Insurgents

Advice To An Insurgent:

This is from the AP, but I don't see it on Google News yet. I'll post the majority of the piece, for your edification. It's called, "Cyber-sympathizers of Fallujah insurgents offer instructions on how to
confront the Americans."

Fill balloons with hydrogen after packing them with explosives and when U.S. aircraft prowl over Fallujah, let them loose against the planes.

"Damn! Those F-16s are fast! Ok, next time let it loose, er, two minutes before the plane flies over."

That is among the numerous examples of unsolicited advice offered to Fallujah insurgents on Islamist Web sites which are rooting for the guerrillas they prepare to face an anticipated American assault.

Over the past few days, the Islamist Web sites have featured tips on the
simplest and most effective tactics to combat the Americans, who are awaiting
orders from interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi to launch an all-out assault.

One contributor posted a picture of an American soldier stepping over a piece
of orange cloth, which the writer said was used by U.S. forces to identify
themselves and guard against friendly fire.

The author, who signed his name as "Weirdo One," suggested the insurgents,
popularly known as mujahedeen, could don orange cloth to confuse the Americans
about who was friend or foe.

"To our mujahedeen, here you can deceive the Americans," he wrote. "Think
about it."

"No, really. Everybody put on these 'Hunter Blaze' vests. Marines are conditioned from birth not to shoot that color."

The same contributor posted a satellite picture showing how smoke from burning tires or oil tanks can blacken the sky and make it difficult for aircraft to track insurgents.

Others urged the people of Fallujah to leave their houses after boobytrapping
them with explosives - a tactic U.S. commanders say they expect to be used
against them in Fallujah. Contributors recommended Fallujah people dig tunnels
and hide underground until the Americans stop the assault.

Another tipster urged Fallujah to use loudspeakers in the city's numerous
mosques "to warn the mujahedeen and give them signals" about the tactical
situation.

Beneath that message, another contributor advised fighters that if they can
capture American pilots, "make sure to interrogate them to know where they
launch their warplanes and how they track their targets."

Hint: If you don't already know the answers to those questions, you're not going to win this one.

Although some of the advice seems outdated, other contributors displayed some knowledge of modern infantry tactics.

"Be careful of the electronic devices with which missiles can track down the
mujahedeen because they were the ones that caused most harm in Afghanistan,"
wrote one contributor under the name Abu al-Qaqaa.

NY Times reader, that one.

To the Marines, the soldiers, the aviators, the Iraqi National Guard, and to the Black Watch:

Good hunting.