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Diamond
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'The White House promised Thursday to allow Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, to testify in open session before congressional committees, denying reports that the administration had sought only private meetings with lawmakers...
...Assuming that Petraeus and Crocker do testify sometime the week of Sept. 10 before one or both of the Senate committees, they will be supplementing a report to Congress due Sept. 15 on Iraq’s progress in meeting 18 specific benchmarks.
The White House acknowledged that the benchmark report, required by the fiscal 2007 emergency supplemental spending law (PL 110-28), will be written by the NSC senior staff using input from Petraeus, Crocker, Central Command chief Admiral William J. Fallon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and other sources.
Previously, administration officials had repeatedly said the report would be based primarily on data from Petraeus and Crocker...' public.cq.com
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Diamond
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'U.S. forces launched an airborne assault on a desert compound south of Baghdad on Thursday, the first air strike in a major new offensive...' www.nytimes.comI guess the surge is actually starting, now. Dropping bombs and kicking in doors - that ought to sort things out in Iraq. 'The U.S. Army/Marine Counterinsurgency Field Manual says: "An operation that kills five insurgents is counter-productive if the collateral damage leads to the recruitment of 50 more insurgents."' www.thestar.com
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'VIEWED from Iraq at the tail end of a 15-month deployment, the political debate in Washington is indeed surreal. Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched. As responsible infantrymen and noncommissioned officers with the 82nd Airborne Division soon heading back home, we are skeptical of recent press coverage portraying the conflict as increasingly manageable and feel it has neglected the mounting civil, political and social unrest we see every day. (Obviously, these are our personal views and should not be seen as official within our chain of command.)..' The War as We Saw It
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quote: Originally posted by Scotty: quote: Mon Aug 20, 8:58 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New military tactics in Iraq are working but the best way to honor U.S. soldiers is "by beginning to bring them home," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told war veterans Monday
REF
Democrats see 'results' in IraqBy S.A. Miller August 21, 2007 "Mr. Levin joins a growing chorus of Democrats — including 2008 presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois — who say the troop surge has produced benefits, but who also bemoan failures of the fledgling Iraqi government they have repeatedly criticized for taking an August vacation." http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2...NATION/108210076/100 |
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| Posts: 133 | Location: Calif. | Registered: 08-01-07 | |
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quote: Originally posted by Charles B: quote: Originally posted by Scotty: quote: Mon Aug 20, 8:58 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New military tactics in Iraq are working but the best way to honor U.S. soldiers is "by beginning to bring them home," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told war veterans Monday
REF
Democrats see 'results' in IraqBy S.A. Miller August 21, 2007 "Mr. Levin joins a growing chorus of Democrats — including 2008 presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois — who say the troop surge has produced benefits, but who also bemoan failures of the fledgling Iraqi government they have repeatedly criticized for taking an August vacation." http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2...NATION/108210076/100
LMAO |
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| Posts: 133 | Location: Calif. | Registered: 08-01-07 | |
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quote: Originally posted by Scotty: quote: Mon Aug 20, 8:58 PM ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - New military tactics in Iraq are working but the best way to honor U.S. soldiers is "by beginning to bring them home," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told war veterans Monday
REF
The hall where the candidates spoke can seat 6,000 people, and both Clinton and McCain drew about half that for their late-morning speeches. The crowd was mostly friendly to Clinton and offered polite applause throughout her speech. McCain, a former Vietnam War prisoner of war, received a warmer reception and louder applause during his remarks. |
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| Posts: 133 | Location: Calif. | Registered: 08-01-07 | |
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Diamond
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Clinton doesn't seem to be suggesting anything much different to what will inevitably happen. Troops wil be coming home, and total numbers of soldiers deployed in Iraq reduced, simply because the surge is not logistically sustainable. The US is running out of army. 'The Army's 38 available combat units are deployed, just returning home or already tapped to go to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere, leaving no fresh troops to replace five extra brigades that President Bush sent to Baghdad this year, according to interviews and military documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
That presents the Pentagon with several painful choices if the U.S. wants to maintain higher troop levels beyond the spring of 2008..' news.yahoo.com The military itself may be planning withdrawl: 'U.S. military officials are narrowing the range of Iraq strategy options and appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces, a senior military official told The Associated Press on Monday...' news.yahoo.comIt is funny, in a tragic kind of way, though - Clinton echoing the Whitehouse spin about the surge "working", when soldiers on the ground have clearly said it isn't and can't. Will US voters actually be offered a choice on Iraq in the 2008 election - or will both candidates broadly agree? |
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quote: It is funny, in a tragic kind of way, though - Clinton echoing the Whitehouse spin about the surge "working", when soldiers on the ground have clearly said it isn't and can't. Will US voters actually be offered a choice on Iraq in the 2008 election - or will both candidates broadly agree?
What is more funny, is that a hand full of soldiers on the ground can convince you of anything, that is like a handful of cops in NY having the answer to crime in all the States. |
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| Posts: 133 | Location: Calif. | Registered: 08-01-07 | |
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quote: Originally posted by frankvan:
What I find is even funnier is that one or two die hard optimists can swallow the admninistration line of wishful thinking, hook, line, and sinker. Surely, it must be evident that unless and until we would ever be able to do the impossible and deploy sufficient troops on the ground to "surge" across the whole of Iraq, we can never manage to achieve anything a realist could call "success". Not than any of them have been able to explain what success would consist of - a shia theocracy, an IRA style Sunni rebellion, a never-ending banana republic with a permanent army of foreign occupation ? Get real!
