U.S. Generals Request Delay in Judging Iraq

[babylonsister]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/washington/20policy.html?ref=todayspaper

U.S. Generals Request Delay in Judging Iraq


By THOM SHANKER and DAVID S. CLOUD
Published: July 20, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 19 — The top commanders in Iraq and the American ambassador to Baghdad appealed for more time beyond their mid-September assessment to more fully judge if the new strategy was making gains.

Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the No. 2 commander in Iraq, told Pentagon reporters that while he would provide the mid-September assessment of the new military strategy that Congress has required, it would take “at least until November” to judge with confidence whether the strategy was working.

But their appeals, in three videoconferences on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon, were met by stern rebukes from lawmakers of both parties.

The sessions appeared aimed in part at conveying that the administration was not planning a major strategy shift in September that would begin reducing the American troop presence, even if benchmarks set by Congress to measure Iraq’s progress were not achieved.

Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker told lawmakers in a closed-door video session at the Pentagon that it was increasingly likely that Iraq’s government would not achieve all of the political benchmarks by September, according to a senior Defense Department official.

But in the briefings that included lawmakers, senior Republicans and Democrats told the generals and the ambassador that time was running out, both for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to reach accommodation with warring religious factions inside the country, and for what remained of Congressional support for the heightened troop levels that President Bush ordered in January.

more...

[unhappycamper]

1. US citizens deny request. n/t

Enough is enough.

[genie_weenie]

2. Blow up the NYTimes how dare those Islammunistascistbruls

even mention we have top commanders in Iraq!

Shut up America! Discussion enables the enemy! Shut up! Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut Uuuuuuuuuuup!

Edit: This Magic Moment!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1384807&mesg_id=1384807

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Time to move the goalposts. Again. Smirk." - Commander AWOL

"Take care of that for me, Generals, while I kick back on a luxurious vacation. Smirk, smirk, smirk." - Commander AWOL

[KharmaTrain]

4. This Report Courtesy Of The Freidman Unit...

How convenient, huh? Like we knew that this "surge" was going to make things better? Or that this regime would consider curbing their profiteering and bloodlust? Of course not. There's still too much money to be made. This invasion isn't being lost, it's just a "changing opportunity" now...with the political objectives totally burried in pyschobabble rhetoric to cloud the big money game going on underneath.

This latest Friedman is to push the "debate" (as if there really is one) past the Repugnican primaries next year. We're sure to hear how "premature" the military "surge" is...how any progress being made needs to be measured over one F.U. or another...and that the political situation will only "improve" once the military one is secured. This meme of fighting not to lose is all this regime has left...while it finds a way to avoid any responsibility in the fuck-up things have become.

The game is to give cover to the GOOPers in the Senate...and the presidential candidates...to get them through the primaries. It's to feed tons of red meat to the "base"...whose votes they only care about right now. Then, say in March, we'll see a new set of F.U's...as Repugnicans attempt the charade of playing "moderate" or for some pull out or withdrawl...thinking the voters are too stupid to remember how they played a rubber stamp to this regime.

[Botany]

5. .... and mid-September will become November ......

.... and some General or another will site "some progress" and November 2007
will become mid winter 2008 @ which point the talking point will be "We can't
switch course now because of political pressure" ......

.... and all the time billions of dollars of oil will get pumped and stolen and
private contractors along with the military industrial complex will make
billions keeping us "safe" from a threat of the terror of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Impeach these blood suckers now.

[Bluebear]

6. ... and November will become Spring......

[malaise]

7. You mean Bush requests delay

right?

[babylonsister]

8. That's a given. nt

[livvy]

9. I can't see how this would benefit their stance.

If history repeats itself, the time period during Ramadan (Sept. 13-Oct. 8 this year), US casualties in Iraq will peak dramatically, as much as 60%. Casualties are already high since the "surge". The Ramadan holy month will only increase the casualty rate, if past patterns repeat. I would think/hope the commanders and the Ambassador would be aware of that.
We need to start getting out of Iraq as soon as possible. Delaying the inevitable serves no one, and too many lives are at stake.

The following is from a pdf file, U.S. Military Fatalities in Iraq in Perspective:
Year 4 by Glenn Kutler

Glenn Kutler ([e-mail]) has contributed a weekly analysis of Iraq war fatalities to
Casualties.org since 2003 and is principal of Fulcrum Capital, LLC, based in Philadelphia. Prior to
establishing Fulcrum in 1997, he worked in information technology operations, merchant
banking, corporate development, and venture capital. This article continues a series begun with
his ‘‘U.S. Military Fatalities in Iraq: A Two-Year Retrospective’’ (Orbis, Summer 2005) and ‘‘U.S.
Military Fatalities in Iraq: Year 3’’ (Orbis, Summer 2006).

Phase 6 - Insurgent Offensive: Sept. 23, 2006 until March 19, 2007
U.S. fatalities escalate during Ramadan, Baghdad Defense Plan fails:
With the approach of Ramadan, which began on September 23, an insurgent
offensive caused U.S. fatalities to accelerate again, reaching the highest levels
in over a year, with 107 dead during the Muslim holy month. By the end of the
holiday on October 22, three months after the United States joined the civil
strife, the results of U.S. efforts in Baghdad were described by U.S. generals as
‘‘disheartening’’ and judged by most observers as a failure. Pg 7

Underestimating the Enemy
While their actions and motives may seem alien to us, the insurgents’
numerous initiatives have exhibited recurring patterns and an underlying
strategic intelligence. Consider the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Iraq
war has coincided with four observances of Ramadan. Each one has witnessed
an upsurge in violence towards Americans, as evidenced by an increase in the
rate of U.S. fatalities per day, compared to other periods of the war.
As shown in Table 3, (pg 15) U.S. military fatalities increased by an average of
over 60 percent during Ramadan compared with the rest of the war. pg 14

http://www.icasualties.org/oif/U.S.%20Military%20Fatalities%20in%20Iraq%20in%20Perspective.pdf

[babylonsister]

10. I think this admin is trying to run out the clock regardless of who

gets killed, or how many, in that process. Then they can hand it off as someone else's problem.

Also, remember who hates to be wrong, about anything. Ending this mess would prove that he blew it, not that I need more proof.