Tuesday, September 13, 2005

On the Eastern borders of Syria...

Joshua Landis at Syria Comment just posted an entry that focused on American-Iraqi efforts to impose order on Western Iraq, and the Syrian role in the entire affair. After reading his post, I thought it would be timely to post a picture of this fort, which the Americans are building along the Iraqi-Syrian border.




I got the picture from this website. You can read details of how the Americans are planning to use these forts and how many they are planning to build by clicking on this link.

Addendum: These forts kind of remind me of Lego toys. However, there is something about them that also reminds me of ruins in Jordan that were once a string of Roman forts. They protected a trade route, and were situated on hill-tops as far as the eye could see. Soldiers communicated with each other by fire during night times.

But really, something bothers (or rather, tickles) me about these forts. Aren't they kind of anachronistic? Haven't the days of forts come to an end? Why do they look so stereotypical... almost like the plans were taken straight from a cartoon? Maybe I'm a bit surprized because I'm not a military person, but I do consider myself to be a relatively well-informed layman. Anyways, however usefull they turn out to be, the forts definitely are eye-catching. I'm not so sure how the soldiers who man them will feel about that!

6 comments:

Lazarus said...

Interesting link!

Raja said...

Lazarus, thanks. I randomly bumped into it while browsing the net. It's a great source of pictures and news pertaining to military developments around the world. Don't bother with the commentary though. Very gung-ho, lets-conquer-the-world type... if you know what I mean!

Lazarus said...

btw raja, the Addendum is great :D I was thinking the same tihng. The castles even even have round edges ... maybe they think that 200 years from now, these "crusader castles" will become touristic spots.

Raja said...

lol hummbumm! funny! I'm sure someone some where is gonna jump on that one!

Raja said...

okay, assuming this picture is real... I just noticed the stone pebbles that suround the fort. My assumption is that they were placed there so that anyone trying to sneak up on the guards would make some noise. So much for a surprize attack then...

But wait... don't airconditioning units make noise too? Especially when they're not properly maintained? And when there are so many of them? Maybe a surprize attack is not so unfeasible afterall.

You know what this thing looks like. It seems like some civilian contracting company that has contacts with the Bush administration got the contract to build these things. Since their only qualifications were their political contacts, they stole the design of these forts from a computer strategy game like Dungeons and Dragons, or Command & Conquer or something.

Anonymous said...

Actually, these "forts" look like the exact same design as the other police stations in Iraq that have been around for so many years. I believe the old border guard forts look the same, too. The only difference I see is a new color, some nice gravel, and a sporty blue racing stripe.