How to win in Iraq

[SunTracker]

This is a real idea I had.  Very simple, yet genius.

Pay Iraqi soldiers  an extremely high salary.  I think they make about 40 bucks a month now.  Start them off at a couple thousand a month.  The very high pay will motivate them to kill insurgents.  Offer a bounty on each insurgent head.  $1500 maybe.

I know this idea would work.  People will do anything for money (just ask Judas).

[bullett308]

Good Idea but I think we can get em cheaper:D

[rpm]

Nobody will ever "Win".

[Pongo]

You have to understand something of the Clan system to know why that wont work.
But anyway. All that would happen is you would end up with a Sikh type situation. Where the occupying Brits used the sikhs against the other indians. So you pick one of the three factions and turn them on the others.
They are not going to kill thier own.

So which one..Cant be the Kurds or the Turks will freak the ***k out...Cant be the Shia..they are fundimentalist muslims..bad idea to arm them at all..
So your left with arming the Sunnis and turning them on the others..
sound familier?

[Eagler]

I think you'd find our soldiers defecting for that kind of cash

[101ABN]

I helped train the new Iraqi army. By the time that i left Mosul, I had 2 Iraqi companies under my control. the pay for a buck private is 60 dollars a month. In the city of Mosul the average yearly income is 120 dollars. they get some what of a decent pay. my soldiers wanted to kill some watermelon heads over there.

[Westy]

I figure that they should cap the heck out of the southern oil wells so it will be a long time before they can be tapped again.   Let the Kurds have the larger northern fields at Kirkuk and then give them (the Kurds) thier independence. Pull all the US/UK forces back to the new border, close it and just let the Shiite and Sunni kill each other.

[lasersailor184]

Good work 101.

[gofaster]

Sounds like a recipe for tribal warfare.

[Heater]

NUKE !!

[Fishu]

Best would been to just leave them be with Saddam and his imaginery WMD.
Since this war against terrorism is a huge scale free recruitment office for the terrorists themselves.

but well, US insisted to go in there, even though most of the world said "thats not really a good idea".
So theres pretty much two options:
a) ensure theres enough loyal troops for the iraqi goverment, so the insurgents won't have a chance after US leaves
b) leave now and get even worse fked up reputation in the western world.

[_Schadenfreude_]

Don't think anyone is going to win in Iraq - more like who's going to lose the most......anyone think more or less troops will die in Iraq in the 2nd year of occupation? Stupid waste....

[Furball]

Originally posted by SunTracker
The very high pay will motivate them to kill insurgents.  Offer a bounty on each insurgent head.  $1500 maybe.

I know this idea would work.  People will do anything for money (just ask Judas).

read that again...  cant you see anything wrong with that?

As you say, people will do ANYTHING for money.

Whats to stop them killing civilians and claiming they were 'insurgents' just to make money?

[Gixer]

Originally posted by SunTracker
This is a real idea I had.  Very simple, yet genius.

Pay Iraqi soldiers  an extremely high salary.  I think they make about 40 bucks a month now.  Start them off at a couple thousand a month.  The very high pay will motivate them to kill insurgents.  Offer a bounty on each insurgent head.  $1500 maybe.

I know this idea would work.  People will do anything for money (just ask Judas).

Good idea, though I don't think a high bounty would be required just the same monthly rates as US soilders. Unfortunetly they disbanded the 400,000 strong Iraqi army at the end of the invasion. Where quite a few (since the lost their employer)  I assume have ended up in the militia's or training militia's.

I think even the Pentagon now realises that disbanding the Iraqi army wasn't (while with good intentions) in the long run a great idea. Especially since the building of the new army hasn't gone so well.


...-Gixer

[Fishu]

^

Can someone say "witch hunt"

An obvious reason why it wouldn't work.