U.S. Soldiers Say Administration Exaggerated Role Of Iraqi Troops In Basra Offensive
U.S. Soldiers Say Administration Exaggerated Role Of Iraqi Troops In Basra Offensive
Earlier this month, the southern Iraqi city of Basra was engulfed in violence as radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calling for the “downfall of the U.S.-backed government.”
As Reuters noted, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s crackdown on the militias largely “backfired, exposing the weakness of his army and strengthening his political foes ahead of elections.” Yet the Bush administration and its allies have attempted to portray this violence as a success, demonstrating the capability of the Iraqi army:
– “It was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law.” [President Bush, 3/27/08]
– “This is an Iraqi led and Iraqi initiated operation. And this is what we’ve been wanting to see the Iraqis do is take on more responsibility.” [White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, 3/25/08]
– “As you know, we saw a thousand police and military desert their posts. But the rest of the military did a pretty good job, did a pretty good job. We did secure the port of Basra. Maybe I’m digging for the pony here.” [Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 4/15/08]
– “We’re going to talk about Iraq and the Iraqi offensive, which I think, in a sense, is good news. Because it’s the Iraqi government, who’s mostly Shi’ite, taking on Shi’ite outlaw militias in the southern part of the country and this is after all what the whole point of the surge.” [Fox News's Chris Wallace, 3/28/08]
According to a new Time magazine article, some U.S. troops are bristling at all the undue credit being lavished upon the Iraqi forces:
And at least one American soldier said he was angry that the role of Iraqi troops was exaggerated after the battle. “A gunfight broke out and we were fighting [the Mahdi Army] for about four hours,” the soldier told TIME. “The army article made it sound like we were just there supporting the Iraqi Army, but we did all the work. We just had four humvees out there with some Iraqi [troops].”
Another soldier at Forward Operating Base Kalsu in north Babil said he has little confidence in the battle abilities of the Iraqi forces. “Sometimes they start shooting because they heard or saw something, but then there’s nothing there,” he said.
Time adds that even Iraqi commanders, “hailed by the Americans and boastful of their recent fights, are doubtful of whether their troops could ultimately stand alone.”
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We say that we’ll stand down when they stand up, but we try to kill anyone who stands up while the people we train are sitting down.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:10 pm“Yet the Bush administration and its allies have attempted to portray this violence as a success, demonstrating the capability of the Iraqi army..”
“This is an Iraqi led and Iraqi initiated operation. And this is what we’ve been wanting to see the Iraqis do is take on more responsibility.”
Time to BRING THE TROOPS HOME!
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 pmIf the Iraqi troops are so effective, that means we can leave right? That was the deal.
-AF
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:19 pmAndrew Sullivan Is A Fraud
Of all the statements made above, this is the only one that rings true.
Maybe I’m digging for the pony here.” [Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 4/15/08]
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:20 pmAdministration Exaggerated Role Of Iraqi Troops In Basra Offensive…
Really, who-da-thunk-it? Our Administration being anything less than truthful…? Couldn’t happen.
Snark/in perpetual overdrive!
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:29 pmGet out of here. Look, this is an untried, green Iraqi military and you can expect them to be pretty ragged out of the gate. It is not like Iraqi government has had years to put together an army with training and support from the only remaining super power in the world . . . NEVER MIND.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:41 pmViolence is UP = THE SURGE IS WORKING.
Violence is DOWN = THE SURGE IS WORKING.
Like…DUH.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm– “As you know, we saw a thousand police and military desert their posts. But the rest of the military did a pretty good job, did a pretty good job. We did secure the port of Basra. Maybe I’m digging for the pony here.” [Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 4/15/08]
Yup, McNumbNuts. You’re digging for a pony alright. Let us know when you find it.
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:48 pm> that means we can leave right?
just a few more friedmans…
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:00 pmThey’re only standing up to slaughter other militias to gain an advantage in the upcoming elections.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:07 pmThis is a democracy?
Of course they did — they LIE about EVERYTHING.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm4046 have lost their lives in this futile, senseless, immoral and unwarranted invasion/occupation.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:52 pmboy, the trolls are reeeeeelly afraid of having a black man as president. I guess the cognitive dissonance that will come from having their racist stereotypes clash with with the realization that the smart half of the country doesn’t care what color the president is will soil the backs of their sheets for years to come.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:57 pmMarie Says:
4046 have lost their lives in this futile, senseless, immoral and unwarranted invasion/occupation.
The 750,00 to 1,000,000 Iraqis matter as well.
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:58 pmThis is the year that the rest of the country leave behind the ignorant racists to ponder their fate and possibly begin to realize that they have been mistaken and backward.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 pmOf course they lied about it. Exaggeration is too kind of a word to use. When the story came out that over 1,000 refused to fight, even turning over their weapons to the Mahdi Army, it was crystal clear that they weren’t doing any serious fighting. Other stories made it sound like a good deal of what fighting there was came from the Badr Brigade militia (no call for them to lay down their arms either).
With ever more stop loss orders, more felons being waived, etc. the regular Army will be fed up pretty soon and have some dicipline problems of their own. This has dragged out far too long already. The troops need to come home for their and our own good.
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:26 pmZed Lefflin #9: Way to inject an utterly irrelevant, impossibly stupid (even for the Blogosphere in general) anti-Obama political comment into a thread about Iraq. Obama responsible for Chicago crime? So I guess that means Hillary’s responsible for all the murders in New York too, right?
One thing she is responsible for: Considering Hillary Clinton’s bloodthirsty desire to obliterate Iran and continue the mass murder in Iraq, I’d say she’s even worse than George W. Bush and John McCain combined as far as a desire to start stupid wars. She’s doomed to lose the contest for being nominee (she’s now way too far behind in pledged delegates, votes and states) but even as a member in the Senate, she’s inclined to continue attacking Iran and encouraging war against them. A pox on her and the Clintons in general.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:57 amI’m sure some of these writers use the term ‘Iraqi Army’ as a sort of joke. It’s like ‘compassionate conservative’, or, one I spotted today: American softheartedness.
The attack on Iraq was a criminal enterprise that has, and will, cause the U,S. nothing but shame and dishonor. This was a stupid and murderous undertaking initiated by greedy and narrow-minded psycopaths for their own enrichment. They’ve destroyed Iraq, New Orleans, habeus corpus, the middle class and the U.S. itself. A terrorist could not have done a better job.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 pmI’m sure some of these writers use the term ‘Iraqi Army’ as a sort of joke. It’s like ‘compassionate conservative’, or, one I spotted today: American softheartedness.
The attack on Iraq was a criminal enterprise that has, and will, cause the U,S. nothing but shame and dishonor. This was a stupid and murderous undertaking initiated by greedy and narrow-minded psycopaths for their own enrichment. They’ve destroyed Iraq, New Orleans, habeus corpus, the middle acer btp-39d1 battery,acer btp-620 battery class and the U.S. itself. A terrorist could not have done a better job.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:00 am