U.S. Army creating jobs in Iraq's south

[Barrett808]

U.S. Army creating jobs in Iraq's south
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer

ABU TUBAR, Iraq - In a smoky room adorned with a few faded photos of religious leaders past, Maj. Jake Kulzer sits on a rug drinking Pepsi, a line of Iraqi men opposite him in dust-covered white robes, fingering prayer beads.

Kulzer, 34, of Minneapolis, left his body armor and helmet in his Humvee in a gesture of respect to his Iraqi hosts in this southern town.

The scene of American forces sitting casually with Iraqis is a rare sight in many parts of Iraq, especially in dangerous Baghdad and Anbar province, where the little that American troops see of the country is usually through bulletproof glass.

In the relative quiet of Shiite-dominated southern Iraq, the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division is moving forward with ambitious reconstruction efforts, planning to spend $15 million in a yearlong deployment compared to $2 million spent by the units it replaced over the previous 18 months.

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060823/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_life_in_the_south

[FlavaKreemSnak]

1. But aren't most of them jobs to kill other Iraqis?

They are always talking about how they are training all these Iraqis to be the new army and the new police or the new prison guards etc, but then the next thing we hear is that the ones that agreed to do it are getting killed by ones who are against the occupation, or that some of them changed their minds and wouldn't kill other Iraqis after all, or that the ones that did kill other Iraqis are getting killed with IEDs etc etc. And also I think we are giving jobs to some of them to find out who in their town is not only against the occupation but planning to fight back, and they get money for telling US troops about it. But then some of them also get killed when the Iraqis who are against the occupation find out who told on them.

[951-Riverside]

2. Wait a sec!

You mean they actually got this dope to take off his body armor, I hope this Kulzer bozo is acting alone because we're going to lose alot of men if this becomes the norm.