Iraq - What works and what doesn't

Iraq - What works and what doesn't
Weapons matter to the men over there. What works under military conditions matters too. That means mud and dust. The only effective testing is the real thing because peace time tests can be rigged and are. The M16 was supposed to be sorted during Vietnam. It isn't decades later.

 

WEAPONS REPORT FROM BATTLE FIELD IRAQ
Supplied by U.S. Military Member Whose Identity I Am Protecting

The following is another in a continuing series of on-scene reports directly from U.S. Military members inside Iraq.

The Hal Turner Show offers these messages uncensored, unedited and without editorial comment.
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Weapons report from Iraq:
What works and what doesn't.

1) The M-16 rifle : Thumbs down. Chronic jamming problems with the talcum  powder like sand over there. The sand is everywhere. Jordan says you feel  filthy 2 minutes after coming out of the shower. The M-4 carbine version is  more popular because it's lighter and shorter, but it has jamming problems  also. They like the ability to mount the various optical gun sights and  weapons lights on the picattiny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a  desert environment. They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round. Poor penetration on  the cinder block structure common over there and even torso hits can't be  reliably counted on to put the enemy down.  
Fun fact: Random autopsies on  dead insurgents show a high level of opiate use.  

2) The M249 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine  gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of chit. Chronic jamming  problems, most of which require partial disassembly (that's fun in the middle  of a firefight).  

3) The M9 Beretta 9mm: Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in desert  environment; but they all hate the 9mm cartridge. The use of handguns for  self-defense is actually fairly common. Same old story on the 9mm: Bad guys  hit multiple times and still in the fight.  

4) Mossberg 12ga. Military shotgun: Works well, used frequently for  clearing houses to good effect.  

5) The M240 Machine Gun: 7.62 Nato (.308) cal belt fed machine gun,  developed to replace the old M-60 (what a beautiful weapon that was!!). Thumbs  up. Accurate, reliable, and the 7.62 round puts 'em down. Originally developed  as a vehicle mounted weapon, more and more are being dismounted and taken into  the field by infantry. The 7.62 round chews up the structures over there.  

6) The M2 .50 cal heavy machine gun: Thumbs way, way up. "Ma deuce" is  still worth her considerable weight in gold. The ultimate fight stopper, puts  their "censored" in the dirt every time. The most coveted weapon in-theater.  

7) The .45 pistol: Thumbs up. Still the best pistol round out there.  Everybody authorized to carry a sidearm is trying to get their hands on one.  With few exceptions, can reliably be expected to put 'em down with a torso  hit. The special ops guys (who are doing most of the pistol work) use the HK  military model and supposedly love it. The old government model .45's are  being re-issued en masse.  [ Not that impressive when I used it but the round looks good - Editor ]

8) The M-14: Thumbs up. They are being re-issued in bulk, mostly in a  modified version to special ops guys. Modifications include lightweight Kevlar  stocks and low power red dot or ACOG sights. Very reliable in the sandy  environment, and they love the 7.62 round.


9) The Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle: Thumbs way up. Spectacular range and  accuracy and hits like a freight train. Used frequently to take out vehicle suicide bombers ( we actually stop a lot of them) and barricaded enemy.  Definitely here to stay.  

10) The M24 sniper rifle: Thumbs up. Mostly in .308 but some in 300 win  mag. Heavily modified Remington 700's. Great performance. Snipers have been  used heavily to great effect. Rumor has it that a marine sniper on his third  tour in Anbar province has actually exceeded Carlos Hathcock's record for confirmed kills with OVER 100.  

11) The new body armor: Thumbs up. Relatively light at approx. 6 lbs. and  can reliably be expected to soak up small shrapnel and even will stop an AK-47  round. The bad news: Hot as chit to wear, almost unbearable in the summer heat  (which averages over 120 degrees). Also, the enemy now goes for head shots  whenever possible. All the bullchit about the "old" body armor making our guys  vulnerable to the IED's was a non-starter. The IED explosions are enormous and  body armor doesn't make any difference at all in most cases.  

