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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (749102)	9/12/2006 2:01:37 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769669

Great post....lays it all out.

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (749102)	9/13/2006 10:00:35 AM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Respond to of 769669

Kafkaesque Senior Marine Commander Iraq: "I have sufficient forces to carry out my mission" BUT "the mission does not include defeating the insurgency". Now HOW'S THAT for an honest statement! ====================================================== Grim Report Out of Anbar Is Disputed by General By MICHAEL R. GORDON nytimes.com WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 — The senior Marine commander in Iraq said Tuesday that he had sufficient forces to carry out his mission but that the mission did not include defeating the insurgency. “For what we are trying to achieve out here I think our force levels are about right,” said Maj. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer, who defined his primary mission as training the Iraqi forces who ultimately would be responsible for security in the area. “Now, if that mission statement changes — if there is seen a larger role for coalition forces out here to win that insurgency fight — then that is going to change the metrics of what we need out here,” General Zilmer added. The Marine general commands a force of 30,000 troops who are charged with securing Anbar Province, a vast region in western Iraq that borders Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He spoke to reporters in a telephone interview from his headquarters at Camp Falluja. The Pentagon arranged the interview after articles in The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that General Zilmer’s senior intelligence officer had submitted a grim assessment about the political and security situation in Iraq. The intelligence assessment concluded that Al Qaeda of Mesopotamia, the dominant insurgent group in the area, is an “integral part of the social fabric” in Anbar. It described the region as marked by violence and criminality. It reported that Sunnis had lost confidence in the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government. The classified intelligence assessment, according to military officials familiar with it, also said that the region would continue to deteriorate unless there was an infusion of aid and a division was sent to reinforce General Zilmer’s command, known as MNF-W, for Multinational Force-West. In his telephone discussion with reporters, General Zilmer declined to discuss the specifics of the report but indicated that he agreed with the intelligence assessment. At the same time, he insisted that the United States was winning the war, while acknowledging that the effort was hampered by sectarian differences and the belief among Iraqis in Anbar that the Baghdad-based government was not meeting their needs. “Until those things change, until those long-term effects are realized, then trying to solve the insurgency out here is going to be problematic,” he said. General Zilmer said that sending additional American troops would help in the short run, but was not the key to “achieve long-term security and stability out here in Anbar” because that ultimately depended on the Iraqis. The general’s comments contrasted with those of some of his subordinate officers in the field. Regimental Combat Team 7, which reports to General Zilmer, has recommended that additional forces be deployed in its sector, its officers have said. The general’s account of his mission — training Iraqi forces — was also a narrow one. President Bush has suggested an expansive strategy to achieve victory by using American forces to clear contested towns of insurgents, holding them with Iraqi security forces and then spending funds to rebuild the infrastructure and win the support of the Iraqi people. A White House fact sheet issued in March described this process as the “Strategy for Victory: Clear, Hold and Build.” At the White House, Tony Snow, the president’s spokesman, asserted that Mr. Bush was prepared to send more troops to Anbar if they were requested. “He has made it absolutely clear to generals that the job is to win,” Mr. Snow said. “And the first thing you have to do is, to the best of your ability, cut through that fog of war and tell him what the situation is and what they need to get the job done.” Mr. Snow added, however, that the intelligence assessment did not account for the accomplishments of American forces in Iraq. General Zilmer made a similar point in a statement that was released early Tuesday. “Recent media reports fail to accurately capture the entirety and complexity of the current situation in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq,” the statement said. “The classified assessment, which has been referred to in these reports, was intended to focus on the causes of the insurgency. It was not intended to address the positive effects coalition and Iraqi forces have achieved on the security environment over the past years.” Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company