Interesting Take on the Bob Woodruff Ambush

An American soldier recently returned from Iraq has an interesting take on the ambush upon Bob Woodruff's ABC news crew.

The soldier, who goes by the handle "tricky dick" on DailyKos, thinks that Woodruff was embedded with an Iraqi Army (IA) unit to propagandize the American public into believing that the IA was ready to "stand up" so that the U.S. can "stand down."

This has been the stated U.S. military strategy. This would allow the United States to withdraw from Iraq and declare "victory." Bush would look like he won the war.

According to "tricky dick", the Iraqi army is not ready to fight on their own. He believes that infiltrators in the IA tipped off insurgents with the necessary details to ambush the ABC crew.

Here's his story:

As some of you know, I recently returned from Iraq. This Bob Woodruff story has been bothering me. Something about it stinks.

I have a theory about what likely happened. I think it's worse than we know.

Update - I suspect that Bob Woodruff was set up by insurgent spies working within the Iraqi Army, and that the US Military was unable to protect him. I want to be clear, this is no conspiracy theory. I am in no way suggesting that Bob Woodruff was working on behalf of the US government, as some are suggesting in the comments. I have the utmost respect for Bob Woodruff and do not question his journalistic integrity. I wish him a speedy recovery.

The biggest problem with Iraq is that the Iraqi Army (IA) is a complete joke. This is why the US Military is stuck there for the next decade, guaranteed. The GOP will get clobbered in the mid-terms if they can't figure out a way to convince the gullible American public that things are improving. That means some artificial troop reductions and a carefully orchestrated PR campaign... along with a significant amount of praying. We know the US is involved in negotiations with various insurgent groups, hoping to cut a deal with them. In short, the Bush Administration is terrified of losing the mid-terms and will do anything necessary to turn the tide with regards to the domestic political situation. They are desperate.

Tonight is the State of the Union Address. I believe that Woodruff was meant to be embedded with an IA unit in order to give the impression that the IA is making "good progress" in "standing up" so that the US can "stand down". Of course it's all a con game. I believe Bob Woodruff fell victim to an ill conceived attempt at propaganda.

First of all, I should tell you that while in Iraq, I was stationed at an IA training base in Diyala Province. I saw the IA train everyday. What first grabbed my eye about this story was that Woodruff was riding in an armored vehicle which was supposed to belong to the IA. The problem is that the IA doesn't have any armor. They drive around in Toyota pickup trucks. They are white with brown stripes and usually have M-60's (or a Russian equivalent) mounted on the back. They have zero tactical vehicles. I can't imagine they have acquired them in the last 90 days.

So where the hell did they get the armor?

My guess is that some IA unit was selected for a crash course in "how to drive a 113" or whatever in the hope of giving ABC News the impression that the IA was indeed becoming mechanized, which is an absolutely vital step towards them becoming effective. In short, this would have been very irregular and conspicuous activity for the IA to be engaged in. Again, the IA NEVER TRAIN IN OR OPERATE ARMORED VEHICLES!!!

Second, the IA is completely compromised by the insurgency. Once insurgents within Woodruff's embedded unit saw what was going on, it would have been all too easy for them to get the word out and set up an ambush. It certainly would have been in their interest to do so, they well understand the information war that is going on. They are probably aware that the US Government is actively engaged in PSYOPS against the US Public. They would have desperately wanted to kill Woodruff even as the US Military hoped to show "progress in Iraq".

Now look, I know I am speculating. But I don't think you people know how unlikely this attack was to be random. The area Woodruff was in is not that bad. It's not as if every single convoy gets nailed every time out. In 11 months, my vehicle was never directly targeted. The odds that the insurgents would happen to hit that particular convoy in that particular area is remote. The odds that they would hit Woodruff's vehicle is also a long shot. And they must have hit it hard. They inflicted serious injury on personnel who were riding in a well protected vehicle. Naturally the Army wouldn't send Woodruff out in a Toyota, they sent him out in a vehicle that was a hard target.

You see, most of the IED attacks in Iraq are ineffective. They usually wouldn't kill an armored vehicle. They are becoming more and more lethal, to be sure. But it is actually unusual, in my experience, to come across one that is potentially this destructive. This, however, was a complex attack. It was an (especially effective) IED attack followed by small arms fire. That, contrary to what you might think, simply does not happen every day. I don't believe that this is a coincidence.

For Woodruff to be out on patrol with an armored IA unit (which is something I have NEVER heard of) the day before the SOTU address, and then for him to be nailed by a devastating complex-IED attack... it stinks to high heaven.

I think the fix was in. One of the Hajis compromised Woodruff's mission, and he got hit with a well laid ambush. I've been screaming this to anyone who would listen, even the fools over at RedState (until I was banned), that this is the biggest problem with the Iraq War Strategy. The IA absolutely cannot be trusted. They are ineffective and unreliable. They are completely compromised by the insurgents.

It was another cheap, clumsy PR stunt from the Bush Administration. I believe Bob Woodruff has paid the price for it.

UPDATE II - I do not believe, nor will I entertain, any conspiracy theories. Just to be clear... I believe what happened was that Woodruff was compromised by the IA (which is entirely likely) and the US Military was unable to protect him. I don't know if anyone thinks I might subscribe to any of the ideas about the US Military deliberately targeting journalists. I don't believe that for a moment. It isn't true. Bob Woodruff was attacked by Iraqi Insurgents while pursuing an important story to the best of his ability. If there was any attempt to push phony PR on the American people, it was coming from the Pentagon, not ABC News. It would be inappropriate to make baseless accusations against ABC News at this time.

I wish Bob Woodruff and his family nothing but the best and it is my sincere hope that he fully recovers so that he can tell the world his story. I just felt the need to clear that up.

Update III - First of all I greatly appreciate all of the comments and will try to respond to all of your questions. Some have pointed out that the IA has received some Russian armored vehicles recently, from Syria. That's news to me. Still, wherever they got the stuff from, it is far outside the norm in the IA to have any units with any real armored vehicle equipment or training. I stand by my premise that this was a PR stunt intended to show that the IA is functioning like a competent, professional military when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. If there is a legitimate armored battalion in the IA (which I doubt) it is very much the exception. If such a unit exists, it is reasonable to think that the insurgents have an interest in it. The mere fact that a mechanized IA unit is so rare makes it an easy mark for the insurgents. I am sure that they have people on the inside who provide intelligence about the activities of this unit, if it exists. Woodruff was inherently at risk just by the fact that he was with this IA mechanized infantry outfit.

In my opinion, "tricky dick" is way too reluctant to consider a "conspiracy" in this matter. What does he think a set-up ambush is? Maybe by "conspiracy" he means an American conspiracy.

Or he must be a "coincidence" theorist.

Hat tip to Jill from Brilliant at Breakfast.