"The principal task of our military is to find and defeat the terrorists,and that is why we are on the offense. And as we pursue the terrorists, our military is helping to train Iraqi security forces so that they can defend their people and fight the enemy on their own. Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down." George bush, in a speech at Ft. Bragg, June 28, 2005

"At George Washington University I reported on the progress we have made in training the Iraqi security forces, the growing number of Iraqi units that are taking the lead in the fight, the territory we're handing over to them, and the performance they turned in after the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra." - George bush, Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2006

Up to 70,000 troops to patrol Baghdad

Bush's trip comes as at least 70,000 troops -- most of them Iraqi -- prepare to deploy Wednesday on the streets of Baghdad in an effort to bring security to the Iraqi capital, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry.

The additional security will include Iraqi police, police commandos, soldiers and emergency police as well as U.S.-led coalition forces, the ministry said. - CNN, June 13, 2006;


Sunni official: Iraq may seek U.N. troops

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi politicians are considering a formal request for U.N. troops to provide security, a Sunni official said on Tuesday, as attackers killed as many as 37 people across the country.

Alaa Makki -- a spokesman for the country's largest Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accord Front -- said it took six hours for Americans to respond to the killing of at least 40 unarmed Sunnis in western Baghdad Sunday. Iraqi security forces didn't respond at all, he said. - CNN

Baghdad has a population of less than 5 million. They have more armed forces (police, army, etc) than New York and Los Angeles combined, and yet it seems that dozens die every day. And now they want UN forces because what they have, including US troops,isn't enough. It's time to call in St. Jude. CNN has an article which describe men being killed because they had the wrong first name. (It gave away their Sunni/Shia affiliation.) We started this mess, but we cannot fix it, and things will continue to get worse until after we leave, and then they can settle their own differences. We can no longer help, if we ever did. We don't even control Baghdad.

(St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes.)

That Sunni guy may be on to something. Hold St. Jude for a while longer, Suppose the U.N would send a sufficiently large force to regain and maintain discipline and restore order, and the U.S were withdrawn, but pick up the tab for the Indian, Indonesian, Dutch, Japanese, and whatever. We would probably save money in the long run, as well as some 'face'. Possible?

We have already paid several of the "Coalition of the Willing" both in cash and materiel. That was the only reason some of them became willing. I know Macedonia got Humvees, and several countries got the newer body armor well before our own troops got it. I posted about this quite a while back, but I suspect that the thread is long gone.

While I agree that it certainly would be cheaper to hire Hessians, that seems to go against US tradition. However, sonce we have already done so, in a matter of speaking, we may as well go for the whole enchilada. Maybe we should let the corporate officers of Halliburton fight the war. They got paid enough.

quote:

Originally posted by DorianGreyed:

"At George Washington University I reported on the progress we have made in training the Iraqi security forces, the growing number of Iraqi units that are taking the lead in the fight, the territory we're handing over to them, and the performance they turned in after the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra." - George bush, Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., March 29, 2006

Wasn't it the U.S. who bombed both Baghdad and Samarra to kingdom come, about 3 years ago?

Of course, such blatant hypocrisy is no big surprise, considering the source.