The Truth about the Iraqi Security Forces
The Truth about the Iraqi Security Forces
Earlier this month, the Bush administration delayed the release of its Iraq progress report to Congress. When the documents were finally released, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld decided to keep “one of the main measures of progress” — “the readiness and performance of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces” section — classified from the American people.
Now the inspector generals of the State and Defense Departments have come forward to reveal that “insurgents and other criminals have infiltrated Iraqi police ranks due to poor screening procedures by U.S. forces.” Furthermore, the joint report does a dual pronged attack on President Bush’s constant harping on the number of Iraqi forces that have been trained.
The report reiterates “the difficulty in defining the number of police who are trained and equipped.” It then goes on to state, “This emphasis on numbers overshadows the attention that should be given to the qualitative performance of those trained. There is a perception that training programs have produced ‘cannon fodder’ — numbers of nominal policemen incapable of defending themselves, let alone the Iraqi public.”
The administration is already pushing back against the findings with Pentagon officials trying to paint the report as outdated — “a snapshot from two to three months ago” — and that “police recruiting has been improving.” Yet, at the same time they are calling the report old news that is already being resolved, officials are admitting that Rumsfeld has yet to have been briefed on the report’s findings…even though a draft copy has been available since May.
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Oh brother. The news just keeps getting worse and worse.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:22 amI feel like we could gain some international support in training Iraqi security forces if we could just throw this admin. in the dumpster and get some people in that were respectable. As opposed to liers, thieves etc. IMHO.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:32 amWhat faith can we put in anything that comes from Rumsfeld or the Pentagon? http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/25/military.release/index.html
Now if anyone stands up and says “We have 100,000″ or whatever trained Iraqis on the streets, can’t we get to see the report that Rummy has hidden away? What is the reason for hiding it? So that Rummy or Rice can say “We have 100,000 trained Iraqis on the streets” but refuses to back up the statement with the report? Am I missing something here – what is the purpose unless to lie flat out in the faces of the people? Wolf Blitzer, you useless berk, ask the damn question.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:35 amVia Atrios,
Surrender in the GWOT
http://blogoland.blogspot.com/2005/07/surrender-in-gwot.html
July 26th, 2005 at 11:45 amClassic Rummy quote from last Wednesday’s Press Briefing:
“One way is to look at it numerically”
So that’s it. Bush says our way out of Iraq is when the Iraqi troops are “ready”, and Rummy now says he gonna stop telling us anything about troops progress (but forget all the numbers thrown around over the past year, that was only “one way to look at it”).
The final stroke is in place. We’re there forever.
July 26th, 2005 at 11:51 amBush : “You forgot Poland”
(addressing Kerry in last year’s debate)
Poland withdrawing all 1500 troops in early 2006 :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4717527.stm
July 26th, 2005 at 11:55 amThe only bright spot in this article is that the people who took us to war have to deal with the repercussions. If Kerry had won and faced the quagmire, he would have had the same problems. The decision points that could have led to success have long since passed by.
July 26th, 2005 at 12:01 pmAside from the fact we should not have attacked Iraq in the first place, our lack of trained troops, significant allies, and a plan to secure the peace have led us to an untenable position.
Unfortunately those who suffer most are not in the administration; they are our troops, the Iraqi people, and those who are and will be hurt by terrorists trained in Iraq.
I sure don’t know where we go from here. Part of me doesn’t want to abandon the Iraqis. Part of me says they would be better off without us. Do you think anyone, given today’s circumstances, could be successful there?
Cee,
I have to disagree with you. I think that the Busheviks will evade the repercussions. I think that Bush will pardon anyone (Rove, Bolton, Libby) in Treasongate before the Fitzgerald can get close or they will shut Fitzgerald down (read the last para http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/bush/articles/2005/07/25/congress_plans_to_scrutinize_plame_related_issues/ ). I think that the Republican control of the remaining two branches of government will prevent any meaningful accountability. Iraq will descend into civil war, with or without the Americans and people made angry at the state terrorism in Iraq and now in Afghanistan enacted in your name and my name will continue to do whatever they can to have an impact on the dreadful fascist coup the BUsheviks have wrought. Unless you are prepared to go into the streets, your democracy is dead.
