THE U.S. EXIT STRATEGY (cough)

[leftchick]

warning: Pentagon BS alert.....

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usiraq214185397mar21,0,197892.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-headlines


<snip>

The information was too much for Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

"This is like fantasyland," he said. "This is as fictive as the weapons of mass destruction are."

The number in the security forces is key to the Bush administration's exit strategy, which is largely based on standing up enough Iraqis in uniform to fight the powerful - and by every account highly intelligent - Iraqi insurgency. The number of insurgents is estimated at 18,000 fighters, with as many as 200,000 active or passive supporters.

A top Army general estimated last week that U.S. troops could begin withdrawing from Iraq early next year, as Iraqis start taking over the Americans' functions. Gen. Richard Cody, Army vice chief of staff, told reporters that the success of the recent Iraqi elections, U.S. military victories against the insurgents and "the rapid growth of the Iraqi national guard and the Iraqi Army" would make that possible.

The subcommittee heard testimony that Iraqi officers themselves are optimistic about their ability to take over from the United States in the near term.

But the effort to reach the goal of 273,000 Iraqis with combat capability has been bumbling from the start, and military experts say it is still unclear whether or when large numbers of capable fighters might be in the field.

[leftchick]

1. The REAL Strategy: To Stay In Iraq A Generation At Least!

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?pid=2132

<snip>

While the exact figure may change, suspicions of undisclosed US imperial plans--exemplified by permanent military bases--rightfully linger. Before the war, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz suggested moving US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia into Iraq. In October, a survey by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes found that two-thirds of respondents disapproved of a permanent military presence, even though more than half thought the US would build the bases anyway.

Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.

"People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached," Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra point man), told the Sun.

The fabled "exit strategy" may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American troops remain today. "The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region," Donnelly wrote in an AEI policy paper.

Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand plans in mind.

[cliss]

7. I think they want to.

I believe that at some point, they realized that the whole plan was screwed.

They finally realized the hatred the occupation was causing. They counted the deaths and calculated when the US public would reach the boiling point.

They used their adding machines and realized early on that the occupation is not sustainable, financially. There is simply no way we can keep this up for more than 2, as long as 5 years. But that's it.

So they had to revise their plans. They understood that occupying Iraq with US forces is tantamount to suicide and would make VietNam look like an Easter Egg hunt.

What to do next? How could they salvage what they went in for? They have tried a variety of solutions: negotiating with Al-Sistani, even negotiating with Saddam loyalists. Next: train Iraqi troops to perpetuate the US agenda.

Again, this one is doomed because it means Iraqis would point a gun and shoot their own people. The US has such a poor understanding of Iraqi culture, that they will never be able to instill loyalty or confidence in the US plans. It's just going to be the law of the jungle.

Can the US leave completely, with maybe a skeleton crew manning the towers? Not likely. They're going to need a certain number of troops there. Also, don't forget plans for the US Embassy in Baghdad = the world's largest embassy with 3,000 State Department employees.

What about all the contracts they wrote, like Arby's Roast Goat, and Muslim Fried Chicken, Mc Muslim Donald's?

I think those plans are out. Now watch me cry a tear for those stupid fools who actually thought Iraq could be carved up like a side of beef, up for the highest bidder.

[leftchick]

9. I really truely don't think they see it is lost yet cliss....

Thay are insane and don't think rationally like you and I. I am convinced we will have a draft. hey can do it with congressional approval. Or if we have another "pearl harbor" they will start one immediately. It will take a draft before this is over I am very sad to say. And I have two young sons. :(

[The White Tree]

10. I can't see, realistically why they would even consider leaving.

The US is now spending between $200 - $300 billion on this war (don't know the actual total). That's a hefty investment. Our "goal" is to produce a highly-trained Iraqi army that not only would be there to fight the insurgency, but presumably would have our backs in a conflict with Iran and/or Syria.

Would they really want to risk that the force they leave behind could become hostile to the United States at some point? It would seem to me that some type of U.S. military presence is going to be necessary for decades. I think the only question they really are pondering is what the size of that force is going to be and how it can best be used to orchestrate control of the ever slowly growing Iraqi army.

[bemildred]

2. "The number of insurgents is estimated at 18,000 fighters"

Guess what, they pulled another number out of their asses. You
notice how the exit is always 6 months or a year away? When it gets
to less than six months, THAT means they are actually planning to leave.
Anything more than that means they are planning to stay.

[leftchick]

3. I have no doubt they plan to stay....

this is playing out just fine with Amerikans right now. They are fucking clueless as to the real plan for the ME. Once the draft starts they may, I say may, just snap out of it.

[bemildred]

4. I think a draft would have a stimulating effect.

Nothing like boot camp to get your mind focused.

[leftchick]

6. and these folks need focus first.....

[Massachusetts]

8. Agreed!

Most people in this country still don't feel the 2x4 hitting them over the head.

[warrens]

5. You gotta see Gunner Palace

I took my daughter to see it Saturday night. A documentary about a group of infantry based in a bombed out Baghdad palace. The scenes with the Iraqi security troops, who they were helping to train, says it all. While they basically swan around, the guy in charge of training says, they're just here for a paycheck. Later, they find out their top interpreter was with the insurgency.

It is not great art, but it is great, unfiltered information.

[FrankieBud]

11. I have put a few posts here before and some of them

have alluded to the war in Vietnam. With tears in my eyes, I have known that the Vietamization, oops, I mean the Iraqization of an illegal war is ultimately not going to fly with its victims (the Iraqi people).