Executive Summary OUR NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR VICTORY IN IRAQ: Helping the Iraqi People Defeat the Terrorists and Build an Inclusive Democratic State Victory in Iraq is Defined in Stages Short term, Iraq is making steady progress in fighting terrorists, meeting political milestones, building democratic institutions, and standing up security forces. Medium term, Iraq is in the lead defeating terrorists and providing its own security, with a fully constitutional government in place, and on its way to achieving its economic potential. Longer term, Iraq is peaceful, united, stable, and secure, well integrated into the international community, and a full partner in the global war on terrorism. |
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| Posts: 133 | Location: Calif. | Registered: 08-01-07 | |
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Diamond
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German Mag: US Military in Iraq More Successful Than World Wants To Believequote: By Noel Sheppard | August 14, 2007 - 14:35 ET
Read the following paragraph, and imagine it being written by a member of the mainstream media (emphasis added throughout):
Ramadi is an irritating contradiction of almost everything the world thinks it knows about Iraq -- it is proof that the US military is more successful than the world wants to believe. Ramadi demonstrates that large parts of Iraq -- not just Anbar Province, but also many other rural areas along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers -- are essentially pacified today. This is news the world doesn't hear: Ramadi, long a hotbed of unrest, a city that once formed the southwestern tip of the notorious "Sunni Triangle," is now telling a different story, a story of Americans who came here as liberators, became hated occupiers and are now the protectors of Iraqi reconstruction.
Shocking, yes? Probably written by The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol or some other conservative columnist, right?
Well, such is not the case, for this truly amazing article was published by Germany's Der Spiegel Friday, which as Ray Drake pointed out to his readers on Monday, has consistently been a staunch opponent to the Iraq war and George W. Bush.
That's all changed now (grateful h/t Say Anything):
When describing Iraq, the word "peace" is seldom used. Truth be told, the Americans have restored order to many parts of the county.
REFquote: More Americans Say Iraq Troop Surge is Working
August 9, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More adults in the United States are satisfied with their government’s strategy to deal with the coalition effort, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 31 per cent of respondents think the increase in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq is making the situation there better, up nine points since early July.
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| Posts: 3165 | Location: From the Mountains to the Sea. | Registered: 06-08-02 | |
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Diamond
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I'm a little confused. Are Scotty and Charles arguing in favor of Clinton's view of the surge, over that of Buddhika Jayamaha (Army specialist), Wesley D. Smith (sergeant), Jeremy Roebuck (sergeant), Omar Mora (sergeant), Edward Sandmeier (sergeant), Yance T. Gray (staff sergeant) and Jeremy A. Murphy (staff sergeant), all of them active duty soldiers fresh from the front?
I guess if you guys feel that politicians know better than people at the sharp end of things, you're entitled to your opinion, but I wouldn't have expected it of you.
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Diamond
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No doubt you'll be able to produce a letter written by some of these 'more than seven' to say how tickled they are with the progress of the surge.
You are, then, saying that Clinton is right and the assorted sergeants are wrong on the progress of the surge?
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Diamond
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On Ramadi, here's an interesting article from a while ago: 'At a meeting at a U.S. base in Ramadi in December 2005, reported by the London Sunday Times last February, a former Iraqi general, Saab al-Rawi, representing the Iraqi Sunni insurgents in the province, asked Gen. George Casey, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Ramadi and their replacement by a brigade of former soldiers from the area.
But Casey angrily refused, accusing al-Rawi of wanting a U.S. pullout so the insurgents could take over the city. The Iraqi general recalled that his forces had protected the city for six months after the fall of Saddam's regime. "You have not protected this city and can never do so," said al-Rawi, "for you are foreigners here -- unwanted and unwelcome."
The Shiite-dominated Iraqi government was more responsive to the Sunni plea. The Los Angeles Times reported Jan. 29 that national security adviser Mowaffak Rubaie acknowledged that the major Sunni resistance organisations were in an irreconcilable conflict with al Qaeda. "We are talking about two ideologies," he declared...' ipsnews.net One interpretation of what has happened in Anbar province (presumably not shared by Hillary, Charles and Scotty) is that the US has now agreed to the Sunni insurgents' demands - getting out of their way and even arming them. It's not "progress", more... what's the word? Ah, yes - withdrawal. 'American generals insist they are not creating militias. In contracts with the U.S. military, the sheiks are referred to as "security contractors." Each of their "guards" will receive 70 percent of an Iraqi policeman's salary. U.S. commanders call them "concerned citizens," evoking suburban neighborhood watch groups.
But interviews with ground commanders and tribal leaders offer a window into how the United States is financing a new constellation of mostly Sunni armed groups with murky allegiances and shady pasts.
The two-week-old initiative, inspired by similar efforts underway in Baghdad, Anbar and Diyala provinces, has more than halved attacks here against American troops, from 19 a day to seven, U.S. commanders said. But in a land of sectarian fault lines and shifting tribal loyalties, the strategy raises concerns about the long-term implications of empowering groups that steadfastly oppose the Shiite-led government.
Shiite leaders fear that the United States is financing highly trained and well-armed militias that could undermine the government after American troops withdraw. Shiites worry such groups could weaken central authority and challenge democratic institutions that many would like to see take root.
U.S. generals said they vet the backgrounds of every recruit, but ground commanders here said that is all but an impossible task.
"Officially, we will not deal with those who have American blood on their hands," said Balcavage, 42. "But how do you know? You don't. There's a degree of risk involved. A lot of it is gut instinct. That's what I'm going on. They didn't teach me how to do this at West Point."' www.washingtonpost.comBut, hey, what would Balcavage know? He's just a Lieutenant-Colonel in the thick of it. |
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