It Is The Soldier
Some fascinating details from DJ Elliott at the Long War Journal regarding the continuing build-up of the Iraqi Army. A few highlights:
4. The 37th Brigade has been receiving “Stryker” training. (Stryker Brigades are regularly used as Multi-National Corps-Iraq’s reserve.)
• 5. The 4-9 Reconnaissance Battalion, with the only 35 EE9s wheeled 90mm gun armed scout cars in the Iraqi Army, has an odd battalion designation, indicating a temporary designation.
• 6. There are an additional 336 BTR3E1s in Foreign Material Sales purchases and these were chosen instead of BTR80s since “Operational lessons learned demonstrated the need for a larger caliber main gun.” That is eight battalions worth of armored cavalry vehicles. Adding route clearance vehicles, EE9s, and HMMWVs, these could easily fill out five brigades. BTR-3E1s are a cavalry vehicle, armed with 30mm canon, 40mm grenade launcher, anti-tank missiles and light machine guns but, carrying only six infantry and three crew. By comparison, a BTR-80 armored personnel carrier carries nine infantry and only two crew with a heavy machine gun.
…
The Kurdish forces will still be incorporated into the Iraqi Security Force and they number 100,000 active.
Read the whole thing.
These U.S.-trained Iraqis are the core of the New Iraq, and the backbone of the liberal democracy Iraq is becoming. As the success of their effort to liberate Basra becomes apparent to even the most defeatist observers, these words have never rung quite so true:
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
UPDATE: Thanks to Scott for the updated version of the poem. As Iraqis are allowed to sell alcohol and music in Basra, operate hundreds of independent newspapers, TV stations, and radio stations all over Iraq, freely debate policy and criticize their politicians, organize protests, establish a court system, and vote in free and fair elections, we must remember it is our soldiers who have fought to give them these precious rights and their own who fight to preserve them.
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2 comments
[…] It is the Soldier Poem 23rd April 2008, 12:23 pm This is pasted from Babalu, which I found after Dave Price cited it in this post. […]
Dave
Your posts about Iraq and the military are some of my personal faves here at Dean’s World. Thanks!
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