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| Iraq-Jordan |
| USMC Sergants: Green Side e-mail to Dad (6/23/04) |
| 2004-06-25 |
| EFL ...In the last week, the Marines conducted a number of operations to include a raid on a particular mosque. The amount of planning that goes into a raid such as this is extensive. You would be amazed at how much we study the proper approach, not just tactically but culturally. Every effort is made not to overly offend those Iraqis who are not targets of the action itself. The second and third order of effects of missions are considered by the most talented and experienced operators and commanders. If I had to categorize the operation, I would say that without sacrificing speed and security, Marines are very vigilant about displaying the proper amount of "respect" in and around the target. I mention this because we absolutely 100% know that mosques are used to plan insurgent attacks, used as terrorists meeting places, used to store weapons, used to hide hostages, and used to spread hate and lies. Of course not all mosques are nefarious, but a significant percentage in the area where our Marines operate seem to be. Even with this in mind, as mentioned above, every effort is made during planning and execution not to trespass on the cultural importance of mosques. Once the mission is complete, additional efforts are made to explain to the locals what we did and why we did it. During raid on this particular mosque, a large amount of enemy propaganda along with weapons and a detonator for an improvised explosive device was found among the suspected insurgents. The detonator belonged to an explosive charge that was placed in the ground approximately 250 meters from the mosque on the road leading up to it. The propaganda can be best categorized as hateful (believe it or not there were even hand bills about the Marine eating spiders). Instead of describing more about this target, I wanted to share some observations about how the Marine Sergeants make these kind of operations go. On this particular mission, try and imagine the Sergeant’s thinking as he has just spent hours/days in preparation for the operation, stressing to his Marines the sensitive nature of what they are going to do and all the do’s and don’ts on objective. Once he finally gets his Marines on the objective, he is non-stop positioning and repositioning the men, keeping civilians at arms length, watching the detainees and coordinating his tasks under the search, knowing that one small mistake could get someone killed or will at least be fodder for the insurgents continued message of fear and hate. .... |
| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #3 we absolutely 100% know that mosques are used to plan insurgent attacks, used as terrorists meeting places, used to store weapons, used to hide hostages, and used to spread hate and lies. Considering the cheapness and small size of digital cameras now, why are they not being used by the military by the thousands to document these kind of things? Muslims keep saying that no Muslim would ever do this or ever do that. We should be able to show anybody thousands of hours of documentary evidence to the contrary. Aside from some grassroots efforts from the troops themselves, it seems like the psychological side to the WOT is being completly ignored. I don't understand that at all. |
| Posted by: sc88 2004-06-25 10:49:24 PM |
| #2 They're only sensitive until someone gives them a reason not to be. "No better friend, no worse enemy." |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-25 12:57:51 PM |
| #1 Good operation, but I'm not sure I like the idea of the Marines being this "sensitive." |
| Posted by: Matt 2004-06-25 11:29:35 AM |