July 26th, 2005 at 12:08 pmOf course, back in April (i.e. “two or three months ago”), the military was happy to report that police training was going well. “Iraqi cadets are disciplined and excited.” The U.S. was “adequately training about 3,000 police per quarter.” In the words of Capt. Jeffery Withers, commander, 41st MP Company, Fort Hood, Texas, “We’re providing a quality police officer to go out on the streets and ensuring that they can self-sufficiently and securely police their own country.”
Now we hear that, although there was some “qualified success” with respect to the January elections, even now “the IPS is not yet capable of single-handedly meeting the security challenges.”
So why should we believe the military when it now claims that recently “police recruiting has been improving”?
July 26th, 2005 at 12:16 pmThis is the way giant out of balance egos operate. Always fronting to hide the lies. Always avoiding truth. It takes much energy to keep up appearances, no time left for substance or quality. I assume they live their personal lives in this manner also.
July 26th, 2005 at 12:54 pmAlmost always fronting to hide the lies. First it’s lie, lie, lie, and then when the reports or quotes or reality starts making its way out to the public, claim it’s old news and has been dealt with before.
July 26th, 2005 at 1:53 pmI am tired of the left critizing the Bush administration for the Iraq war. At the time, both parties supported the decision to go war. Period. We should be united in this time of war. I still believe it was the right decision despite of everything I have read or heard in the MSM. Liberals are wimps if all they want to do is to cut and run from these terrorists. If we pull out now, we might just as well admit defeat and turn our country over to these extremists. We will win in Iraq. Bush has the opportunity to go down in history as one of the greatest leaders ever by showing the courage to make tough decisions and to confront the terror headon, unlike Clinton who had a hardon during his whole presidency.
July 26th, 2005 at 2:16 pmSteve, you did turn your country over to the extremists:
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Worst president ever. Period.
July 26th, 2005 at 2:26 pmBut then Steve, maybe I should be less shrill. Some questions for you to ponder:
July 26th, 2005 at 2:44 pm(1) How many people hit the streets around the world to protest the Bush invasion? Did they agree with the Democratic party?
(2) On what basis did the Democrats agree to military action was it a free ticket or on the basis of failed new UN inspections compliance and proven WMD facts?
(3) Were there any WMDs or proven facts?
(4) Was there any ‘yellowcake’ sold to Iraq by Niger that so conveniently was used by Bush in SOTU 2003 to tip public opinion narrowly toward war?
(5) Who make up the majority of anti-US fighters in Iraq?
(6) Does the US military think that they are in a game of ‘capture the flag’ or do they think that they are creating more ‘terrorists’ every time they kill someone? How many new ‘terrorists’ – your best guess please.
(7) Did the 1930s Germans like Hitler because he was a racist thug or because he was “one of the greatest leaders ever by showing the courage to make tough decisions” ?
I agree with Steve to a point. Too many senators and too many journalists folded under the threat of being labeled unpatriotic. Many were gullible enough to expect the president to do what he said he would and exhaust all means to avoid war. However, the administration controlled access to intelligence and tailored it to their purpose. The administration “rushed to war” without preparing for peace. (Seems like I’ve heard that before, but it’s still true.)
July 26th, 2005 at 4:05 pmI beleive the president was diplomatically challenged. He lacked the experience to know how to deal with Saddam other than in the black/white paradym he often uses. The administration did not adequately prepare for war; they ignored or trashed any disagreement. And they continue to perpetuate the fallacy that “We will fight them there so we don’t have to fight them at home.” Ask people in London if that is true.
A strategist might have saved the billions we have spent and are spending and will spend and used it more wisely.
We knew Iraq was likely to become a quagmire. The administration ignored voices that said so.
It is Bush’s war.
So if you agree with Steve – is that completely or only in part?
