Posted on 10/24/2006 12:22:08 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
America's top general in Iraq said he was considering sending more troops to help quell the violence in Baghdad, as he and the United States ambassador laid out a timetable for progress that they said has been agreed to by the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the timetable includes settling political differences between the country's competing groups through a "national compact" within the next year, and taking quick action on some of the country's most obdurate issues, including cracking down on Shiite militias, persuading Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and reaching a fair division of oil revenues.
Ambassador Khalilzad said that some of these steps should be taken in the next few weeks, while he expected others to be completed a year from now.
"Iraqi officials have agreed to a timeline for making these difficult decisions," he said.
Mr. Khalilzad appeared at an usual joint news conference with Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the top military commander in Iraq, at a time when relations between Mr. Maliki's government and the Bush administration have become increasingly strained and the conflict has taken center stage in the fall Congressional campaign.
General Casey defended the effort to quell sectarian killings in Baghdad, which has led to a surge in American fatalities, saying that it has had a "decisive" effect in the neighborhoods that have been its focus.
Last week the military's top spokesman said the strategy was being re-evaluated in light of "disheartening" increases in violence elsewhere in the city, and the need for troops to return areas that had already been cleared.
Today General Casey declined to say what new measures were being contemplated. But he raised the possibility that solidifying any gains in Baghdad may require an increase in forces.
"Now, do we need more troops to do that? Maybe," he said. "And as I've said all along, I will ask for the troops I need, both coalition and Iraqis."
Military officials have said that American troops have borne the brunt of the Baghdad fighting, in part because the Iraqi army did not deliver as many soldiers as had been called for in the plan devised before the crackdown began in August.
General Casey also said that bringing peace to the capital was ultimately beyond the military's control. "I think it's important for all of us to understand that we're not going to have total security here in Baghdad until the major political issues that are dividing the country are resolved," he said. "The political leaders understand that. And they're wrestling with that part of it."
The surge in sectarian killings has disrupted the American military's original plan to draw down its forces in Iraq over the course of the year. General Casey said that the reductions, which began last December, were halted in June when it became clear that increased Iraqi forces in Baghdad were not having enough of an impact.
He said that had "a very strong belief" that the American military eventually needed to reduce its presence -- "we have to get out of their way," he said -- but declined to say if further reductions were possible.
"I can't tell you right now," he said, "till we get through the month of Ramadan and the rest of this, when that will be."
General Casey said that 300 members of the Iraqi security forces had died during Ramadan; at least 89 American soldiers have been killed this month, making it the year's deadliest.
The general said that at their current rate of development, in 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces "will emerge as the dominant force in Iraq," but said that even then some level of American support would be needed.
Mr. Khalilzad said that some of the milestones laid out in the plan could be achieved by the end of the year, like laying the groundwork for for the transfer of more areas to Iraqi military control and reaching an international accord that would link aid to economic reform.
Others would take longer, Mr. Khalilzad said, adding that he expected a national compact to be in place in a year's time.
No time frame was mentioned for the disarming of Shiite militias -- perhaps the most politically difficult step for Mr. Maliki, a Shiite politician whose coalition depends on groups with ties to the largest militias.
And Mr. Khalilzad and General Casey did not say what American officials planned to do if the timetable is not met.
Among the other steps that Mr. Khalilzad said must be completed "in the coming weeks" were drafting a law on the division of oil revenues; amending the new Constitution to deal with the concerns that led nearly all Sunnis to oppose it; transforming the current effort to rid the government of members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party into a vehicle for "accountability and reconciliation," and scheduling long-delayed provincial elections.
Many of these issues lie at the heart of the divisions between the country's ethnic groups. Some Shiite groups remain vehemently opposed to allowing former supporters of Mr. Hussein to take government positions. The national assembly that drafted the Constitution was unable to reach agreement on the division of oil revenues. Sunnis demanded the right to revise the Constitution because they feared that it left the door open to the creation of autonomous regions that could fracture the country. The Shiite-led government has so far ignored their promise to consider amendments, and Kurds and Shiites in Parliament recently passed a law allowing for the creation of such regions beginning 18 months from now.
Today's news conference in the heavily defended government Green Zone was briefly interrupted by a power outage. During the session, both men spoke scathingly of Iran and Syria, who they said were working to provoke instability.
