Friend or Foe??

How is Iraq like Vietnam? One parallel is you can't tell who the enemy is. An Oregon National Guard unit recently discovered a cash of arms at an Iraqi police station across the street from their headquarters.

BAGHDAD -- When Oregon Army National Guard soldiers discovered a huge stash of guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades this week, it wasn't the size of the cache that surprised them.
Rather, it was the location they found unnerving. The weapons were discovered at an Iraqi police station across the street from the Oregon Guard's headquarters at Patrol Base Volunteer.

Soldiers wondered why police officers would need explosives and weapons typically associated with the insurgents who fight against U.S.-led forces.

And the guardsman wonder why the police needed such arms and who the intended to use them against.

One thing is certain: The discovery has stirred feelings of unease among soldiers about whom they can rely upon in a country where the line between friends and enemies is murky.

"You don't know who to trust," said Staff Sgt. James Way, 33, of Portland.

Way was one of the soldiers who confiscated the store of weapons Tuesday. He echoed the feelings of several soldiers, who said they don't like the thought of Iraqi police -- supposedly their allies in the battle with insurgents -- being allowed to reclaim the rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. "If we give the cops (back) this stuff, it's going to be shot at us," he said.

I was in the military during the Vietnam war and although I was never in Vietnam I knew many who were. The one thing they consistently told me was "you never know who the enemy is". Sounds like deja vu all over again.