General Says Iraqi Shiite Soldiers Refuse Duty

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082800764.html

WASHINGTON -- About 100 Iraqi Shiite soldiers refused to go to Baghdad to support the security crackdown there, marking the second time a block of Iraqi soldiers have balked at following their unit's assignment, a U.S. general said Monday.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard, commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, said the problems stem from the Iraqi Army's regional divide, because soldiers are recruited in their home area and expect to train and serve there.

Pittard said he's heard of only one other instance where Iraqi soldiers refused to move with their unit. A battalion of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division was in northern Iraq, and "a number of the members of that unit" refused to go to Ramadi to serve with the U.S Army's 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division.


The General must have forgot this other instance in Fallujah? I bet he has forgot some more


http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A2680-2004Apr10?language=printer

Iraqi Battalion Refuses to 'Fight Iraqis'

By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 11, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, April 10 -- A battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to go to Fallujah earlier this week to support U.S. Marines battling for control of the city, senior U.S. Army officers here said, disclosing an incident that is casting new doubt on U.S. plans to transfer security matters to Iraqi forces. snip

The 620-man 2nd Battalion of the Iraqi Armed Forces refused to fight Monday after members of the unit were shot at in a Shiite Muslim neighborhood in Baghdad while en route to Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim stronghold, said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, who is overseeing the development of Iraqi security forces. The convoy then turned around and returned to the battalion's post on a former Republican Guard base in Taji, a town north of the capital.

Eaton said members of the battalion insisted during the ensuing discussions: "We did not sign up to fight Iraqis." snip

The battalion, traveling by truck and escorted by troops from the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division, passed through a Shiite area in northwest Baghdad. They were fired on, and six members of the unit were wounded, one seriously, Eaton said. A crowd of Shiites gathered and "surged" at the convoy, he said. "They were stunned that they were taken under fire by their fellow population," he said. snip

But Eaton, who visited the unit the day after the incident, disagreed. He noted that Iraqi troops have "fought very, very bravely" against Iran. He said that, in his view, the problem was caused by poor leadership and complicated by the fact that the unit was trained by U.S. advisers who emphasized that their job would be to defend Iraq against outside forces.

[Erika]

1. Yet W expects our troops to serve worldwide

There should be no country such as Iraq. They are tribes with different loyalties.

[MercutioATC]

2. They "didn't sign up to fight Iraqis"?????

Well, I guess they'll be useful if Madagascar tries to invade...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we've established that the "insurgents" are Iraqi nationals and we've said that we're not leaving until the Iraqi security forced can provide stability.

If Iraqi security forces won't fight Iraqi "insurgents", aren't we completely screwed?



..shouldn't somebody be making an issue of this?...

[MercutioATC]

3. .

.

[Erika]

4. What it comes down to is we become a party to genocide

W just chooses on which tribe we will perform genocide.