Do you think the troops in Iraq should weed the grounds?

Question

One instance that my husband described to me made me chuckle, because I could not believe how ludicrous it was. From my understanding, the United States invaded Iraq to “free the Iraqi people” and look for “weapons of mass destruction.” Well, my husband is not doing either. He is weeding the grounds of Iraq, and not out of punishment, but because his leaders feel it’s appropriate. The United States is sending thousands of troops overseas, thousands are dying and the troops are weeding? Clearly there is something wrong with this picture.

Answer 1

It is why do they not use our best technology and sweep the roads for roadside bombs. Instead they let convoys drive through without searching. It is called leaders do not know what to do with the "Rules of Engagment" If the Rules applied in World War II Hitler would have won.

Answer 2

When I was deployed I pulled weeds and I'm an NCO. But in Kuwait there aren't many weeds. Just a lot of F#%#@^# sand! But to answer your question YES there is something wrong with it. Spending time like that is a waste. Down time should be spent on the range being a better soldier. Pulling weeds is demoralizing and does NOTHING to improve combat readiness. Some pencil necked, paper pushing officer somewhere is making a HUGE mistake not training the troops in combat operations. Go wear out some weapons and burn up a few millions rounds of ammo. You can always get more guns and bullets.

Answer 3

Well there could be good grounds for removing weeds and vegetation, Snakes like to use them for cover also Scorpions.

Using local native labour in and around US military instalations is a major No-No, a lesson the US military has failed to learn since its time in South-East Asia.
They can easily be enemy infiltrators gathering information and measuring the distances for mortar and rocket attacks.
If you are in a military instalation and you make a mess, then you should clean it up!!Basic security measure, no foreign nationals on the postion!!

Answer 4

The way that you posed your question, yes it does sound absurd.
But, is there more behind it ?
Typically in the military you must follow orders - without question, and sometimes not knowing the whys behind the orders. To this day I still speculate about some of my orders.

There are reasons why I can see this detail needs to be performed and being performed in the manner in which you have explained.
I feel my answers, although only speculation cannot be posted on this public message board, because of who else may be reading it.

Answer 5

yeah i hope i don't go where hes at cause i have never heard of that one every where i been over there its nothing but sand and rock or gravel and they would use civillian workers for something like that so maybe you might want to get more info on that one sounds like he's making it up to me

Answer 6

I thought that's what local nationals were for. That's the way it was while I was over there anyway.