"THE TRUTH TOUR"

Earlier in the month, a number of wingnut radio hosts went to Iraq to help inform the public about how really wonderful things are there. Turns out not to be so wonderful after all. Here are key excerpts from one clown's blog entry:

On Wednesday I was allowed to go on patrol with, and videotape a patrol with the Iraqi Army, or IA, as the troops call them. The US troops follow them out to provided support while they are in the city. The IA patrol had about 3 months training, a truly green group.

Their military skills and discipline were the equivalent of 13 year old children with guns playing army. I was a little tentative about going into the red zone with these inexperienced warriors. It was reassuring to have professional US soldiers as back up.

The IA loaded into two open bed trucks with a US humvee in front and to the rear of the convoy. I was with the rear humvee.

As we neared our disembarkation point, one of the Iraqi trucks stalled and did not move forward again. We had all noted the smell of a “burning clutch” during the drive. Our stalled convoy blocked traffic for miles making us another target point. We finally used our humvee to tow the 4 ton truck to a location a short distance away where traffic could again move freely and we could safely provide protection. This proved to be the end of the first of three patrols I would be going on as we could not reach the staging area and could not leave the 20 plus IA soldiers unprotected.

As we went back to base we observed a “seasoned” IA patrol. This group had nearly two years experience and did not have a US escort. They acted and reacted very similarly to our US troops with one exception. We were in fully armored humvees and they were in open trucks. They were vigilant and looked to have mastered quite well the skills needed to survive in a land where the terrorists could strike at anytime.

So, the first group were raw and the second group was seasoned but they had one thing in common: inadequate transportation. Open-bed trucks simply aren't suitable for patrols in Baghdad unless you are in the Green Zone. Of course, that didn't stop this clown from giving the mandatory "pro-American" delusional spin:

After observing these IA soldiers in action I am confident that the Iraqi Army can eventually take over all of these patrols.