Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Will Each Iraqi voter get their own US Trooper Escort to the Polls?

Looks like with the increase in number of troops in Iraq, each eligible voter in Iraq will get their own gun toting troop to escort them to the polls. Shall we charge the going rate for military escorts to recoup the costs?

Humm....150,000 troops in Iraq
about 22.2 million Iraqi citizens...

Doing that math, that is approximately 1 Troop per 148 citizens...

Should be a good ratio no to take up a collection and pay the occupation, no?

While they tromp to each polling station, they could pass around a hat to pay for the protection, a la the mafia....

I can see it now(using the Marlon Brando Godfather marshmallow speaking technique)..."Hey, youse guys, if you want us to make sure nothin' happens to yas, this next week, perhaps you should show us some good faith...ya know, a little green to keep us around..."


1 comment:

Unknown said...

This just in from an email by my dad. I figured there were better numbers out there, and did realize that the numbers I had were estimates...read on if you'd like a better breakdown of the situation:

"The ratios below are for combat troops. There are also support troops. E. g: it takes about 100 people to keep one plane in the air. Cooks, mechanics, laundry, truck drivers, electronic techs, construction types, etc.. The ratio is a little lower for less technical military trades. Every trooper is a bundle of electronics, helmet radios, laser sights, someone has to keep everything running. In the civilian world, everyone maintains their own truck. That doesn't happen in a combat zone, someone is tasked at the motor pool. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html = Iraq Population 25,374,691 (July 2004 est.) 150,000 troops. 2 12-hour shifts. 75,000. 1/3 in reserve. 50,000. 25000000/50000=500 people/trooper NYC employs 40,000 cops, on 3 shifts, to police 6,000,000. Multiply cops and citizens by 4, 160,000 cops, 24,000,000 people. Not many NYrs are trying to kill the cops. Therein lies the difference. More or less. We have some good info from #1 on body armor mfr, webbing, for our Green Beret friend about to be deployed. He can't say where, for operational security 'til after it happens, but the news reports say they're upping the numbers in Iraq by 10,000 in advance of the January elections.