WP: Study: Pentagon reporting on Iraqi force readiness "misleading," "severely distorted"

[DeepModem Mom]

Lawmakers Criticize Training And Deployment of Iraqi Forces
Report Casts Doubt on Ability to Replace U.S. Troops
By Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 27, 2006; Page A15

....Yesterday's criticisms were expanded upon in the latest study by Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A Pentagon official in the Reagan administration and a specialist in Middle East intelligence and military matters, Cordesman just returned from Iraq, where he received briefings from military and civilian officials.

One of Cordesman's central issues is that public statements by the Defense Department "severely distorted the true nature of Iraqi force development in ways that grossly exaggerate Iraqi readiness and capability to assume security tasks and replace U.S. forces." He also writes that "U.S. official reporting is so misleading that there is no way to determine just how serious the problem is and what resources will be required."

Cordesman says the Pentagon's Aug. 31 status report, which was sent to Congress, lists 312,400 men "trained and equipped" among the Iraqi army and national and regular police. But it adds that "no one knows how many . . . are actually still in service." At the same time, he writes, "all unclassified reporting on unit effectiveness has been cancelled."

Criticizing statements about how many Iraqi army units are "in the lead," Cordesman notes that the Iraqi army "lacks armor, heavy firepower, tactical mobility and an Iraqi Air Force capable of providing combat support" -- the same points McCaffrey made yesterday.

"No administration official has presented any plan to properly equip the Iraqi forces to stand on their own or give them the necessary funding to phase out U.S. combat and air support in 12 to 18 months," Cordesman says. He writes that the Iraqi army could need U.S. support through 2010....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/26/AR2006112600980.html

[kenny blankenship]

1. they lack heavy firepower, tactical mobility, air support, etc.

because we don't trust them. We don't trust them because we know half of the buggers are militia sleepers of one description or another, and we don't want to give them arms--really serious weaponry--that could be turned against us or against the puppet gov't in Baghdad.
We can't stand down because we can't stand the IA up, and we never will. All this talk of "making the Iraqis take responsibility for their own security" is delusional nonsense or outright lying. The Iraqi Army can't stand up to the militias particularly the Shia militias, because there are vast numbers of these militias in their midst. We can't arm the IA to "do the job" for the simple reason that we know we'd be arming the enemy.
The bullshit is layered so deep in Iraq by now, it makes our involvement in Vietnam look like a scouting jamboree.

[mattclearing]

2. Shocking!

:eyes:

[Newsjock]

3. Oh look

They've banished Pincus back to Page A15 yet again. This must be good stuff.

[radfringe]

4. "misleading," "severely distorted." "grossly exaggerate."

Oh my. Who would have ever "imagined" the bushies would do that?

so when does Snowjob or some other white house kool-aid drinker dock the boat at a de'Nile port and poo-poo the report?

[indepat]

5. Add misleading, severely distorted, grossly exaggerated to disingenuous, mendacious,

duplicitous, reichous, sanctimonious dissembling hypocrisy, and one can revel in the putrid stew the neocons have cooked up for America and the world. :patriot:

[acmejack]

7. You Mean They lied?

[Theduckno2]

6. It is NOT "misleading" or "severely distorted".

It is just 'creative accounting'. Bushco is just employing those techniques learned from Enron and Arthur Anderson.

Anyone that has paid the slightest attention to Iraq knows that the Iraqis are under-equipped, prone to desertion and infiltrated by militias.

It is nice to see that the WP is trying reach those who haven't been paying attention, even if it is on page A15.

[leftchick]

8. amazing how the pro-war folks are crumbling

Cordesman was on TV during Shock and Awe Ra-Ra-Rahing all the way. Are you telling us now they are LYING Tony?

:puke:

[sendero]

9. At the end of Vietnam...

... the esteem in which I held the Pentagon, and all military leaders in this country, was very low. I no longer felt like these people were trustworthy, or could find their own asses with both hands.

As of the late 90s, my attitude had changed somewhat. It seemed that the military brass had actually learned something from Vietnam, about waging war against a geurilla force.

Flash forward to today. Our military is run by a bunch of McNamaras who will go down in history as failures and liars. It's really sad.