"Misson Accomplished" or just another reason why 500,000 troops were needed. From the Washington Post of 11 Sept 2006:
Quote:
Situation Called Dire in West Iraq
Anbar Is Lost Politically, Marine Analyst Says
The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents.
The officials described Col. Pete Devlin's classified assessment of the dire state of Anbar as the first time that a senior U.S. military officer has filed so negative a report from Iraq.
One Army officer summarized it as arguing that in Anbar province, "We haven't been defeated militarily but we have been defeated politically - and that's where wars are won and lost."
The "very pessimistic" statement, as one Marine officer called it, was dated Aug. 16 and sent to Washington shortly after that, and has been discussed across the Pentagon and elsewhere in national security circles. "I don't know if it is a shock wave, but it's made people uncomfortable," said a Defense Department official who has read the report. ...
Another person familiar with the report said it describes Anbar as beyond repair; a third said it concludes that the United States has lost in Anbar.
Devlin offers a series of reasons for the situation, including a lack of U.S. and Iraqi troops, a problem that has dogged commanders since the fall of Baghdad more than three years ago, said people who have read it. These people said he reported that not only are military operations facing a stalemate, unable to extend and sustain security beyond the perimeters of their bases, but also local governments in the province have collapsed and the weak central government has almost no presence.
Those conclusions are striking because, even after four years of fighting an unexpectedly difficult war in Iraq, the U.S. military has tended to maintain an optimistic view: that its mission is difficult, but that progress is being made. Although CIA station chiefs in Baghdad have filed negative classified reports over the past several years, military intelligence officials have consistently been more positive, both in public statements and in internal reports.
|
Remember what Rumsfeld said repeatedly. US commanders had not asked him for more troops. So who do we beleive. A principle in the George Jr administrations - or commanders in the field.
Remember every General that had serviced in Iraq and then had retired had spoken out against this administration last year. Those who deal in reality took special note of that fact. Those who blindly worship extremists rhetoric from Rush Limbaugh, et al denied reality.
Let's see. Was it late 1967 that Vietnam's nothern provinces had been lost "and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation". Making of a Quagmire.