Bush's Illusion Of Progress In Iraq

http://justicefornone.com/article.php?story=20051223104315539

Friday, December 23 2005 @ 10:43 AM PST

The Real NewsToday, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld makes a "surprise" announcement
of what we knew all along: the US is cutting back on troops after the Iraq
election.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10573155/

There were 160,000 troops in Iraq prior to the election. Rumsfeld announced that
two brigades would not be deployed, around 7,000 troops. And yet the media
reports that the cut of two brigades will take that number below 138,000. Am I
the only one confused here?

Ah, but read further down to clarify:

The Pentagon sent an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to bolster security during the
recent elections, and Rumsfeld has previously said those 20,000 would be
withdrawn in January to return U.S. force levels to a 138,000 baseline.
So, contrary to the belief that this is some sort of turning point for troop
withdrawal...excuse me, "readjustment"....the military is merely engaging in the
same strategy it's used for the last three years: pump up the numbers prior to a
major political event, draw then back, then wait for the violence to surge again
so you can send more troops in. Notice, significantly, that the troop number
will return to a "baseline" of 138,000. We're back to square one. And that's
being touted as progress?

Speaking of progress, let's see how those newly minted Iraqi troops are doing:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051223/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_ylt=AhBZjBDQSoJSUbCJ9GT
CHZRI2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Meanwhile, gunmen Friday attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in the city of
Adhaim, in religiously and ethnically mixed Diyala province, killing eight
soldiers and wounding seventeen, an Iraqi army officer said on condition he not
be identified for fear of reprisal.

"There were too many to count," said Akid, a 20-year-old soldier from Diwanayah
being treated for gunshot wounds to both thighs. "They tried to kill everybody."

Akid, who would only give his first name for fear of reprisal, said his
battalion of about 600 men had already suffered over 250 desertions after a Dec.
3 ambush in Adhaim killed 19 Iraqi soldiers.

"They gave up," he said. "They said, 'The hell with this.'"

Bush, who calls Iraq the "central front" on his War on Terror, is going to leave
Iraq to these troops, who are so demoralized that the desertion rate in one
battalion is nearly 50%?

And how do things fare on the political front? Washington's golden boy Chalabi
is crying foul after an election showing that would make Nader look successful.
Chalabi pulled in an embarrassing 0.36% in Baghdad, with the paltry results for
his party mirrored throughout the nation. His campaign slogan? "We Liberated
Iraq."
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=
1001737109

Shocked at his dismal showing, Chalabi and others are claiming widespread fraud.
Demonstrations have erupted, with thousands taking to the streets challenging
the legitimacy of the elected government. Early results show that no single
party will have a majority in the parliament. In short: these are not mere
growing pains of a fledging democracy. Rather, it is a resurgence of the same
tensions which existed prior to our invasion of Iraq.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10585658/from/RS.1/

So, some 7,000 soldiers can breathe a sigh of relief that they aren't being sent
into this quagmire. Another 20,000 can thank God that they'll be out of there in
January. But for the 138,000 who have to remain in an increasingly violent and
divided Iraq? Bush offers them nothing but the illusion of progress, and a false
promise that he knows how to bring them home.
Story from Daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/





Alan

"Can't you see we're still here,
Can't you see we're still here,
Singing loud; Singing clear,
We shall not go under,
We're still here."

Nemesis Peace Centre

http://www.veloceraptor.free-online.co.uk/protector.html

Abuse of Women and Children

http://theoriginalfirebird.blogspot.com/

Nemesis News

http://lordcerneabbas.blogspot.com/

Absolute Anarchy

http://lordcerneabbastoo.blogspot.com/

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: [Article] Truths behind the great Iraqi shambles
    ... Why did they allow whole swathes of Iraq to descend ... > The first, My Year in Iraq, is by Paul Bremer, the former de facto ... > troops to stay put. ... Rumsfeld never even bothered to ...
    (soc.culture.singapore)
  • Re: [Article] Truths behind the great Iraqi shambles
    ... Why did they allow whole swathes of Iraq to descend ... >> troops to stay put. ... >> weapons sites that the war had been designed to eradicate. ... >> far more troops to Rumsfeld. ...
    (soc.culture.singapore)
  • too many UNEDUCATED BILLIES in the Army
    ... the "hard bruising" truth about the Iraq war has been ... Military leaders generally toed the line, ... have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national ... Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go
    ... the "hard bruising" truth about the Iraq war has been ... Military leaders generally toed the line, ... have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, ... Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • Re: Editorial: Time for Rumsfeld to go
    ... the "hard bruising" truth about the Iraq war has been ... Military leaders generally toed the line, ... have told their bosses that Iraqi troops have no sense of national identity, ... Rumsfeld has assured us that things are well in hand. ...
    (soc.retirement)