12) Night Vision and Infrared Equipment: Thumbs way up. Spectacular performance. Our guys see in the dark and own the night, period. Very  little enemy action after evening prayers. More and more enemy being whacked  at night during movement by our hunter-killer teams. We've all seen the  videos.  

13) Lights: Thumbs up. Most of the weapon mounted and personal lights are  Surefire's, and the troops love 'em. Invaluable for night urban operations.  

Jordan carried a $34 Surefire G2 on a neck lanyard and loved it. I cant  help but notice that most of the good fighting weapons and ordnance are 50 or  more years old!!!!!!!!! With all our technology, it's the WWII and Vietnam era  weapons that everybody wants!!!!
The infantry fighting is frequent, up close  and brutal. No quarter is given or shown.  

Bad guy weapons:

1) Mostly AK47's . The entire country is an arsenal. Works better in the desert than the M16 and the .308 Russian round kills  reliably. PKM belt fed light machine guns are also common and effective.  Luckily, the enemy mostly shoots like chit. Undisciplined "spray and pray"  type fire. However, they are seeing more and more precision weapons,  especially sniper rifles. (Iran, again)
Fun fact: Captured enemy have  apparently marveled at the marksmanship of our guys and how hard they fight. They are apparently told in Jihad school that the Americans rely solely on  technology, and can be easily beaten in close quarters combat for their lack of toughness. Let's just say they know better now.  

2) The RPG: Probably the infantry weapon most feared by our guys. Simple,  reliable and as common as dogchit. The enemy responded to our up-armored Humvees by aiming at the windshields, often at point blank range. Still  killing a lot of our guys.  

3) The IED: The biggest killer of all. Can be anything from old Soviet  anti-armor mines to jury rigged artillery shells. A lot found in Jordan's area  were in abandoned cars. The enemy would take 2 or 3 155mm artillery shells  and wire them together. Most were detonated by cell phone, and the explosions  are enormous. You're not safe in any vehicle, even an M1 tank. Driving is by  far the most dangerous thing our guys do over there. Lately, they are much  more sophisticated "shape charges" (Iranian) specifically designed to penetrate armor. Fact: Most of the ready made IED's are supplied by Iran, who  is also providing terrorists (Hezbollah types) to train the insurgents in  their use and tactics. That's why the attacks have been so deadly lately.  Their concealment methods are ingenious, the latest being shaped charges in Styrofoam containers spray painted to look like the cinderblocks that litter  all Iraqi roads. We find about 40% before they detonate, and the bomb disposal guys are unsung heroes of this war.  

4) Mortars and rockets: Very prevalent. The soviet era 122mm rockets (with  an 18km range) are becoming more prevalent. One of Jordan's NCO's lost a leg  to one. These weapons cause a lot of damage "inside the wire". Jordan's base  was hit almost daily his entire time there by mortar and rocket fire, often at  night to disrupt sleep patterns and cause fatigue (It did). More of a  psychological weapon than anything else. The enemy mortar teams would jump out  of vehicles, fire a few rounds, and then haul a$$ in a matter of seconds.  

5) Bad guy technology: Simple yet effective Most communication is by cell  and satellite phones, and also by email on laptops. They use handheld GPS  units for navigation and "Googleearth" for overhead views of our positions.  Their weapons are good, if not fancy, and prevalent. Their explosives and bomb  technology is TOP OF THE LINE. Night vision is rare. They are very careless  with their equipment and the captured GPS units and laptops are treasure  troves of Intel when captured.  

