floor slippery. Don't know if any fell in, but it was rather perilous when making your way after a hard night of drinking.

[rocktivity]

4. GOOD NEWS!

Iraqi military leaders already showing results of U.S. training!

:party: (This thread is part of the George Bush GULF WAR GOOD NEWS initiative.)
rocknation

[Igel]

5. Truly, they showed themselves to be steel-hearted warriors.

Were they upset they'd be away from mommy, upset that they wouldn't be the Big Men in Boonies, they wouldn't hook up (in any sense you desire) with their old buddies in the resistance, or that they might be corrupted by exposure to Those of Pagan viz. Non-Anbarish Ways? Or possibly actually be asked to obey orders?

Gee, so many things that real men are properly terrified of ...

When loyalty to one's low-level clan is matched only by loyalty to a supranational ideal, there's no room for loyalty to a nation.

[stillcool]

6. .........

Slow pay for Iraq troops fuels problems

BAGHDAD, April 30 (UPI) -- For soldiers in Iraq's 7th Army Division, the most popular American may be the Marine from Camp Pendleton who delivers their pay.

Because the Iraqi Defense Ministry lacks an effective disbursement system, Marine officials say Iraqi soldiers are routinely paid late, sometimes waiting as long as six months. The lag time fuels desertion, with rates running as high as 40 percent among some units.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060430-015113-3444r

The Times May 01, 2006
Militias steal new recruits with better pay and perks
By Daniel McGrory
Iraq'a militias are growing in strength, attracting many recruits from the US-run police academy
Soon after he graduated near the top of his class at the American-run police academy, Alah defected. He did not bother to inform his superiors. The young Iraqi police officer simply walked into a recruitment office in a rundown neighbourhood of Baghdad and signed on for the Mahdi Army, the private militia run by the radical young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that has been blamed for some of the most savage atrocities in this city in recent weeks.

The 23-year-old absconder described it as “a career move”. The pay was better, the duties less onerous and there was far less chance of being killed.

Three years after President Bush declared “mission accomplished” in Iraq, young gunslingers such as Alah are what passes for the law across much of this city today.

Nobody knows for sure the strength of Iraq’s militias, but they certainly outnumber the 120,000-strong police force that estimates it is losing several hundred recruits a month. This is the only country where police and soldiers have it written into their contracts that they can leave on a whim without being punished.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2159349,00.html

[One Honest Guy]

7. Yeah, exactly!

I mean, you Ay-rakies signed up to be a loyal quisling subjects, now whaz the problem? :sarcasm:

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[daleo]

10. I doubt if puppet troops ever take the job very seriously

I think they see it as a way to make some money, and maybe help the resistance on the sly to boot out invaders. It must be a hell of a tightrope to walk, though. Once the U.S. leaves, they will be considered more than a bit suspect by whichever faction prevails.

[Igel]

11. Many of Saddam's didn't either.

A lot of them melted away, taking their weapons, ammo, and uniforms with them.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

[daleo]

12. Perhaps they melted away, to fight another day

We really don't know that much about the makeup of the resistance.

[RamboLiberal]

9. WPost has picked up the story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050100854.html

<snip>

While the fracas fell well short of outright mutiny -- there were no reports of officers coming to harm, and the soldiers ate a meal in an orderly manner later that day -- a video clip of the graduation aired on the al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya television networks on Monday gave the impression of a near-riot.

The clip showed what appeared to be dozens of angry, shouting troops ripping off their desert-camouflage uniforms and throwing them in the air or on the ground. Others shook their fists in the direction of the camera, as Iraqi officers, waving their arms, attempted to stop the tumult. In the background, most soldiers simply milled around, looking confused about what was taking place.

<snip>

Graduation ceremonies also appear to have been particularly troubled. In late 2003, according to Kalev Sepp, a retired Special Forces officer who has advised U.S. commanders in Iraq, U.S. trainers of one Iraqi unit so distrusted their students that they carried loaded pistols at a graduation ceremony in case of a mutiny.