Marines deny losing Iraq's biggest province

Reuters ^ | 09/12/06

[RedEyeJack]

General Zilmer is absolutely right. The report in question addresses the reality that we will not achieve a military solution in Al Anbar. It will not happen because the insurgents, in the classic guerrilla model, practice hit and run tactics, plant roadside bombs, and influence the population through murder and intimidation. They will not fight because they know better.

There are brave souls who try to perform their roles and execute the offices of government. Some are killed for their efforts and some run away. We have secured parts of Al Anbar and are establishing Iraqi police and Army presence there. The insurgents see that and are lashing back right now to try to prevent the spread of law and order.

I am here in Al Anbar and I see it every day. It is a fight in the sense that bombings and drive-by type shootings, and sniping are a fight. In the only serious engagement in the last four months a squad size unit of insurgents tried to surprise a squad of Marines. One got away (ran damn fast for a wounded guy). Six were killed out right and four were well photographed afterward in flex cuffs.

Yes, we don't have enough soldiers and Marines to saturate the battle space, however, we are trading time and deliberate maneuvers with other than kinetic assets to gain ground and win over the population. Time is on our side if the American people have the will to stay in the fight.

Unfortunately, some American's have already surrendered. Who are they? Ask someone running for office if the war in Iraq is worth the price. If he or she says no then mark that candidate as one who has already been psychologically defeated. Mark that canidate as one without the strength of character or the vision to see what has to be done. Mark that candidate as a loser and shun him.

[Cold Heat]

Thanks for all the info and perspective on Anbar.

Great comments!

Appreciate all you do and the contributions of your unit..

Fantastic Job!

You are correct about a military solution in these backward provinces. Especially this one.

The political and cultural solutions will take a lot of time to take effect. We simply need to keep it calm enough for those solutions to eventually take root, and they will if we stay focused and protect what we have gained.

Thanks.....:-)

[dfwgator]

Time is on our side if the American people have the will to stay in the fight.

Sad to say, that's a big "if."

[LS]

You never know. Some are "B-team" reports designed to produce a 180-degree different analysis than what the guys on the ground are giving. It's all designed to make sure no base is left uncovered.

The real issue is, what is the accurate, overall picture? And, perhaps more important, why was this report, which supposedly supports the leftists' view, leaked?

[Cold Heat]

Sad to say, that's a big "if."

Not for the next two years it isn't. During the coming days, many things will change, so we will address that particular fear, at a later date.

[the Real fifi]

IIRC The Pentagon at one point pulled Ricks' credentials for his biased reporting. In any event he did not claim to have seen the memo but was reporting from second and third hand source--

[Cold Heat]

It is simply a accurate assessment. The RATS will run with it as a sign that things are not going well, but we know the landscape is constantly changing. We are constantly reacting to those changes.

I see this as much the same baloney over Afghanistan, and the NATO report asking for 2000 more troops.

The reality is that the NATO force levels are 2000 short of what was planned and they asked participating countries to bring their contingents up to full strength. The reaction to this was total BS. They (the media) claimed and is still claiming that things were going badly, which is not the case.

Not the case at all.

[paddles]

The commander did not write the report. It was done by a member of his staff. We do not know the context, nor the complete substance of the report. All we have is what snippets Ricks got from leakers.

[stuartcr]

Wouldn't you think the commander read it after it was written?

[stuartcr]

Don't you think the commander read it?

[Harrius Magnus]

Thank you for all that you do and for the update. You write like a prophet, and a GD good one. God Bless.

[paddles]

Absolutely. And that he evidently didn't attempt to supress or alter it but rather sent it up the chain speaks volumes.

We still don't know the entire content of the report nor it's context and until we do we have nothing but what the press chooses to report about unauthorized leaks to go on.

[ArGee]

Marines deny losing Iraq's biggest province

There was a Stephen King short story I read once about a mob-run organization that helped people quit smoking. As the "salesman" was telling the "client" about their methods he listed 9 things they would do in increasing brutality each time they caught the guy smoking. The guy asked, "And if I smoke one more time?" The salesman pulled a pistol out of his desk and said, "You WILL quit smoking. We guarantee it."

I wonder what would happen in Iraq if the President had said last night, "We will not fail to bring democracy to Iraq, even if we have to kill every last Iraqi and re-populate the country with Americans."

Of course, we would never do that. But I still wonder.

Shalom.

[Raycpa]

Don't you think the commander read it?

We have two sources. One is from the commander and the other an unatributed leak of extracts published by known Bush haters.

Which would you put more weight to?

[stuartcr]

As the commander said....'It was not intended to address the positive effects ..' Sounds like it was pessimistic, but taken out of context when leaked.

[stuartcr]

I agree.

[GoodWithBarbarians JustForKaos]

"Close. Rooters & the WP."

Plus the NYTimes.

"According to the New York Times, the report described Falluja..."

[Reagan79]

Totally true. An 06 Marine officer has said we need to wage total war against Al-Qaida in Al-Anbar. We need to take the war to the enemy like Sherman took the war to South Carolina. They need to be totally destroyed, discouraged, and dispirited.

[Wallace T.]

They need to be totally destroyed, discouraged, and dispirited.

When the American military is hamstrung by rules of engagement that, if violated, may result in a court martial and imprisonment or execution, as is the case with the Marines imprisoned at Camp Pendleton, victory will not happen. The same mistake was made in Vietnam 35-40 years ago, and we lost that war even though we had military superiority over the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. America's most successful war against guerrillas occurred in the Philippines in the early 1900s, where our techniques against the Muslim rebels included stuffing dead enemy soldiers in pigskin.

War is ugly. Only ruthless measures will bring about victory.

[TimesDomain]

The DOGZ of WAR!