Infantry: The Enemy Professionals in Iraq

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January 20, 2006: American troops in Iraq are seeing increasing evidence of professional training being provided to the terrorists and anti-government forces they face. Some ambushes are carried out with precision and planning that is very uncharacteristic of the Iraqis, even the elite professional troops that used to serve Saddam. Enemy snipers are becoming more effective, by using discipline and professional techniques.

For over a year, there have been rumors of secret al Qaeda training camps in Iraq. Some evidence of this was found during the sweeps of western Iraq over the last six months. But interrogations of thousands of captured fighters has not provided any concrete leads. When you interrogate that many people, you're going to get enough information that would reveal any secret training centers. All the intel guys could find was some informal training, and "natural seclection" (the inept terrorists were rapidly getting killed off, leaving an increasingly experienced crew in play).

What has been going on is small scale training programs, and more selectivity in which men the terrorists allow to participate in combat operations. Most of these attacks are driven by money (along with ideological, nationalistic and religious reasons). The fighters are paid, and the paymasters are demanding more for their money. The number of attacks is down, and more of the attackers are getting killed or captured. But there is a growing hard core of very skillful men, who, by having survived so many battles, paid attention to what worked, and have become much more lethal.

 

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