Who are the bad guys (remember that is what the Captain called them!)? Most  of the carnage is caused by the Zarqawi Al Qaeda group. They operate mostly in Anbar province (Fallujah and Ramadi). These are mostly "foreigners", non-Iraqi  Sunni Arab Jihadists from all over the Muslim world (and Europe). Most enter  Iraq through Syria (with, of course, the knowledge and complicity of the  Syrian govt.), and then travel down the "rat line" which is the trail of towns  along the Euphrates River that we've been hitting hard for the last few months.  Some are virtually untrained young Jihadists that often end up as suicide  bombers or in "sacrifice squads". Most, however, are hard core terrorists from  all the usual suspects (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.). These are the guys  running around murdering civilians en masse and cutting heads off. The  Chechens (many of whom are Caucasian), are supposedly the most ruthless and  the best fighters (they have been fighting the Russians for years). In the  Baghdad area and south, most of the insurgents are Iranian inspired (and led)  Iraqi Shiites. The Iranian Shiia have been very adept at infiltrating the Iraqi local govt.'s, the police forces and the Army. They have had a massive  spy and agitator network there since the Iran-Iraq war in the early 80's. Most of the Saddam loyalists were killed, captured or gave up long ago.  

Bad Guy Tactics:
When they are engaged on an infantry level they get their a$$es kicked every time. Brave, but stupid. Suicidal Banzai-type charges  were very common earlier in the war and still occur. They will literally sacrifice 8-10 man teams in suicide squads by sending them screaming and  firing AK's and RPG's directly at our bases just to probe the defenses. They  get mowed down like grass every time (see the M2 and M240 above). Jordan's  base was hit like this often. When engaged, they have a tendency to flee to  the same building, probably for what they think will be a glorious last stand.  Instead, we call in air and that's the end of that more often than not. These hole-ups are referred to as Alpha Whiskey Romeo's (Allah's Waiting Room). We  have the laser guided ground-air thing down to a science. The fast mover's, mostly Marine F-18's, are taking an ever increasing toll on the enemy. When  caught out in the open, the helicopter gunships and AC-130 Spectre gunships  cut them to ribbons with cannon and rocket fire, especially at night.  Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.

Fun fact: The enemy death  toll is supposedly between 45-50 thousand. That is why we're seeing less and less infantry attacks and more IED, suicide bomber chit. The new strategy is  simple: attrition. The insurgent tactic most frustrating is their use of civilian non-combatants as cover. They know we do all we can to avoid civilian  casualties and therefore schools, hospitals and (especially) Mosques are locations where they meet, stage for attacks, cache weapons and ammo and flee  to when engaged. They have absolutely no regard whatsoever for civilian  casualties. They will terrorize locals and murder without hesitation anyone  believed to be sympathetic to the Americans or the new Iraqi govt. Kidnapping  of family members (especially children) is common to influence people they are  trying to influence but can't reach, such as local govt. officials, clerics, tribal leaders, etc.). The first thing our guys are told is "don't get  captured". They know that if captured they will be tortured and beheaded on  the internet. Zarqawi openly offers bounties for anyone who brings him a live  American serviceman. This motivates the criminal element who otherwise don't give a chit about the war. A lot of the beheading victims were actually  kidnapped by common criminals and sold to Zarqawi. As such, for our guys,  every fight is to the death. Surrender is not an option.  

The Iraqi's are a mixed bag. Some fight well, others aren't worth a darn.  Most do okay with American support. Finding leaders is hard, but they are getting better. It is widely viewed that Zarqawi's use of suicide bombers, en  masse, against the civilian population was a serious tactical mistake. Many Iraqi's were galvanized and the caliber of recruits in the Army and the police  forces went up, along with their motivation. It also led to an exponential  increase in good intel because the Iraqi's are sick of the insurgent attacks  against civilians. The Kurds are solidly pro-American and fearless fighters.  

According to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high. They not only  believe they are winning, but that they are winning decisively. They are  stunned and dismayed by what they see in the American press, whom they almost  universally view as against them. The embedded reporters are despised and  distrusted. They are inflicting casualties at a rate of 20-1 and then see chit  like "Are we losing in Iraq" on TV and the print media. For the most part,  they are satisfied with their equipment, food and leadership. Bottom line  though, and they all say this, there are not enough guys there to drive the  final stake through the heart of the insurgency, primarily because there  aren't enough troops in-theater to shut down the borders with Iran and Syria.  The Iranians and the Syrians just cant stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of course, permanent US bases there).  

Anyway, that's it, hope you found it interesting. 

 

Addendum:- War on Iraq IQ Test
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