Posted on 05/09/2006 7:46:20 AM PDT by Mikey_1962
In a report distributed last week, retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an often fierce critic of the war who was just back from a visit to Iraq, said he found Iraqi army units "real, growing and willing to fight," but that they needed "two to five more years of U.S. partnership and combat backup" before they're ready to stand alone.
The police are "heavily infiltrated" by insurgent forces and Shiite militias, short of resources and "incapable of confronting local armed groups," McCaffrey said. Stabilizing Iraq will take at least 10 years and require "patience, significant resources and an international public face," he said, adding, "We can absolutely do this."
Daniel Goure, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, a public policy research group in Arlington, Va., said Monday's announcement signals the beginning of a U.S. drawdown of forces.
"They were waiting for two things to happen," he said. "The standing up of a minimally competent Iraqi security force, which they've done, and the formation of a national government, which is happening. After that, in the main, our job is over."
Iraq will continue to face unrest, Goure predicted.
"This is about as good as it's going to get," he said. "The Iraqis are in for a long civil war. ... It's going to be a long, tough war for the Iraqis, but it's theirs."
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
Here's the full text of the report:
THE BOTTOM LINE - OBSERVATIONS FROM IRAQI FREEDOM, APRIL 2006: Barry R McCaffrey General USA (Ret)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1627611/posts
No one every talks about the Iraqi Air Force...or the future of an air force in Iraq. Seems to me that, without an air force, the country will be in grave danger...far greater than now.
That is because the Pentagon has decided that the Iraqi military should get jack out of fear they might us their weapons against civilians. The Iraqi Army isn't even as well armed as the militias or insurgents. The militias and insurgents have RPGs and high powered machine guns the Iraqi Army has AK-47s.
This is the only bad decision we are still making today in Iraq.
Course, I said all this, and more, in my forthcoming book, "America's Victories: Why the U.S. Wins Wars and Will Win the War on Terror."
Who they will fight remains to be seen.
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