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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (276339)	2/24/2006 6:38:57 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1572550

re: Now, we need an honest to God deus ex machina to get out of this one with out a lot of dead Americans. This is the real world... not going to happen. We created this mess, we own it, but there is nothing left to do but let it play out because we don't control it. The lesson is lost on some of the "conservatives" on this thread and around the country.

To: combjelly who wrote (276339)	2/24/2006 3:48:27 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1572550

And it sucks being right. I personally prefer being wrong on this one, like I personally would love picking a winning lottery number. But it just doesn't look like either of those is in the cards. What I can't understand is why it is so blindingly obvious to us, but so damnably opaque to those making the decisions. The reason people don't see what's "blindingly obvious to others" is usually because they have a vested interested in maintaining the status quo......typically, that involves money but not always. Many Republicans are making big money off this war and their control of the gov't.......oil, defense, pork, tax cuts, etc. For the rest, its a matter of pride and as long as the war doesn't effect them personally, its better than a Clinton or a Kerry. A commonality running through most of the neocons, they are less concerned with the common good than the rest of us. What they don't realize is that's how revolutions start.

To: combjelly who wrote (276339)	2/25/2006 6:13:09 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572550

What the hell is going on? Are all of shortie's relatives working in the gov't? Another year of training has gone by and Iraqi fighting competence is worse, not better. I have to look it up in the Constitution.....can private citizens start impeachment proceedings........against the entire gov't? Pentagon: Iraqi troops downgraded No Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support Saturday, February 25, 2006 Posted: 0129 GMT (0929 HKT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The only Iraqi battalion capable of fighting without U.S. support has been downgraded to a level requiring them to fight with American troops backing them up, the Pentagon said Friday. The battalion, made up of 700 to 800 Iraqi Army soldiers, has repeatedly been offered by the U.S. as an example of the growing independence of the Iraqi military. The competence of the Iraqi military has been cited as a key factor in when U.S. troops will be able to return home. "As we see more of these Iraqi forces in the lead, we will be able to continue with our stated strategy that says as Iraqi forces stand up, we will stand down," President Bush said last month. [Full Story] The battalion, according to the Pentagon, was downgraded from "level one" to "level two" after a recent quarterly assessment of its capabilities. "Level one" means the battalion is able to fight on its own; "level two" means it requires support from U.S. troops; and "level three" means it must fight alongside U.S. troops. Though officials would not cite a specific reason for downgrading the unit, its readiness level has dropped in the wake of a new commander and numerous changes in the combat and support units, officials said. The battalion is still deployed, and its status as an independent fighting force could be restored any day, Pentagon officials said. It was not clear where the battalion is operating within Iraq. According to the congressionally mandated Iraq security report released Friday, there are 53 Iraqi battalions at level two status, up from 36 in October. There are 45 battalions at level three, according to the report. Overall, Pentagon officials said close to 100 Iraqi army battalions are operational, and more than 100 Iraq Security Force battalions are operational at levels two or three. The security force operations are under the direction of the Iraqi government. The numbers are roughly the same as those given by the president last month when he said 125 Iraqi combat battalions were fighting the insurgency, 50 of them taking the lead. "In January 2006, the mission is to continue to hand over more and more territory and more and more responsibility to Iraqi forces," Bush said. "That's progress." CNN's Mike Mount contributed to this report. edition.cnn.com