Dispatches from Iraq.
American Progress Senior Fellow and former Reagan Pentagon official Lawrence Korb just returned from Iraq. His report:
I had an interesting discussion with an Iraqi official who is close to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He made several intriguing observations. First, in their video conferences, Maliki and Bush do not really communicate. The official also noted that in his discussions with visiting members of Congress there is really not much dialogue, with both sides giving canned presentations. Second, the U.S. military and State Department do not really work well together and General George Casey would complain to Iraqis about the former U.S. Ambassador to iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Third, the insurgency got started when the Americans failed to take control after the overthrow and the Iraqis realized that the American military was not invincible–that is, its soldiers were human beings who displayed the full range of emotions, including fear. Fourth, do not believe anyone who tells you that the situation is getting better.
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43 Responses to “Dispatches from Iraq.”
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Busch can’t communicate with English speaking people.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:52 pmI certainly wasn’t imagining him having any kind of communication with someone who speaks another language…
Time for the White House to start smearing former Reagan Pentagon officials.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:53 pmI only have one comment - we are f^cked.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:55 pmI only have one comment - we are f^cked.
Comment by WaltTheMan
That’s what I was going to say….
April 16th, 2007 at 8:58 pmThe ONLY people who don’t know things aren’t getting better…
…are the suicide 30% Bushite deadenders…
April 16th, 2007 at 8:59 pmI suggest the reading of the report as posted by taking the link. Great commentary. Just get clearer that what is being attempted is not working and wont work.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:02 pmWhat a bloody horror show.
Why does Lawrence Korb hate our freedom, despise America, coddle Osama bin Laden, bring comfort to our enemies, embolden Al Qaeda, support the terrorists, etc, etc, etc…
April 16th, 2007 at 9:04 pm3,310 us troop’s lost, more than 650,000 men women and children killed in Iraq…..25,000 us troops maimed….How many Iraq’s maimed or broken beyond repair?…Where is the outrage.?…I grieve…..Blessings all
April 16th, 2007 at 9:07 pmI think it’s odd that Kolb didn’t see many U.S. soldiers in the neighborhoods outside of the Green Zone. Wasn’t that the point of the “surge?”
April 16th, 2007 at 9:10 pm3,310 us troop’s lost, more than 650,000 men women and children killed in Iraq…..25,000 us troops maimed….How many Iraq’s maimed or broken beyond repair?…Where is the outrage.?…I grieve…..Blessings all
Comment by Sharon
I am outraged, Sharon. I grieve with you, and so many others.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:16 pmI guess they didn’t take Korb shopping for $5 rugs.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:21 pmDon’t listen to this Jake, truth just gets in the way of what we believe.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:21 pmI think that most people in this country are outraged, we voted against this president and at least in the 2006 election, against the war (by voting in those who can make a change). The ball is squarely in our (congress) court. I hear some on capitol hill expressing outrage, but so far it’s all been hot air. The proof will be in the pudding, congress needs to ACT!
April 16th, 2007 at 9:28 pmYes, clink the link to the Korb report, it’s brief.
Don’t forget to reread the Conclusion, following here:
To say that Iraq in general and Baghdad in particular are much worse than on my last visit would be an understatement. It is hard to believe that after about 3,300 deaths, about 25,000 wounded, an expenditure of $500 billion, and two national elections things could be this bad. (The day I left was the day that the Parliamentarians were killed and the al-Sarafiya bridge was blown up.)
The real issue is if the latest surge will work. The most optimistic projection was “maybe temporarily.†But most people speaking off the record believe that the insurgents will shift to other areas and lay low for a while in Baghdad.
I knew that the Iraqi government was not very effective, but I had no idea it was so bad. The national government already has 34 cabinet-level ministries and is creating about five more. The best civil servants have been de-Baathified and left the country (in fact, I ran into a couple of them at the Baghdad Airport on my way out). The remaining two million civil servants are underpaid, have little motivation, and are hamstrung by a set of rules and regulations that combines the worst elements of Soviet and American bureaucracies.
No one in or out of the American or Iraqi government seemed to have a good answer to my question: “how does it end?†On the back of this visit, I am more and more convinced that we must take control of our own destiny by setting a specific timetable for withdrawal. Currently, our fate is in the hands of an Iraqi government that does not have any real incentive to get its act together and does not even seem to understand the gravity of the situation or the declining level of support in the United States.
