Changing enemies? U.S. Planners See Shiite Militias as Rising Threat

[babylonsister]

U.S. Planners See Shiite Militias as Rising Threat

By Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; Page A01

Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker have concluded that Shiite extremists pose a rising threat to the U.S. effort in Iraq, as the relative influence of Sunni insurgent groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq has diminished drastically because of ongoing U.S. operations.

This judgment forms part of the changes that Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, approved last week to their classified campaign strategy for the country, which covers the period through summer 2009. The updated plan anticipates shifting the U.S. military effort to focus more on countering Shiite militias -- some backed by Iran -- that have generated new violence as they battle for power in the south and elsewhere in Iraq, said senior military and diplomatic officials familiar with the plan.

"As the Sunni insurgents quit fighting us, the problems we have with criminality and other militia, many of them Shia, become relatively more important," said a U.S. Embassy official, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plan is not finalized.

The plan also acknowledges that the U.S. military -- with limited time and troops -- cannot guarantee a wholesale defeat of its enemies in Iraq, and instead is seeking "political accommodation" to persuade them to end the use of violence, the officials said.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/21/AR2007102101577.html

[bridgit]

1. u.s. war planners seem unable to engage the world much past their chalk boards...

and power point presentations within their theoretical war colleges and so are woefully unable to identify an enemy be they whomever in whatever war

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. Dang, Shiites turn against us ....

... and we hanged the one Sunni who was willing to negotiate with us. Or that's what he said when he was pulled from the "spider hole".

Our military plans don't mean anything. There's a civil war that we can interfere with, but can't stop.

We were stupid to get involved with this mess in 1991, and we're still surprised by developments. We don't learn.

We just need to get out, let the war burn itself out, and see if we can buy oil from the victor.

[billyoc]

3. Oceania has ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia. n/t