Is Bremer running scared?

June 8, 2004 3:56 AM

Is Bremer running scared? Chris Neidrich was one of those who died on Sunday when a carefully planned ambush by seven vehicles attacked a Blackwater security convoy headed to Baghdad Airport, killing four and wounding three. Neidrich also guarded Bremer's motorcade.
The day after the attack on Bremer, the following security bulletin was released:
Effective immediately and until further notice, all CPA ground movement to/from Baghdad International Airport is prohibited. Exceptions for mission critical movements may be requested from Force Protection at DSN.
Is the U.S. military incapable of securing 2 1/2 miles of road from the Green Zone to Baghdad Airport, or has a political decision been made to not guard the road, thereby reducing the risk of military casualties. In other words, is Bremer scared, or is Bush?
posted by insomnia_lj (19 comments total)

Perhaps movement on the road is being restricted exactly because the military is trying to secure it?
posted by PenDevil at 4:01 AM on June 8, 2004

I should indicate that I have numerous people that I know who are in Iraq who occasionally pass on interesting nuggets of information. I cannot reveal my source for the security alert on MeFi, however, as it could jeopardize careers.

Severely restricting the flow of traffic to and from the airport puts a major burden on the reconstruction efforts in Iraq. There seems to be a new policy of sorts going on in Iraq lately -- keep casualties low, no matter how ineffective you make the reconstruction effort in the process.
posted by insomnia_lj at 4:07 AM on June 8, 2004

Perhaps it should be mentioned that they have had over a year to secure the road from the airport to the Green Zone...

I hear that they are going to start shuttling people to and from the Green Zone via helicopter. If they don't secure the path between the airport and the Green Zone, however, I have to wonder whether the new tactic will be to shoot down helicopters directly over Baghdad, possibly hurting civilians in the process.
posted by insomnia_lj at 4:12 AM on June 8, 2004

It's not exactly 2.5 miles through open country, either.

insomnia_lj: impossible! I mean the insurgents have been so resistant to harming civilians thus fa-.. what's that? Oh, they're civilians in the helicopters? oh. Bremer's a civilian? Oh.
posted by techgnollogic at 4:19 AM on June 8, 2004

techgnollogic, that line of attack is merely silly.

You're going to need some real ordinance to advance your position. Here's a sonic potato gun

It shoots a .25 caliber potato slug 100 yards. "This is not a toy!"
posted by troutfishing at 5:01 AM on June 8, 2004

I don't know what is more representative of the clusterfuck that the US "and its allies" have going on in Mesopotamia: the inability to secure three miles of a key and central passageway in the nation's capital or the fact that the Western guns for hire fit handsomely in the description of enemy combatant (armed foreigners without uniform) and thus are outside the realm of the geneva conventions, as interpreted by the US "and its allies". Did I mention clusterfuck already?
posted by magullo at 5:03 AM on June 8, 2004

insomnia_lj - I have to wonder how long the deal to disarm Iraqi militias will hold given the current plans for 14 permanent US bases in Iraq.
posted by troutfishing at 5:03 AM on June 8, 2004

"This is not a toy!"

does it shoot Freedom Fries, too?
posted by matteo at 5:27 AM on June 8, 2004

No - Freedom Fries are too degraded by the fryolator oil and so, as projectiles, they don't hang together.

They just spray out of the Sonic Potato Gun as a loose rhetorical mush.
posted by troutfishing at 5:33 AM on June 8, 2004

They just spray out of the Sonic Potato Gun as a loose rhetorical mush.

Oh, well done.

Metafilter: Spraying a loose rhetorical mush.
posted by eriko at 6:04 AM on June 8, 2004

To be fair, I should rephrase one big thing.

I said "The day after the attack on Bremer" when what I meant was "the day after the attack on Neidrich's convoy". We don't know whether this was an attack intended for Bremer.

That said, it certainly appears to have rattled his cage a bit, and it indicates a situation where nobody is untouchable.
posted by insomnia_lj at 6:31 AM on June 8, 2004

They should just force Bremer to walk around in an Ursus Mark Vll bear-attack suit

Then he could just stroll around the streets of Baghdad ungaurded, and all the RPG rounds would just bounce off!

That suit might get a little hot during summer, though, and
plus ; the Iraqis would figure out a way to deal with the suit - maybe by dumping a load of wet concrete on it, or something.
posted by troutfishing at 6:54 AM on June 8, 2004

and it indicates a situation where nobody is untouchable

Were you under the impression that Bremer was safe from all that's going on over there? Is the fact that nobody's 100% safe some kind of revelation to you?
posted by techgnollogic at 7:25 AM on June 8, 2004

thanks of the link trout - the first time "raygun" has put a smile on my face this week.
posted by specialk420 at 7:43 AM on June 8, 2004

> That suit might get a little hot during summer, though

Yeah, plus what if he had to perform a few dance steps? We can't afford the American administration in Iraq to look clumsy...
posted by NewBornHippy at 10:38 AM on June 8, 2004

insomnia_lj, I don't see how these posts are related to Paul Bremer other than by way of the fact that Chris Neidrich had been assigned at some point to guard Bremer in Iraq. Did you mean to ask 'Should Bremer be running scared?'
posted by shoos at 7:21 PM on June 8, 2004

Well, he'd be an idiot if he wasn't.

Bremer's showing some bravery too. If he were merely trying to save his skin, he'd be living full time in bunker deep underneath the Green Zone - like a mole.
posted by troutfishing at 9:55 PM on June 8, 2004

like a mole, posting poorly worded fpps that are have little actual relationship to the content of their links? And, with lots of distracting formatting?
posted by shoos at 4:57 PM on June 9, 2004

shoos - why not bring your complaint to Metatalk?
posted by troutfishing at 7:47 PM on June 9, 2004