Comments on: ‘Ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform’

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Sat, 31 May 2008 10:06:00 +0000

By: Bram

Bram — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:02:00 +0000

Never heard anyone who served with the Aussie or Brits say anything critical about their willingness to fight. (Just don’t try to keep up with them at the bar.) The Spanish and Italian troops who deployed to Iraq early on – they were a different story. Sounds like they went home with every round of ammo they brought.

By: Flanker

Flanker — Wed, 28 May 2008 09:44:00 +0000

You both raise interesting points; it might be quite educational to see over the shoulder of the myriad coalition policy makers for some insight into where, why, and how decisions are really being made. The standing joke amongst American Mil Specs (in SE Afghanistan) was ISAF stood for ‘I Suck At Fighting’ (amongst other colorful phrases). I never met any ‘other troops’ in our SE region who weren’t ready to mix it up with the bad guys. The temptation to blame the troops for their policy makers decisions is pretty normal, even if frequently incorrect; just look at the way US troops are slagged by the left, now and back in the day in Nam.

By: GeekLethal

GeekLethal — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:32:00 +0000

I wonder how much of that is unofficial policy on the part of the US. Don’t remember where I read it, but Bundeswehr soldiers in the ‘G were frustrated because the US wasn’t giving them any tasks at all. So American soldiers see these Germans just kind of hanging around doing nothing and getting a little assed up about it, but the Germans are like, ‘Hey wait a minute, leadership isn’t giving us anything to do!’

By: Nicholas

Nicholas — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:40:00 +0000

I have to wonder how much the recent change in government may have had an effect on the political side of this – is the new government trying to keep the soldiers out of action, or has it been this way all along? I also have to wonder how much this is a real issue and how much it’s just that they’re very gung-ho. After all, if violence is winding down, there aren’t going to be so many changes for engagement anyway. Just because they want some action doesn’t mean there’s action for them to have. Then again I don’t have a hard time believing they’re being purposefully kept out of the hot zones or restricted in when they can engage.