The piece that I find most disconcerting with you Americans is that you easily confuse ‘commander-in-chief’ loyalty without question with the office of the president. The duty of an informed citizenry is to question government mainly I suspect to stop the government doing nasty things to people in the peoples’ name (I paraphrase Jefferson I think there). It is not to follow same band of idiots or mass-murdering fascists into one blunder after another simply because ‘we should be united in this time of war’.
July 26th, 2005 at 4:16 pmI agree with Steve that many Democratic senators and journalists went along with the president and did not challenge his point of view sufficiently. People who should have known better bought into the “preemptive war” concept. And once it was clear the major premise, WMDs, were not to be found….the administration couldn’t just say “oops, sorry”, they (and we)were and are in too deep.
July 26th, 2005 at 4:28 pmSo I think you answer my question about the ‘commander-in-chief’ issue: you are struggling to bring yourself to say – it’s Bush’s War so get him and his Politburo out and put someone in who can at least admit mistake and seek a solution without baggage. Steve is unequivocal – like 100,000 lemmings saying ‘we’re in this together lads’ as they are waved off the cliff by the leader.
July 26th, 2005 at 4:37 pmI think that right wing talk radio tour through Iraq should prove Bush right by employing only Iraqi police for security.
July 26th, 2005 at 4:53 pmBush is/was wrong about the war….going into it, not planning for it, directing it, and justifying it. But he will be commander-in-chief for three more years. I cannot rejoice that events continue to prove his ineptness….because our troops are paying for it with their blood. The best I can hope for is that our military in Iraq will overcome his lack of leadership skills and that we can contrive a swift, honorable exit. And this article doesn’t sure doesn’t make that seem likely.
July 26th, 2005 at 4:56 pmStill Hot. Still Humid. Still Blogging
On-air blogs and bonus blogs from The 5:30 Report with Doug Krile on KWBF in Little Rock, AR
July 26th, 2005 at 5:25 pmI am tired of the left critizing the Bush administration for the Iraq war.
I know how you feel. Come to the Mens Room. Karl is here. Bring him some tissue paper. He’s leaking again, from both ends.
July 26th, 2005 at 7:14 pmDoes anybody not read the weekly Iraq updates at globalsecurity.org? Selecting info from MSM who aren’t even there ain’t cutting it for me. I’m surprised that we don’t get links to actual goals, statistics, trends, reports and accomplishments here at thinkparanoid.org. Come to think of it I haven’t seen even one USAID story at a liberal website. Why not?
July 26th, 2005 at 9:47 pmIf the question is: Should we believe the government? it’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? They don’t even believe each other.
July 27th, 2005 at 4:32 pmParsing Steve:
July 28th, 2005 at 3:19 pmI am tired of the left critizing the Bush administration for the Iraq war. [Take a nap, Steve, you'll get over it.] At the time, both parties supported the decision to go war. Period. [No, not period. We essentially have one party in Washington, the Corpocrats. In our 'democracy' any other party is barred from running.] We should be united in this time of war. [No, we shouldn't be united in support of a war that is immoral, illegal under international law and un-Constitutional.] I still believe it was the right decision despite of everything I have read or heard in the MSM. [Then you don't care abour tens of thousands of dead and maimed innocent people, but maybe you couldn't catch those details in the corporate MSM -- try antiwar.com for the truth.] Liberals are wimps if all they want to do is to cut and run from these terrorists. [We are the principal terrorists with our rockets, cluster bombs, napalm, and indiscriminate killing, and there were no terrorists in Iraq until we invaded and occupied.]If we pull out now, we might just as well admit defeat and turn our country over to these extremists. [Steve, there's a time to hold and a time to fold.] We will win in Iraq. [Our 'victory' has already been achieved -- a Muslim Fundamentalist Iraq closely allied with 'Axis of Evil' Iran. Some victory, Steve.] Bush has the opportunity to go down in history as one of the greatest [war ciminals] ever by showing the courage to make tough decisions and to [initiate] the terror headon, unlike Clinton who had a hardon [headon?] during his whole presidency. [I detect a hint of jealousy here. Take a little Viagra after your nap, Steve.]
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