I've seen a lot of CIBs and combat patches from the video feeds. These ain't support MOS's on the ground, they appear to be mostly combat arms.
Rumor control has it they're being issued live ammo and deadly force has been authorized.
All confirmed
Y'know...this whole thing is out of the same playbook we use in occupied territories.
I remember the same checkpoint system being used in Baquba during Iraq's first election.
My gut tells me they're there to keep people in, not out.
Here's the weird thing about that gut feeling -- do you really need tens of thousands of combat troops to manage a couple hundred VIP "prisoners"? Pretty sure a single 20-something soldier with a rifle can manage at least a couple 70 year old congressmen.
I do think there's a "keep them in" aspect to all this, but I bet its for more than that. At minimum, optics to send some sort of message. At maximum, defense of a "prison" from an organized group that would seek to break them out.
Yes - and if the reports are true that they're checking cars leaving the city, it certainly supports what you're saying.
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