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What i was trying to understand, is the unusuall high ammount of "accidents" and "friendly fire" incidents in Iraq. The Reserves and National Guard are not full-time soldiers. They either have been in the military, and did their program years ago, and thus are not in contact with the latest developments in military training, or have been on and off the military life.
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It doesn't work that way. When you're operating with a 10 degree safety margin in troop advances, friendly fire incidents can happen to any unit, given the right(wrong) circumstances. The variable often is how well the unit can work together, how much they trust each other and how long they have trained as a unit. Not how long they have been dry- training on the shooting range or training as individuals, as long as they meet an acceptable minimum.
And I still think the number of friendly fire incidents is very low. 236 incidents on about 100 000 troops through a year is almost nothing. Come to think of it, the fatality rate is ridiculous as well, if there has been troop engagements against other "military" forces. I've heard some nasty rumours about injuries and invalides returning home, though, so I suppose that could explain it.
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And assuming there will be a draft in the US in the near future, we can expect any cherry fresh out of boot camp to get sent to Iraq, in rotation for other troops. How will they perform?
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Just as good. Or bad, probably. The problem it seems the army is facing now is the little death that always have been the occupant's downfall. They're fighting against the civillians instead of another army. And you just can't handle civillians, semi- civillians and guerilla warfare with brute force. Specially not when your goal is the opposite of opression.
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Originally Posted by Ranger
The only really valid argument against a draft is the argument that it's always going to be politically unpopular in the extreme,
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Good post.. again. I would think that the draft, or at least the suggestion, might be politically strategic, though, because the main reason for withdrawing the troops might just as well end up being that we don't want to see our people die, rather than that the goal they are fighting for - whatever that is - was wrong. It could certainly prove to be more acceptable as an excuse for a withdrawal, outside the whitehouse as well. I mean, they're fighting for the Iraqi's freedom. Can't really argue with the sound of that.