Posted by manualblock [ 69.112.43.172 ] on November 19, 2005 at 09:00:28:

I am attending courses and one of the guys in the course is a Marine going to school on the G.I. Bill. He did two tours; one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq; two years there.
We have been talking so yesterday we had some time and I asked him what he thought of the Iraqi Army and whether they are fighters or not.
He tells me yes; they can fight; but they never will.
I asked him what does he mean by that?
Well; he says, as long as we are there training them they get paid; in dollars. It's a good deal for them and they are very happy.
However they all know that as soon as we leave;...there goes the dollars. They, like everyone else like a good steady paycheck.
I asked; so are you saying they will never become trained?
He says; they are already trained; that many of them were soldiers for Saddam.
I says; so can't we see that; I mean our guys. Can't they recognise that those men are trained.
He says; so what? They disappear as soon as the fighting starts and reappear in another battalion later on in the month. He says he saw the same guy more than once in different squads.
I said so what gives; what can they do?
He says; nothing; would you break your own ricebowl?

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