report from a friend:
> 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
> gun sights and weapons lights on the
pica tinny rails, but the weapon
> itself is not great in a desert environment.
They all hate the 556 mm (..223)
> round. Poor penetration on the cinder block
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 9 mm:
Mixed bag. Good gun, performs well in
> desert environment; but they all hate
the 9 mm cartridge. The use of
> handguns for self-defense is actually fairly
common.. Same old story on the 9
> mm: Bad guys hit multiple times and still in
the fight.
>
> 4) Mossberg 12 ga.. 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 every 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.
>
>

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 can’t 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 readymade 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 cinder blocks 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 122 mm
> rockets (with an 18 km 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 hardcore
terrorists from all the usual suspects
> (Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas etc.).
These are the guys running around
> murdering civilians en
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 movers, 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. 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).
>
> Anyway, that's it, hope you found it interesting.
>