What concerns me, is that the Bush administration's stated goal is to have the Iraqi forces be able to take care of their own "freedom" before we can go home. After 2.5 years, there is only one battalion that has been deemed ready for that task. That my friend is an appalling record.
And as I stated, General Casey during the hearing said that some battallions fell out of readiness. He said it was because of training, equipment and personnel issues. All of that has been verified. Did I get an apology from you? Don't worry...won't be holding my breath for one.
And your link...from a later press conference, some reporter by virtue of his question apparently added what I call the "rubber tape measure" excuse. The Press Conference was definitely in damage control mode to try to put a happy face on the problem of equipping and training an Iraqi army to do the policing for us...er a them. Estimates that I have seen range from 5 to 10 years before the Iraqis can accomplish this goal. But after that Senate committee hearing, Rummy probably was asked by Bush to give some press conferences to put a positive spin on the previous days testimony.
I didn't feign not comprehending the "rubber tape measure" excuse. I was not aware of the subsequent spin session...er a press conference, since I only had information from the Senate Armed Services Committee, which I happened to catch part of on TV. The portion of the hearing that I saw...and what I read about it never mentioned the "rubber tape measure" excuse.
In the link to the transcript, the reporter asking the question about raising the bar must have been confused, as none of the participants talked about raising the bar. They do talk about fluctuating the way they measure things in response, but no one said their criteria went up...or down...only that it changed. The General was clear about the reasons the day before...and that was training issues and personnel losses. He also mentioned equipment. But nothing about the assertion that they raised the bar and this is what caused the reduction in readiness. The General answers the question about raising the bar...without answering it. Who asked that question anyway? Jeff Gannon?
It's obvious spin...I mean all that banter about not killing the rabbit...trying to direct the questioning and the answers. We never get a clear picture of what is happening. But clearly the task of creating an Iraqi army is huge. It's going to take even more American blood, money, equipment and training...about a decade's worth of it.
In the end, the situation in Iraq must be determined by Iraqis. To my my way of thinking the sooner that Iraqis are attending to their own issues the better.
It would have been better to try to steer Iraq from the outside in, rather than the destroy everything and then recreate it from scratch scenario that this administration has pushed on the nation. It is classic Nation Building at it's worst. An invasion based on "untruths".
If we continue on this path there will be 10,000 American dead, and a trillion dollars spent. Is this a sane policy? Or the policy of a mad man? I'd say that Bush is mad. Many agree with me, Including Brent Scowcroft, Norman Schwarzkopf, General Zinni, General Clark, General Shinseki and many many other brilliant military men, including General Powell who kept silent from the inside of the administration after it became clear that he would be, and ultimately was neutralized. That was verified last week by Powell's former Chief of Staff.
What will it take to turn around this collossal experiment in neocon imperialism gone bad?
I see three options:
One...Stay the course. Ten years from now, We will have lost our best fighting men and women, 10,000 or more. We will have drained our treasury by at least a trillion dollars. This would be the most idiotic use of resources, only to have Iraq descend into a Theocracy.
Two...Cut and run. Set a one year time table for complete withdrawal of US forces. Then hand over the reins.
Three...send in another 300,000 troops, US or Multinational, the goal being to bring security while the training and the equipping of Iraqi forces gets the attention that is needed. Set a time table for withdrawal as well, but at least by the end of the Bush administration.
Of these plans, I'm leaning towards number two, because basically I don't trust Bush and his neocons to be able to do three properly. They'll probably leave the mess for the next administration to clean up and continue to "stay the course" with plan one...if you can call it a plan.
Orca |
