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In the 'tell me about the roll(sic) of armour' thread someone mentioned the Chechens and it reminded me of that awful beheading video of the russian soldier. It seems like the frequency of videos + beheadings have dropped significantly in Iraq since 2004.. I remember some islamic figures with ties to terrorists saying at the time that you shouldn't behead foreign captives because it's turning their own supporters against them; it's too violent. A quick look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_hostages_in_iraq shows that we're not seeing many high-profile foreign hostage situations in Iraq anymore. I don't think Iraq has gotten much less violent, are they focusing more on domestic targets? Or are they just quietly shooting people and leaving them in ditches instead of videotaping beheadings, which proved unpopular with local supporters?
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 03:06 |
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| # ? Nov 21, 2009 03:03 |
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I think they just kind of line people up on the ground now and just shoot them while walking from left to right now-a-days. VV You're welcome? Slumpy fucked around with this message at Nov 07, 2009 around 03:59 |
| # ? Nov 07, 2009 03:12 |
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 Anybody? I'm curious as to why things have changed, and to what
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 03:17 |
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There are several things happening for the better in Iraq. Here are some of the things which I've pieced together from talking to friends who've spent (or are spending) time in Baghdad and Basra recently: For one, the Iraqi police and army have really started getting getting their poo poo together over the last year or so. They are running their own investigations and arresting bad guys. Civilians are actually calling to report insurgent activity and freshly planted IEDs on their own. We're also doing a better job of maintaining a presence in neighborhoods which helps keep the peace. Residents like this. Before, we'd roll through a neighborhood, break a bunch of poo poo, chase away the Taliban and then we'd disappear. Then the Taliban would roll back in and break more stuff. Residents had no love for either side, but at least the Taliban would sometimes supply them with food, money or other supplies. Now we're the ones spending more time providing security, utilities and stability and locals appreciate that. We're also putting a lot more effort into the whole "hearts and minds" thing and have a lot of resources devoted to maintaining good relationships with locals. We generally fix or pay for anything we break (or might have broken) no questions asked. We visit schools and hand out supplies to the kids. We hand out bribes to local leaders and help resolve disputes. Iraqis have very strong ties to their tribe. In terms of cultural identity, they are members of their tribe first, then maybe members of their religious sect, then somewhere in third place or lower, they are Iraqis. Tribes steal from each other, fight and squabble constantly, and only the presence of a larger more powerful tribe keeps them more or less united. So when we walked in and broke down the biggest, strongest "tribe", poo poo fell apart. Not only did Iraqis hate us for that, but insurgents were able to act freely among the anarchy. Now many of the larger tribes are treating us like just another larger, stronger tribe and stuff has settled down quite a bit. There's still plenty of violence to go around, but they are now more likely to direct it towards old enemies, like blowing up another tribe's market or another religious sect's mosque, and are less concerned about westerners than they were in years past. That's only a fraction of what I've been told, and I could be misremembering details. But hopefully this'll give you a jumping off point for further research.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 08:12 |
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This New England Journal of Medicine study has been the best one that I've run across lately that touches on this sort of thing. Unfortunately it doesn't break things up by year, it covers the entire conflict between 2003 - 2008. You will note that execution is by far the largest factor. It accounts for a third of civilian deaths overall, which is as much as small arms gunfire and suicide bombs combined. A third of those executions are preceded by torture, which would indicate a relative willingness to terrorize (pardon the pun) the population. I'm not sure that it will directly contribute to answering your question as to the current trend though. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/360/16/1585 (be sure to look at the interactive table) Kaal fucked around with this message at Nov 07, 2009 around 08:45 |
| # ? Nov 07, 2009 08:38 |
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MonkeyHate posted:That's only a fraction of what I've been told, and I could be misremembering details. But hopefully this'll give you a jumping off point for further research. Yeah you are. We are no longer providing direct support to the Iraqis in terms of our own patrols. The only military you will see out in towns now are training teams that do not really do any direct action. Also, the Taliban is in Afghanistan, not Iraq. It seems you are jumbling bits of both together.
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| # ? Nov 07, 2009 19:36 |
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