US Field Manual FM 4-30.13 Chapter 12: Captured Enemy Ammunm

As a Veteran, I was appalled when I saw, on mainstream news, reports that during the race to Baghdad to secure the Ministry of Oil, Oilfields, Banks, Palaces and any other immediate booty, that many, many caches, stockpiles and dumps of explosives, ordnance, weapons etc. were found but not secured, removed or destroyed. US Field Manual FM 4-30.13, Chapter 12: Captured Enemy Ammunition, Basic Standard Operating Procedures, Common Sense, and perhaps a little sense of self-preservation would tell one that...NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND THAT CAN BE OF USE TO THE ENEMY...if you don't want it, can't use it, or don't have time to remove it, you blow it. You NEVER just walk away and leave it. On the news there was a report of Coalition forces that had stumbled across a huge dump of artillery shells. The report said that the Coalition Forces WATCHED as the stockpile was looted and loaded on civilian vehicles and carried away.
In Vietnam, we shot chickens, dogs, cats, pigs...anything that could be of use to the enemy was destroyed...a scorched-earth policy. There was always a team of two E.O.D. (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) specialists assigned to each company. Their duties were to dispose of any unexploded bombs, explosives, ordnance etc. Never, under any circumstances do you leave anything (especially explosives) that can be used against you. The lowest private would know to ask..."Blow the munitions, Sir?" If any ammo dump was found, it became the responsibility of those who found it to secure it until it could be disposed of. If you can't wait, you do it yourself...you take the 10 minutes required to place charges on the top of the pile and blow it down into the ground. Failure to do so would make you directly responsible for any deaths caused by your negligence. There would be an investigation, leading to court martial for Gross Dereliction of Duty Resulting in the Deaths of GI's.
I could understand a few isolated incidents... but for this negligence to occur on such a grand scale would have required orders from Above...Each company commander would have to have been told to not follow FM 4-30.13 Chapter 12 SOP. The lack of investigations...heads should be rolling for each individual incident...tells me that indeed this was "allowed" to happen. SOMEONE WANTED TO MAKE DAMN SURE THAT THE INSURGENTS/RESISTANCE and anyone else who wanted to make a fuss had plenty of supplies. They were afraid that if fighting ceased the Iraqis would say ''...well, were at peace now . Thank you. Now you can go home".
Those, who demean and criticize our efforts for Peace, say that we are "giving aid and comfort to the enemy...should be stood up and shot for High Treason ( Rush Limbaugh,Zell Miller et. al.)". What about those who ALLOWED tons of ordnance to fall back in enemy hands to resurface as IED's used to kill and maim our troops? They claim they didn't have time...BULLSHIT...they could have secured the area and dropped napalm on it instead of the poor people of Falluja. This was deliberate action designed to prolong the war. This is GROSS DERELICTION OF DUTY, resulting in the deaths of GI's and innocent Iraqis as well as a WAR CRIME of the highest order. Heads should roll. Why aren't they? Those who gave the order are TRAITORS and CRIMINALS. Driven by GREED, they have shown absolute callous disregard for the safety of our troops as well as the Iraqi People.
Remember what that great statesman, Henry Kissinger, of the Reagan Era said regarding US Servicemen..."...they are DUMB, STUPID ANIMALS TO BE USED AS PAWNS FOR US FOREIGN POLICY". Kissinger revealed what the US government thinks about us.
Thank you,...Thomas Rockriver

by Ironhead (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Sunday, October 30, 2005 at 4:10:23 PM