WP: Commander Sees Shift In Role of U.S. Troops

[kskiska]

Force Would Focus On Training Iraqis

Tuesday, December 7, 2004; Page A01

CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar, Dec. 6 -- Army Gen. John P. Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region, raised the possibility Monday that U.S. forces in Iraq could start to be reshaped as early as next year to reduce the number of combat troops and concentrate on the development of Iraqi security forces.

Abizaid declined in an interview to set a timetable for the shift, saying it would depend on the outcome of national elections in January and evidence that Iraqi forces could assume a greater share of combat operations against the country's entrenched insurgency. Other senior U.S. officers who elaborated on the plan said the change would not necessarily lead initially to an overall decrease in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq but could eventually facilitate a lower troop level.

This outlook comes in the face of a series of brazen attacks by insurgents intent on disrupting the elections and terrorizing Iraq's fledgling security services. The violence, together with a campaign of intimidation aimed at those associated with the new governing structures or with the Americans, has deepened perceptions of insecurity, particularly in areas heavily populated by Sunni Arabs. It also contributed to a Pentagon decision last week to boost the U.S. force to 150,000 troops.

While acknowledging concern about the performance of Iraqi forces and about heavy insurgent activity in such key cities as Mosul, Abizaid said he also saw reasons to be optimistic.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41534-2004Dec6.html

[bemildred]

1. Commander sees career ending in disgrace, soon.

Makes up bullshit to fend off unpleasant thoughts.

[autorank]

2. Listen to Hackworth on this subject:

http://www.hackworth.com


DefenseWatch "The Voice of the Grunt"

12-06-2004

Hack's Target

Uncle Sam Wants Your Kids – Now!

By David H. Hackworth

We’ll soon have 150,000 U.S. troops stuck in the ever-expanding Iraqi quagmire, a number that will probably grow even larger before Iraq holds elections presently scheduled for the end of January ’05.

<<snip>>

Maintaining such a force is a logistical and personnel nightmare for every grunt in Iraq. And according to several Pentagon number crunchers, it’s also driving the top brass bonkers.

<<snip>>

Since this tragic war kicked off in March 2003, the United States has evacuated an estimated 50,000 KIA, WIA and non-battle casualties from Iraq back to the States – leaving 50,000 slots that have had to be filled.

<<snip>>

Shades of our last years in Vietnam.

“The bottom line is that Recruiting Command is in trouble,” says another recruiter with almost 30 years of service. “The Army has re-instituted ‘stop loss,’ which is basically a backdoor draft. They’re stopping people from retiring or completing their enlistment and leaving the Army. They do this fairly often, mostly in August and September, depending upon how far behind they believe they’ll be at the end of September.

<<snip>>

Unless a miracle happens and the new Iraqi security force decides to stop running and start fighting, we’ll be in Iraq for a long time. Most likely with a draftee force.

General Abazaid must think Orwells, 1984 is an instructional manual.

[TahitiNut]

3. "Iraqi security forces" are only intended to be a national police force.

The Kapo Corps for an occupied country which will 'depend' on a U.S. military for national defense. It's handy to have an occupied people police themselves. It's also handy to have them divided into three major factions.

[leftchick]

4. only three?

There seems to be a veritable witch's brew of factions right now when you consider the tribal feuds as well! Who the hell knows who is fighting who? :(