While I did not see as many soldiers as on my last visit, the ones I spoke to were clearly dispirited about the repeated deployments and the three-month extension.
April 16th, 2007 at 9:32 pmThird, the insurgency got started when the Americans failed to take control after the overthrow
So you mean Rumsfeld, when he said free people are free to loot and destroy the country, was actually enabling terrorists?
Why whoda thunk?
April 16th, 2007 at 9:34 pmWhat do the US troops think they’re fighting for? Freedom & Democray? or the Fortune 500?
April 16th, 2007 at 9:58 pmWasn’t that the point of the “surge?â€
Comment by impeachcheneythenbush — April 16, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
The point of the surge is probably just for Bush to get the emergency funding bill passed so he has more money to steal for his cronies.
April 16th, 2007 at 10:37 pmThe point of the surge is probably just for Bush to get the emergency funding bill passed so he has more money to steal for his cronies.
Comment by Shane
The point is also to drag it out for as long as possible.
Bush has most liklely been brainwashed by Cheney, and company, to believe that the war can be won… whatever that means. So the simple minded Bush has been convinced to forge ahead, by his own selfish desire to leave behind some imagined legacy of being a great War President.
The fact is that Israel is steering US policy in the region, and as far as their strategic goals are concerned, they want chaos and genocide to spread. This will make it easier for them to eventually manipulate the Arabs into a position that benefits Israel’s expansionist goals.
Meanwhile. American soldiers are caught in the crossfire.
Heck of a job!
April 16th, 2007 at 10:48 pmgosh, that seems like a whole lot of “not really” happening.
April 16th, 2007 at 11:20 pmAs others have stated in articles (sorry I don’t have website - possibly from bussflash) that if we withdraw the troops from Iraq, the horrific state of our economy will be laid bare. We all know that the bushies cannot have that happen. So, it appears that they will go to any lengths to prolong our involvement in order to stop that from being made abundantly clear to those who do not already know just how bad our economy really is. So, it just keeps happening without an end in sight. This situation on top of all the other ‘New World Order’ plans for the world.
I echo - Heck of a job!
April 16th, 2007 at 11:25 pmBush will not end the occupation of Iraq as long as he is president. It was never about finding WMD, nor fostering democracy either, because it is about controlling Iraq’s vast OIL reserves. Notice that Sen. Hillary Clinton has stated recently that if she becomes president, then she will continue the occupation of Iraq to control the OIL. Senators of both parties are in bed with the OIL CARTEL, so they want US troops to remain there till most of the OIL has been extracted.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:01 am“Do not believe anybody who tells you things are getting better”.
That really goes without saying. All one need to do to figure this all out is to go to http://icasualties.org/oif/
61 Americans killed in the first 15 days of April; this coming off 4 straight months of at least 80 killed. Iraqi’s killed in March at the highest level since last September.
How stupid does Bush think the American people are? Bush has simply never had the acumen necessary to be President. So why does anybody listen to this imposter.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:08 amSo why does anybody listen to this imposter.
Comment by DallasNE
Because it’s easy.
Americans are all about easy, aren’t we? Can’t miss Survivor, gotta have all the latest gadgets, must drive in air-conditioned comfort in our SUVs. F*ck the world, I gotta be comfortable and enjoy my easy life — while b*tching the whole time.
Yep, that’s it. It’s easy.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:20 amOne of the most misleading numbers is the amount of soldiers killed. This figure does not include the mercenaries nor the support private contractors. Our military used to do all of these tasks so if a supply clerk got killed, he was include in the stats. Now the supply clerk is a private contractor so he doesnt get counted. So if you include all of these groups, the figure is more like 12,000 and not 3,300.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:22 amI looked at those pictures of the carnage in Iraq earlier today. I shouldn’t have. But I always do. I think it would have ended a long time ago if those images were MSMed.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:44 am“Jake for President”
I couldn’t help it, that’s funny.
April 17th, 2007 at 12:44 am“the insurgency got started when the Americans failed to take control after the overthrow and the Iraqis realized that the American military was not invincible”
No, I think they were just playing rope a dope.
