[Swiftwater Gazette] A Marine's View

[Elgin Alexander]

This email from a Marine who's in Iraq.  No politics here; just a Marine
with a bird's eye view opinion:


US  Weapons:

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 lack the
ability to mount the various optical gunsights and weapons lights on the
picatinny rails, but the weapon itself is not great in a desert environment.
They all hate the 5.56mm (.223) round.  
 Poor penetration on the cinderblock 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 M243 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine
gun.

Big thumbs down.  Universally  considered a piece of shit.  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  structure
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 dicks in the dirt very time.
The most coveted weapon in-theater.

7) The .45 pistol:
Thumbs up.  
Still the best pistol around 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.

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.  
 It is 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 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 shit 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 bullshit 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 shit.  Undisciplined "spray and pray" type fire.  However, they
are seeing more and more precision weapons, especially sniper rifles. (Iran,
again) 

                

2) The RPG:
Probably the infantry weapon most feared  by our guys.  Simple, reliable and
as common as dogshit.  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 3 155 mm 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 shape 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 ass in a matter of
seconds.



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.

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
"Google Earth" 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?  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 various "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 an
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 asses
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.  
night Interestingly, artillery is hardly used at all.  

 Fun facts:
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 
 shit.  The new strategy is just 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 inflicting 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 shit 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
damn.  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 right 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.

Morale:
According  to Jordan, morale among our guys is very high.  They not only
believe that 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 shit 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, is that 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
can't stand the thought of Iraq being an American ally (with, of
course,permanent US bases  there).

Elgin
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