Security gains in Iraq are fragile, reversible: Pentagon

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Security continued to improve in Iraq from March to May with violence at its lowest level in four years, but the gains are "fragile, reversible and uneven," a quarterly Pentagon report said Monday.

Other government findings said conditions in the strife-torn nation remained volatile and that Iraqi units continued to rely heavily on US and coalition forces, as US military chief Michael Mullen warned that, while the situation has improved, there was still plenty of work in the battle against Iraqi insurgents.

~snip~

Another report published the same day by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted a drop in violence but stressed that "the security environment remains volatile and dangerous" and that "many unmet goals and challenges remain" from the security to the political fronts.

With the number of trained Iraqi forces rising to 478,000 from 323,000 from January 2007 to May 2008, "the number of Iraqi units capable of performing operations without US assistance has remained at about 10 percent," the GAO reported citing information from the Pentagon.



Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5h8R3jP_ud9r3RbLXHAi4uPeNRopA

---

GAO reports here
Military Operations: Actions Needed to Better Guide Project Selection for Commander's Emergency Response Program and Improve Oversight in Iraq
GAO-08-736R, June 23, 2008
Summary (HTML) Full Report (PDF, 38 pages)
Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq: Progress Report: Some Gains Made, Updated Strategy Needed
GAO-08-837, June 23, 2008
Summary (HTML) Full Report (PDF, 88 pages)
http://www.gao.gov/

[msongs]

1. sounds like a press release from the war criminals in the white house nt

[Xipe Totec]

2. Security gains in Iraq are fabricated, illusory: the rest of US

[Tutonic]

4. Totally agree. BBC, Al Jazeera and other media sources

seem to indicate that sectarian violence has not been quelled. Also if you increase the number of Iraqi forces by 48% yet the units ready to assume power remains at 10% I'd call that a long hot summer. Either 1) the Iraqis are completely incompetent 2) the US trainers are completely incompetent or 3) the Iraqis have no interest in assuming control and waging war against their countrymen. Either way we're all getting screwed.

[stillcool]

3. I remember when....

Reduction in U.S. Troops Eyed for '04
Gradual Exit Strategy Tied to Iraq's Stability
By Thomas E. Ricks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 19, 2003; Page A01
U.S. military commanders have developed a plan to steadily cut back troop levels in Iraq next year, several senior Army officers said in recent interviews.
There are now 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The plan to cut that number is well advanced and has been described in broad outline to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld but has not yet been approved by him. It would begin to draw down forces next spring, cutting the number of troops to fewer than 100,000 by next summer and then to 50,000 by mid-2005, officers involved in the planning said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A46852-2003Oct18?language=printer

[LynnTheDem]

5. "the battle against Iraqi insurgents"

Funny how people will "insurge" against invaders & occupiers.

I have a sneaking feeling we would, to, were America invaded & occupied. I also suspect we'd be called "American insurgents".