There were more stick up crews and professional assassins Baghdad than your average action movie franchise. It didn't take long for people to realize that there was a nice opportunity to make money in the chaos. So every hood gets its own militia, if only so they can defend themselves and their families. There is only you, and the men you live next door to. If you look out the window and see your cousin getting dragged outside by a squad of armed men, you can't call anybody. Cordite in the air every morning, random people getting popped. ![]() Think back to the last episode where Baghdad tears itself apart in an orgy of sectarian violence and looting. There were thousands of little insurgencies, nested in neighborhoods, springing from a dozen causes and ideologies. People talk about "the insurgency" there never was one. But in the broad picture, taking those risks kept subsequent American troops from getting bogged down in a static, bloody positional fight that would have bumped our casualties up by a couple of thousand a month. The push to Baghdad as depicted in the show forced the guys in Recon to take some seemingly insane risks. In contrast, the war in 2003 was over in weeks the whole damn country taken with minimal casualties, because we never gave them a chance to catch their breath and set up an effective defense anywhere. The months long battle for Mosul by itself gutted the coalition attackers. It made the push into the Sunni Triangle hellish and allowed the enemy to force the coalition into sluggish urban war where civilian deaths were as common as sunshine. In Iraq, the government's lack of readiness allowed ISIS years to dig in and set up IED factories and train fighters. The floor of loose plywood sheeting is piled with crates of rations, gear, and weapons.If there's one thing that's been made perfectly clear by the Iraqi push against ISIS, it's that "getting there the fastest with the mostest" matters a lot.Ĭonstant pushes and lightning movement and pushing deep into the enemy's rear to exploit openings freezes the enemy in place, reduces their ability to fight back or shift resources or dig in. The entrance to Fick’s platoon’s tent is lit with fluorescent light tubes suspended from the tent poles. ![]() They have more training and experience than the officers commanding them, and they naturally look up to someone like Colbert. The Recon Marines in Fick’s platoon are the most trusted within the company. He was six feet two with light-brown hair and the pleasant, clear-eyed looks of a former altar boy. Fick, who was easily recognizable due to his loping, adolescent stride. I couldn’t tell them apart, except for the commander of my platoon, Lt. The only animals thriving in the camp were the rats that lived under the plywood floorboards of the tents. The desert sandstorms known as shamals began to blow. The Marines were ready to be at the center of a world-changing event, but they seemed far away from it. I meet them in a dingy mess tent, a few guys in their late teens or early twenties killing time in the shade before dinner. The first Marines I meet have other things on their minds. They were never trained for an ambush-hunting role, but that’s what they ended up doing. The men in First Recon were to be Mattis’s shock troops, leading the way through much of the invasion. The Americans would assault through the planned route and continue moving without pausing to establish rear security. The plan for the Marines in Iraq was to disregard sacred American military doctrine tenets. ![]() They are trained to stealthily move behind enemy lines in teams of four to six men, observe positions, and avoid contact with hostile forces. Recon Marines are the best and toughest in the Marine Corps. Insights from Chapter 33 Insights from Chapter 1 Insights on Evan Wright's Generation Kill Contents
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