I know it's all very PC to say all the positive things about finding and rescuing those soldiers.
Don't think you'll find too many vets that actually have walked the streets of Baghdad able to express those PC thoughts very well. Many would probably express the hope for a quick end if they themselves were in that situation.
There is also the very real possibility they won't be found. We've two other MIA's from earlier incidents. The troops will continue to look as long as they are permitted to, as is only right, but it is a big country.
AFAIK, the 5 contractors from Crescent Security (4 American, 1 Aussie) were still missing and being held in Iraq as well since Nov 2006...... guess private contractors don't rate news though.
Unless you've actually watched those videos of the execution of captives, or seen the remains left in the streets or floating in the Tigress where they've been dumped, it's very hard to get your mind around the reality of what awaits those that become captives of the various armed groups operating in Iraq. Definitely one of those times fighting to the death would be preferable to capture.
It does sound like a light patrol. I've seen 3-up-armored HMMV patrols head out of the wire before, but my company would never run with fewer than 5 vehicles (3 HMMV's and 2 5-ton gun trucks) and a minimum of 22 to 25 men. We just did not have the weapon systems, ammo loads, well armored vehicles, or solid communications to risk running lighter than that.
That they were ambushed is not inexcusable. No matter how much surveillance resources you've got, there is just no way to watch everything in a country the size of Iraq with it's dense urban areas, and with the many ways unconventional forces can blend into a civilian population.
As Dick sez, "we went to war with the Army we had": one still primarily equipped to meet the Soviet Union on the plains of Europe.
No matter how good you are or how well equipped, the other guy only has to get lucky once to create the PR and media disaster. You can not control an area by hiding behind the wire, you have to go out and patrol, scout, escort, and develop humint resources. You have to be active. These are the risks with that.
It's not a safe business. Politicians and the general public don't ever seem to understand that. They want their cheap oil and security, but they never understand the costs of attaining those kinds of things.
That anti-American forces in Iraq pulled something like this off now does not surprise me. Adds fuel to the fire for American withdrawal, which is their immediate goal. They want to make it as ugly as they can for us now. They don't believe America has the wherewithal to stay and accomplish what it can in the region...... and they may prove to be right in the end.
Rise of the Paper Tiger.
