Wounded U.S. soldiers give an inside look at the Iraq insurgency

<snip>

Cpl. Richard Stayskal, a 22-year-old Marine from San Jose, Calif., arrived in Landstuhl Tuesday after being wounded by automatic weapon fire in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. “I just kind of froze, my body clenched in the fetal position. I fell to the ground," Stayskal said. Stayskal, a sniper, had been deployed to Ramadi to hunt down a "mad bomber," the unit's name for a man who had been seen planting roadside bombs targeted at U.S. and coalition forces.

With little warning, a group of 15 armed Iraqis descended on the lightly armed unit. The bullet that hit Stayskal ricocheted off his shoulder, through his lung and exited from his back. It came within inches of his heart and major arteries.

Countering the insurgency, Stayskal said, has been difficult for Marines on the ground. In his case, his unit was chronically short of ammunition, and his support unit got pinned down at the same time across town. The two units couldn't help each other. "They weren't giving us nearly enough ammunition for the situations out there. Everyone was running out. Everyone was grabbing each other's ammunition."

Knowing the enemy
The Marines and soldiers interviewed agreed that the organization of the insurgency was impressive. "We thought we would be up against guys, maybe one or two in a group," Garriman Woods said. Lance Cpl.Miguel Martinez said the precision of the enemy clearly showed the insurgency was not launched by "civilians or anything like that."

"We don't really know who our enemy is," the 21-year-old from Simi Valley, Calif., said. "The only way we know to shoot them is they have an AK-47 and they pretty much point it at us."

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4701323/

WTF!!!!!????

WTF?????????? :(

Short of body armor, short of ammo, no decent food, indequate medical care..."Help is on the way" Bush declared happily after he was selected... BAH!

:( :( :( :(

He was talking to the defense contractors, obviously.

That bastard sold out our troops to please his rich buddies. But how can we possibly be surprised by that? Hell, he sold out our entire COUNTRY for his cronies. :puke:

"It so peaceful here ... its nice to get away from Washington."

or at least they don't miss any meals.

They are there for reconstruction. And with the misinfo coming out of military headquarters, I wonder when the commanders will get their butts in gear and arm their troops for this war.

... Halliburton's Kellog Brown and Root. What a mess... no flak jackets, ammo shortages and rotten, cold food.



If you've not read this article in Santa Barbara Independent, you should....

http://independent.com/news/news906.htm

This is unfucking believable!Our poor troops! This is a halfassed, aWol* run war! Bring the troops Home!

there is only one ammo manufacturer left in the US and they are working 24/7 and still can't make enough for "live fire" training in the states. They are contracting with overseas manufacturer's to get more but that takes time.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001834393_ammo11.html from January! 2004 and it's just worse now I bet

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — The U.S. military's only plant making small-arms ammunition is running at near capacity, 4 million rounds a day, and the United States still is forced to look overseas and to the recreational industry for ammunition for troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and those training to deploy there soon.

Gen. Paul Kern, commander of the Army Materiel Command, said Friday that giving those units priority ensured they had enough small-arms ammunition. "Everyone else will have to pay the price" and wait for it, he said.

The increased demand for ammunition for combat shooting and intensified training has made deep inroads in the nation's war reserves of ammunition, Kern said.

When you need it in a time of war you are screwed.

USA! USA!

Rumsfeld is a firm believer in minimal force and Bush doesn't want to spend more money on Iraq because he remembers the public's negative reaction to the $87 billion request.

It talked about how the company that produces most of the ammo for our armed forces was running low on its stock, and was having to burn a little midnight oil to fill the orders. The longer this war goes on, the more attrition becomes a real factor.

Sounds like Viet Nam.

the multiple divisions of the Iraqi Army that all but dissolved before the US armored columns?

A hard fight was put up by many uniformed Iraqis against the initial invasion, but a majority of troops slipped into civvies and went home. The effect: Thousands of well-trained soldiers in and amongst the civilian occupation, fighting a partisan war. These aren't farmers and shopkeepers, these are military troops. The officers of which have 10 years of war with Iran to draw from for experience.

And we have a huge number of reservists whose experience amounts to a couple hundred hours of SOCOM II on playstation 2.

Thats an ugly formula, even if US troops DID HAVE ENOUGH FUCKING AMMO.

this is so bad.

from whole cloth. It's only natural.

But who do you think is doing the strategising and leading of these new enemies? Read the first-hand reports, our soldiers are facing a sophisticated disciplined resistance. Not a bunch of angry folks with shotguns.

When was the last time you went somewhere and encountered many people that did not think, talk or look like you? At that time did you bring a deadly force with you and did you think it plausible you would need to use it?

Then finally, at what time would believe AWOL would be at your side?

Sometimes people might want to believe in their own personal Truth before listening to others.

Blood for Blood
Guts for Guts

What the Hell
are we doing there

This whole stupid thing
is just fucking nuts :eyes:

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.' - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)"
http://www.miniluv.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=47

Btw, one good feeling for Nam and the Vets that served there is one of it's greatest values. To be able to learn from their experience so we don't have to go through all them same problems for all them years again.

Like when the Germans weren't getting supplies, not only are our troops not getting enough food or water, but they are not getting enough ammunition!
BRING THEM HOME! IMPEACH BU$HCO!

Our soldiers don't have adequate supplies and don't know who the enemy is (while it is clear that WE have become the enemy).

Neocons are America's enemy and they should be rounded up, charged, tried and convicted for their crimes against our country!!!

voted against because Bush wouldn't raise taxes on the rich to pay for it? Is Bushco stealing the troops amunition money?

The guys at Tyco have nothing on this bunch.

I used to know, who was in an engineering unit. His job was to work on infrastructure. He said that his unit was issued weapons but they were sent out into the field with no ammunition because they were non-combat troops. If someone shot at them, they could not shoot back, but had to call in the combat troops.

Was this common I wonder? And is it still common?

it was in the small/pico print -- easily overlooked.

This is shameful beyond belief. Meanwhile the UNpres has all the buckshot he needs for duck hunting with his buds in Crawford Texas.

"Mission Accomplished".

Since President Bush declared Iraq combat operations over in May 2003, nearly 3,000 servicemen and women have been wounded in action. More than half that number did not return to duty, reflecting the high number of combat casualties, and serious nature of injuries, from Iraq.

Might be, and might work. Stupid.

And police up that brass, we've still got unneeded Newt-generation aircraft left to build.

:grr:

I watched the rather harrowing audio slide show of interviews with wounded soldiers that was featured in this article. One of the statements that struck me as being so tragic was that of Spc. Aaron Coates. He felt that our presence in Iraq was necessary because of the extreme poverty he had witnessed and how he felt good about his involvement with the war because the Iraqi people obviously needed help. Spc. Gabriel Garriga was also taken aback at the levels of poverty in the country.

Evidently they are both unaware that it was US trade sanctions imposed on Iraq that created that poverty in the first place. The "help" that this country needed was not military intervention, but diplomatic mercy.

So basically decent young men like these are putting their lives at risk without the least understanding of what they're doing.

Boomer

IS part of the plan. As soon as they "grok" the scam, the fat lady can sing her aria.

Apparently, making bullets is one of them.

How hard can it be to make a bullet? There are no moving parts, only 3 or 4 ingredients.

This speaks volumes about the administration's incompetence, they honestly had no idea that the occupation would put them in this position. They did not plan for this contingency.

We can put a man on the moon, but we can't put troops on the ground with sufficient ammo. Wow.