[oceanview]

well, you can spin it as a negative. but it appears to be true - the Marines on the ground were able to cobble together a deal for cooperation that the politicos could not. one of Bremer's biggest mistakes was dismissing the iraqi regular army; not the special republican guard or the secret police or the fedayeen, but just the regular army. had we simply paid their salaries and organized them as part of the security forces, we'd be in better shape now.

this deal is certainly not without risks, it could turn out badly, but conceptually its a step in the right direction. let's see how it goes.

[Texasforever]

this deal is certainly not without risks, it could turn out badly, but conceptually its a step in the right direction. let's see how it goes.

Dang I thought I was the only one feeling this way. If we can't start shifting the security burden to Iraqis then we should just forget a "free Iraq".

[WOSG]

I agree with you.

our military has made few mistakes. CPA has made more than a few. An ad hoc military-driven solution may end up working better than the ICDC which underperformed. we'll see.