28Aug04

News from a friend in Country:

"None of us are thrilled with the situation politicians been handed us. We want to finish it, once and for all, so insurgents will be unable to break their work, again.

We were involved in the action near the cemetery, outside the mosque. Insurgents charged us in full, Bonsai fashion. It was a big mistake! You' ve heard about Marines and their rifles? Well, it's true. My unit killed over three hundred of them. Flanking unites annihilated many more. I saw them laying

in heaps. Then, the word came to 'push them all the way back.' We g ingerly advanced through the cemetery, pushing the remnants back to the mosque. Th ere is an open area between the cemetery and the mosque. The Air Force dropped

about a half dozen five-hundred pounders on them. What few survived became disoriented and moved right back at us. None survived. We wiped them out!

Toward the end of the third day, my M4 jammed (double feed) twice. I was not happy. Fortunately, by buds covered. We devote a lot of time toward keeping weapons clean, not enough apparently! In any event, we took on the best they had and handed them a decisive defeat. We had several wounded, but th ey refused to go to the rear. All stayed in the fight. They are now all patched up and back with us.

Bottom line: insurgents know they can't beat us. Heaven knows they tried! The only way they can win is through propaganda."

Lessons: Mass charges will never be successful against American firepower.

Japanese, NVA (in my day), and now Islamic extremists have all learned that

painful lesson. Competent and courageous riflemen, machine gunners, and ev en pistoleros well dependably annihilate disjointed stampedes every time.

Radical Islamic extremists are now facing the same dilemma that was faced b y the Viet Cong and NVA a generation ago. What can't be won on the battlefield can be won on the cutting floors of CBS, ABC, NBC, and CNN. Th e bastards did it to us before!

The Stoner System, as manifested in the M-16/M-4, does not do well in airborne grit. Constant maintenance is required of any rifle in a military

situation, but, for the Stoner, it is particularly critical. The other big issue is the extractor spring. It breaks frequently and must be inspected constantly. The D-ring really helps in this regard. Highly recommended!

/John