Sunday, June 24, 2007
Iraq: surging to failure while killing US troops?
From an AP report spotted via The Guardian:
"The U.S. commander of a new offensive north of Baghdad, reclaiming insurgent territory day by day, said Sunday his Iraqi partners may be too weak to hold onto the gains. The Iraqi military does not even have enough ammunition, said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek: "They're not quite up to the job yet."
His counterpart south of Baghdad seemed to agree, saying U.S. troops are too few to garrison the districts newly rid of insurgents. "It can't be coalition (U.S.) forces. We have what we have. There's got to be more Iraqi security forces," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch."
Click here for more from "General: Iraq Forces 'Not Up to the Job'."
So I guess this probably be won't be going down after all then:
"The U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve, a senior American commander said Friday. He denied reports the U.S. is arming Sunni insurgent groups to help in the fight against al-Qaida."Click here for more from "US may reduce forces in Iraq by spring."
More: "America's commander in Iraq says he doesn't think President Bush's troop surge will be successful enough to begin force reductions by September when the general delivers a key report to Congress." (from "Iraq pessimism: Quick surge success unlikely - General" here)
Related:
June 20: US to increase Iraq tours despite trauma warnings (or to be fair & balanced: maybe not)
June 21: 14 U.S. soldiers die in 24 hours in Iraq
June 24: 7 US Troops Killed in Roadside Bombings
Labels: Iraq war, War on Terror