Mr. Khalilzad lumped the two countries together with Al Qaeda as "the enemies of Iraq."
By contrast, they referred to the Sunni insurgents who until recently have been the main source of attacks on American troops in more measured terms, calling them "the resistance," and drawing a distinction between them and "terrorists and extremists" described by Mr. Khalilzad.
General Casey called them "the Sunnis who fight us and claim to be the honorable resistance of Iraq," and said that American officials have begun talking with them, along with the Iraqi government.
General Casey described the security situation as "difficult and complex," adding that "it's likely to remain that way over the near term."
"We have seen the nature of the conflict evolving from what was an insurgency against us to a struggle for the division of economic and political power," he said.
By John O'Neil
New York Times
The general said that at their current rate of development, in 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces "will emerge as the dominant force in Iraq," but said that even then some level of American support would be needed.Daily KOS Translation: a CIA sponsered coup will install a US-compliant military junta in Baghdad.
For those intrested in the facts about Iraq without the usual Junk Media Democrat Party spin.
http://icasualties.org/oif/
http://icasualties.org/oif/IraqiDeaths.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Security_Forces
I mean some of these troops might get too close to Sadr City and they're not allowed in there. Heaven forbid that the troops focus on the area that's causing most of the trouble.
God knows we need one.
Like you said, after them spending millions to train you this sounds rather irrational if what you say here is TRUE.
Hey P3,
Resign. There are plenty of other things for you to do. There are penty of other people to take your job. Your family should be your first concern.
From P3piolotJAX: Folks, I am a republican. I believe in constitutional principles. I vote for president Bush and republicans every single time. However, I am growing very weary of our role in Iraq. I am a Navy pilot. Millions of dollars have been put into my training. I have been on Sea duty for the past four years. Two years on a carrier and two years in a squadron. I am currently on deployment overseas for six months. I have a wife and four children. We had our youngest (10 months old) because I am owed a shore tour after this assignment and we planned for me finally to be home. I have rarely seen my children for the past four years and I have never been able to be involved in their lives the way you all take for granted(little league, PTA, etc....). Even when I am home I leave for work before my children wake up and come home after dark. As an officer, I work most weekends. My wife raises a 9,5,3 and ten month old by herself. We have no family near-by to help her. My nine year old is suicidal because of the stress of me not being around and my wife raising four children on her own. I come off deployment before XMAS and am I probably going to get sent to Iraq next summer for a year and a half doing convoy duty. A Navy pilot doing convoy duty! This is happening to alot of us. I know, tough sh_t, but professional military men like myself are not robots. We love our country and want to protect it from scum. I made a decision to make the military a career when I went to Annapolis, but I never imagined that I would be abused like I think I am about to be. They have me by the balls because I can't just leave 16 years of service with four children and a wife. I am very depressed about it. Guys are getting killed in droves just driving around town in Baghdad. I am not sure how I should feel about all of this, but I completely believe that we are being way too PC over there. We need to kick the crap out of those bastards or get the hell out and let them kill each other. What do you think
Thank You for your service to your country and your personal sacrifices. Not everyone is capable of doing what you are doing and putting up with the b.s.
Part of the statment today pointed out how the plan involves disarming and disbanding the Militas.
Sadr is either going to get squished or have to surrender.
Basically its is good cop Malikhi and bad cop US Military putting the squeeze on.
Frankly I wish they would just kill this twit.
Someone posted an article some time ago on troops retraining for other things. Pilots, marines, etc. No one knew what to make of it.
Thank you for serving, may GOD keep you safe and I hope you get out if your family situation is as you state. GOD bless your family!
We have on the ground in Iraq Freepers here... some having been in Baghdad for over three years. They certainly don't see things on the ground the way you seem to from the air... not that things are not hot right now.
LLS
MP demands answers over Iran threat
It is posted in an earlier thread I put up.
exactly right.
we don't need more troops if their mission remains the same - convoys, checkpoints, patrols. Either use acute US force, or don't add troops.
Fire Casey, Abizaid, and anyone else who came up with this plan. Get some generals in there who can win this thing.
Or isn't this war?
we are losing most of our forces - not in direct combat engagements with the enemy - but via IEDs, car bombs, and ambush/bombings of other sorts, as they conduct a "policing" role, rather then a war.
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