I finally figured out how Iraq is different from the first time I was here, all Iraqis have been to obedience school. You know if you have a dog acting up and you just cannot figure out how to train her then you send her to obedience school, and then you get her back 2 weeks later and she is a whole new dog obeying all that you tell her to do- well that is what Iraq is like now. The first time I was here whenever we would drive down the roads people would try to come as close as they could and mix in with our convoys to get ahead. Now whenever we drive down the road everyone knows to pull of to the side of the road and wait for us to drive by. If they dont feel like pulling off then we force them to and they get the point immediately. If they still dont then we smack them on the nose and they go run to their cage. It really is a great thing because now when people stay on the road and mess with us then we know that we need to take them seriously and deal with them accordingly.
I do not mean this in a demeaning way, rather, it is the best way I can describe what it is like in Iraq now. The Iraqis have been dealing with us for going on 3 years now and are finally starting to understand the way we work. Their understanding leads to a lot less casulties and headaches for not only them but us too.
With the elections coming up in a week I guess we will see if they continue to cooperate the way we want them too.
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2 comments:
I thought about that and thanks for commenting but...
I think this is a Pavolov's dogs sort of thing. If they dont pull over they get a warning shot. If they still dont then their car gets shot. I think it is more learned behavior. The whole IED thing might be somewhat of a factor too.
I just stumbled across your blog by a link on a friend of a friends page. I was just going to read it and not post anything but I was a little shocked by what you had to say. I have to say that I appreciate your service to this country, but don't you think that comparing the Iraqi people to dogs is going a little far? I don't think the people there wanted this war any more than our people did. They're people too man...
That said, stay safe
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