They knew that America would get bigheaded.
They knew guerilla warfare beats traditional warfare, so just let them in and then fight them on your turf.
Strategy 101 - play to your strengths and against their weaknesses.
Fighters in an underdog position have to think.
Fighters will beat a civilian’s (Rumsfeld) strategy every time.
Martin Gifford.
April 17th, 2007 at 2:36 amThe only reason Jake isnt serving bravely in Iraq now is because the terms of his probation don’t allow him to go over 500 feet from his mother’s garage, or within 500 feet of children.
April 17th, 2007 at 2:40 amI have complete biographic info on Jake (or Jacob)
REALLY? Oh do share with the class. Is he a 75 year old korean war veteran like he says? May I ask how you found out this information? Inquiring minds..
April 17th, 2007 at 5:03 amYesterday, members of the Iraqi parliament representing all of those parties—Fadhila, Allawi’s bloc and the Sunni parties—held an unprecedented teleconference with a dozen members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, an event organized by Representative Jim McDermott (D.-Wash.). Fadhila’s Nadim al-Jaberi took part in the teleconference, and he minced no words. “Putting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is a very important step in giving Iraqis confidence that the occupation will end,†he said. Jaberi also added that by quitting the UIA, Fadhila has permanently splintered the Shiite bloc. “We have opened a very wide door in redrawing the Iraqi political map,†he said, hinting that Muqtada al-Sadr’s party might walk through that door and join the new bloc.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:04 amBritish forces are expected to shrink from 7,000 to just a few hundred troops in southern Iraq within two years, senior military sources said yesterday.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:08 amHaditha Iraq - A Field Base receives daily attacks from harassing insurgents.
Marine Field Base Under Fire
You have lost this war for sure
April 17th, 2007 at 7:12 amhere we go everyone LOOK AT THE BLOODY MESS you have left behind in ramadi ………… 30 minute drive though what looks like a Bombay shanti town ……… Disgusting
April 17th, 2007 at 7:24 amUS forces killed 3 Iraqi policemen in Ramadi yeaterday.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:43 amAnother friendly fire incident.
(Just how friendly is firing a gun, anyways?)
Thanks for that link, Tobey.
April 17th, 2007 at 7:51 amA city destroyed.
From the flooding in the streets, it appears infrastructure has
been demolished as well.
50,000 Iraqis a month flee the country. Many are now living in sqaulid conditions in Syria and Jordan. For some reason the US wants the EU to: pony up money to support the refugees and take in the refrugees.
Pardon me for seeming cynical but shouldn’t the people responsible for the mess be responsible for cleaning it up?
For those not paying attention that would be the US, UK, AZ, IT and Poland we can’t forget Poland.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:00 amThanks #34
Don’t tell me this war isn’t about oil.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:13 amThe purpose of the surge is to keep the whole house of cards from coming down until after Bush is out of office. Our soldiers are now fighting for the republican party.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:30 amThat, and their own lives…
April 17th, 2007 at 8:34 amYesterday, members of the Iraqi parliament representing all of those parties—Fadhila, Allawi’s bloc and the Sunni parties—held an unprecedented teleconference with a dozen members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, an event organized by Representative Jim McDermott (D.-Wash.). Fadhila’s Nadim al-Jaberi took part in the teleconference, and he minced no words. “Putting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is a very important step in giving Iraqis confidence that the occupation will end,†he said.
If the iraqis were smart enough to know when they were free, they would have freed themselves. We know whats best for iraq better than they do. The Iraqis should have no say in how long we stay.
April 17th, 2007 at 8:57 amI too would like to see Jake’s biographical info WaltTheMan
Can you please post it here or at least the link to it.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:26 amWe know whats best for iraq better than they do. The Iraqis should have no say in how long we stay.
Comment by Jake
Well, that’s all well and good, IF WE WERE PARENTS!!!!! We (America) are not the parents of Iraq. If they want us out, we should get out.
You know, Jake…they make pills to stop the advancement of Alzheimer’s now. I suggest you take it….
SULOGA!
April 17th, 2007 at 9:49 amIs there anyway to get the 30% Bush Deadenders on the frontline? You would think they would put up a better fight.
April 17th, 2007 at 10:08 am