It sounds like he is keeping communications open, anyway, which is good. It is also good to see we have good support from Egypt and Jordan here.
I have also been happy to catch references to Iraqi tanks in the media (connected with their infantry.) I have been pushing for this for a long time. We need more Iraqi tanks, Iraqi artillery, and some limited Iraqi air support too. This will boost their confidence and move them forward in their ability to take over.
There is obviously some theoretical risk of attack on Americans by terrorists who infiltrate into the Iraqi army, but that can be minimized by careful vetting. There is no way around it, we cannot give the Iraqis the power to confront the terrorists without making them dangerous in general. I think we should have more empahisis on arming the Iraqis more heavily now, and move away from this exclusive emphasis on developing infrantry prowess.
The other thing we need to do is give the Iraqis the green light to start kicking the media out of the country. The Iraqi armed forces cannot perform as perfectly as the US armed forces, and there will be some ancillary civilian casualties, especailly since the terrorists plan it that way. The Iraqis cannot succeed with TV cameras there and the TV cameras need to be removed. We should make it clear we have no objection to this and it is their sovereign right.
In addition, we need to beef up Iraqi intelligence immediatley. I think we should be brutally honest here and admit that our own intelligence service (CIA) is faulty and in the middle of a major housecleaning. British intelligence (MI6) is far superior to ours and should be given the job of training the Iraqis. In addition, British intelligence, as well as thier special forces (such as SAS) has a successful, mult-decade experience of dealing with the IRA terrorists and so can transfer experience to help with Iraqi terror.
Uh, maybe because we're winning?
Why would a jewish news site know all this first?
By not doing so, he is allying himself with the enemy and acting as a state sponsor to them.
A couple of years back, we beat the unbeatable Afghans by allying ourselves with them; we helped the Afghans defeat their enemies.
This is how we do it in Iraq, by allying ourselves with the Iraqis. With this in mind, its possible to look back and find ways we might have done it better, but the fact remains that this is what we have to do, this is what we are doing, and step by step we are getting there.
We train their people, attach our people to work with them shoulder to shoulder, but we make it their war, which we help them win.
Oh, and start planning to take Assad down hard.
Alawi is a good man and I have no doubt that he'll eventually be the President of Iraq.
The other thing that really gave me a laugh was the comment about Bush waffleing. Anyone who believes that has a real problem.
Getting late and the eyes become bleary, and I will probably hit the sack soon. But a few things perhaps.
1). We are starting to train and supposedly will equipe the new Iraqi Airforce,with choppers, type yet to be named.
In addition as you probably are aware, we also are training a new Iraqi navy to protect their port areas.
2). Yes tanks such as the T55 that are still in operational form are now being used and we have transfered 7 tonner types vehicles to them to be used to transport men and equipment during some of their independent operations. I can envision more of their equipment that still exists will
be put back in service as we build them up.
A lite note: they sure as shit still have at least a 100,00 tons of ordnance we have not found and destroyed. And for all we know a lot may be carefully guarded at this point, say mortar, so that when they are ready for them, they will be made available.
3). Soon according to an article I just read, sorry don't have link, the Iraqi army shall be in control of Mosul area. Eventually allowing for our troops to relocate elsewhere as required, perhaps move a bit west to beef up area in northern Al Anbar below Turkish/Syrian border areas.
4). America has forked over a lot of bucks recently to Egypt as Egypt promised to be a honest broker in the Israeli/Palestinian negotiations.
5). Bashar Assad is shaking in his boots, and plays games because he has no options left. Perhaps he is trying to avoid a bullet in the head from one of his secret police croonies. He has face on humiliation after another for the past some ten years. His wits are running out. As a few folks at this forum who claim intimate knowledge about real allegiances and troop strenghts of the Syrian army have indicated, they may go down real quick if we decided to start targeted the camps mentioned here, amoung other things with cruise missiles. And we really don't know how firm and threatening our DoS and military advisors that interface with Syria may encompass. For all we know they may at this point be informed "really do better or expect some un-pleasant surprises". But of course it is a two edge sword. If Assad falls, Syria turns into a real nut house. Absolutely no control of who does what and who moves where at will. I think the POTUS wants this weak dictator to stay in power but start better eliminating the foreign inflow of goons into Iraq. Assad keeps belly aching they are doing all they can do. So keep applying the pressure.
6). No new news concerning Jordian in my opinion. Dekab has said nothing we did not already know.
7) I totally disagree with what Debka says about the insurgency gaining strenght. There are just to many articles that have been emerging in the past two months that indicated the opposite. We have severly damaged Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi's chain of command. He is on the run. We know this. As how many thousands of Saddamist and intermixed foreign terrorist are gathered up in these many current Army,Marine,Iraqi, and joint operations in which all there work as one, we continue to degrade their ability to build a new ground based, assuming hundreds a month are no longer getting through the newly border check points etc..
The borders are being better patrolled, and more now trained Iraqi security police are being put into place, again, freeing up our Army and Marines to plan and execute additional operations in both Al Anbar and the northern provinces downward into the Sunni Triangle and Triangle of Death AO. It must be noticed, our Marines continue one operation after another between roughtly Ar Ramadi northward along both sides of the Euphrates River to Al Quam area, continuing to round up more Ali Babba and kill em when they try to run or fight.
If this insurgency was so powerfull and well lead we should see literally hundreds of car suicide attacks every week. Hundreds of suicide goons running into crowds and into our humvees and convoys, checkpoints etc., with bombs strapped to their bodies, and platoon size or even company size insurgents attacking our patrols etc.. We see none of this.
What we do see is the continued hit and miss occasional suicide car bomb attacks and find terrorist killing and beating Iraqis as their towns are taken over. Lastly, DEBKA has been watching to much American L/MSM, and their brains are fried.
8). Thanks for the post and your analysis.