Given the arrests in Pakistan, we are making HUGE PROGRESS in the overall war on terror, and it is also the case that in Iraq things have gotten SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER in the last few months.
in April and May, Al-Sadr ran around and had his thugs on the streets of these cities for almost 4 weeks ... now, he lasted no more than 2 days and he's crying 'uncle'. not only that, but IRAQI POLICE ARE MUCH MORE CAPABLE NOW and have been taking on the thugs themselves in many cases.
Good Guys - US - are winning!
"Russian lessons learned during Grozny 3 include:
# 2 The military did not permit moratoriums or ceasefires, which they said allowed the Chechens to regroup and resupply in the first battle for the city. This also eliminated federal force complaints that the politicians were keeping Russian forces from winning."
I wish we could get this little nugget through our brain housing groups.
However, there is this rather depressing article from (who else) the NY Times. (I didn't format, sorry):
No easy task to keep rebels off the streets
Evidence often too weak to put insurgents away
By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer
RAMADI, Iraq — Last fall, military units arrested an Iraqi man suspected of contributing to the bloody insurgency here. They had to let him go in February.
Troops picked him up again in April and, again, the man was set free in June.
Now, leathernecks from Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, have to find the man a third time. And they’re frustrated.
Not only are they loathe to put a suspected insurgent back on the streets. But every time the Marines are sent out on these missions, they brave rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosives and small-arms fire — all for a guy who will probably be back out on the streets in a matter of weeks.
It’s the grunt version of a “catch-and-release” program.
“You feel like you’re chasing your tail,” said 1st Lt. Dan Crawford, 27, a platoon commander with Weapons Company. Platoons such as Crawford’s have been conducting raids to haul in Iraqis and foreign fighters suspected of attacking American forces.
They’re taken to a detention facility here, where they’re strip-searched and interrogated. But often they’re released when there isn’t enough evidence to support holding them.
Weapons Company leathernecks battled about 40 men in downtown Ramadi in early July. They killed 21 fighters during the skirmish and detained about 20 more.
But their victory was muted about a week later when the unit learned that all of the men they captured had been released.
One platoon sergeant was so bitter about the matter that he would not comment. “You don’t want to talk to me about that,” he said.
Crawford has his own frustrations. His platoon is the one that recently received the “target folder” showing that, once more, the man who’s been freed twice already needs to be brought in for questioning.
“We’ve done two raids at his home to try to get him, but he hasn’t been home,” Crawford said during an interview in late July at Camp Hurricane Point in Ramadi. The wanted man’s brother has already been captured and was taken to Abu Ghraib prison. Typically, it takes solid evidence to send a man to Abu Ghraib. Crawford suspects that if the brother of the man he’s still after is at Abu Ghraib, the wanted man is probably a bona fide insurgent.
Tough burden of proof
But assembling the kind of evidence needed to get suspected insurgents to Abu Ghraib is hard.
Most of the evidence they collect is circumstantial and may not stand up to the strict legal standards being applied here. But to the Marines who have to go find the men, some of whom may be responsible for killing their own, those high standards spell frustration and anxiety.
“One of our biggest strengths, which is one of our biggest weaknesses, is our integrity,” said Capt. Robert Weiler, 31, from Woodbridge, Va. Weiler estimates that half of detainees are ultimately released, though battalion officials said the number was closer to one-third.
The reason the men are let go is simple, said Maj. Thomas McCann, a lawyer for 1st Marine Division. “The bottom line is evidence, and is there enough to hold the person,” McCann said.
The enemy may not follow Geneva Convention guidelines for prisoners, but U.S. forces do, he said. “If you’re going to deprive people of their freedom, you better have proof that they did something to forfeit that freedom,” he said.
When men are detained after raids or firefights, Marines often make identifying marks on the backs of detainees’ shirts. Information about where they were found and what they were doing is logged to help lawyers and interrogators “exploit” the detainee for more information. The units also must fill out forms that provide evidence that the person being dropped off is guilty. A military lawyer reviews the case within 72 hours of detention and decides whether the detainee stays or goes.
Division-level officials said they understand the Marines’ frustrations. But nothing about this insurgency is black and white, McCann said.
And as frustrating as it can be for the grunts who apprehend these people, erring on the safe side sends the right message to the Iraqi people as they set up their own government and legal system, said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rodney Gauthier, 40, division corrections officer.
“If we’re not modeling the correct system for them, how is it going to look?” he asked. “They’re looking to us as an example.”