Insh'allah: A Nighttime Raid with the Iraqi Army Insh'allah: A Nighttime Raid with the Iraqi Army

INDCJournal: Insh'allah: A Nighttime Raid with the Iraqi Army by Bill Ardolino tells about the real war going on in Iraq right now. Not what you read in the New York Times or the Washington Post, but the reality of training the Iraqi military to carry the security burden for their country.

The article tells of American Marine Military Transition Team (MiTT) planning some night time raids in Fallujah for the Jundi (Iraqi Army soldiers) that they are advising. The mission went off fairly well, with no shots fired, no casualties, and some terrorist suspects being arrested. The one problem that arose was when the Jundi got information at one raided house that one of their suspects was at another house a block or so away. So, they raced off, without their support or advisors, and managed to capture the suspect. The MiTT personel thought that showed both some lack of discipline and a lot of enthusiasm and courage. In other words, a mixed bag. Obviously, the advisors are going to work a bit on the discipline problem.

The author was also impressed with how the suspects were being treated as they were being interrogated by the Iraqis. It appears that they are coming around to our theory that humane treatment most often works better than torture for getting information and in building trust.