Generals Say Not Enough Forces to Hold Gains in Iraq

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Ummmm, wasn't someone named Bush told this a few years ago?

-------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. questions strength of Iraqi forces (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070625/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070623171397;_ylt=AvBYa8pHahSLFplynyz3YcYE1vA I)
By LAUREN FRAYER, Associated Press Writer

BAQOUBA, Iraq - 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.

The two commanders spoke after a deadly day for the U.S. military in Iraq. At least 12 soldiers were killed on Saturday from roadside bombings and other causes, leaving at least 31 dead for the week.

In central Baghdad, meanwhile, the Iraqi High Tribunal on Sunday sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," and two others to death for their roles in the bloody suppression of Iraq's restive Kurdish minority during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, a campaign prosecutors said left 180,000 dead.

Al-Majid, a cousin of executed former president Saddam Hussein and a one-time Baath Party leader in the north, was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for ordering army and security services to use chemical weapons in the offensive against the independence-minded Kurds of northern Iraq, viewed by Saddam as traitors and Iranian allies.

Ex-defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former deputy operations director for the Iraqi military, also were sentenced to hang for the anti-Kurdish atrocities. Two others, former intelligence officials under Saddam, were sentenced to life in prison, and the charges against a former northern governor were dismissed.

In the U.S. offensive dubbed Operation Arrowhead Ripper, some 10,000 American troops were in their sixth day of combat to drive Sunni al-Qaida militants from their stronghold in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Between 60 and 100 suspected al-Qaida fighters and one U.S. soldier have been killed so far in the fighting in western Baqouba, said Bednarek, the 25th Infantry Division's deputy commander for operations. About 60 insurgents were detained, he said.

He estimated between 50 and 100 insurgents were inside a U.S. security cordon in the city. "We're closing the noose," Bednarek told The Associated Press. "It's the hardcore fighters left — guys who will die for their cause."

He said U.S. forces now control about 60 percent of the city's west side, but "the challenge now is, how do you hold onto the terrain you've cleared? You have to do that shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqi security forces. And they're not quite up to the job yet."

Across Diyala province, where Baqouba is the capital, Iraqi troops are short on uniforms, weapons, ammunition, trucks and radios, he said.
CONT.

[TheDave]

From what i can remember the original war plan from the military called for 650,000 GI's...

[Bronco_Beerslug]

From what i can remember the original war plan from the military called for 650,000 GI's...Well, nobody liked my plan 3 years ago on how to "win" this invasion which was start the draft or get out.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Baghdad hotel bombed as dozens killed in Iraq (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070625/wl_afp/iraq_070625114046;_ylt=ApagptUoOJbz2iUxxb8xyioUewg F)
by Ammar Karim 17 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Suicide bombers struck a Baghdad hotel and police targets on Monday in a wave of insurgent bombings in Iraq that killed at least 31 people, including a lawmaker, policemen and tribal leaders.

The three suicide bombings came a day after an Iraqi court sentenced to death Ali Hassan al-Majid, widely known as "Chemical Ali," for the slaughter of 182,000 Kurds in 1988.


http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20070625/capt.sge.qos86.250607114100.photo00.photo.default-512x341.jpg?x=380&y=253&sig=.b7iS.xdAgollCRcpeUxTA--
Iraqi soldiers inspect damage as bodies lay on the floor at al-Mansur hotel in central Baghdad. Suicide bombers have struck a Baghdad hotel and police targets in a wave of insurgent bombings in Iraq that killed at least 31 people, including a lawmaker, policemen and tribal leaders.(AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

A suicide bomber blew himself up in the crowded lobby of Baghdad's Al-Mansour Melia hotel, killing at least eight people, including a Shiite lawmaker and some Sunni tribal sheikhs, staff and security officials said.

They said the explosion, which also wounded 15 people, occurred during an informal gathering of local tribal sheikhs at the hotel located on the west bank of the Tigris river.

Security officials confirmed that the meeting was the target of the attack in the hotel, which houses diplomats and some foreign media organisations.

An AFP correspondent said charred bodies of the victims and many of the wounded were lying near the reception desk in the rubble-strewn lobby, and that the ceiling had collapsed on the bodies.

A hotel employee said a group of five or six tribal sheikhs had come into the lobby and ordered tea. As the employee headed back to the kitchen the explosion went off behind him.

One of those killed was Fassal al-Gawud, an ex-governor of the western Sunni province of Anbar, where several tribal sheikhs have recently allied with US and Iraqi forces against Al-Qaeda, according to security officials.

Hussein Shaalan, a Shiite MP from the liberal Iraqi National List of former pro-Western premier Iyad Allawi's political bloc and a tribal chief from the central city of Diwaniyah, was also killed along with his son and a bodyguard.

Other victims included Rahim al-Maliki, a poet employed by Iraq's state-run Iraqiyah television, and two Sunni tribal sheikhs.

Sheikh Mahmud Daham from Anbar, who was in the hotel, said the attack "targeted the tribes that are fighting terrorism."

"Iraq will stay standing, no matter what you do. We are not afraid of you and we are going to continue fighting you," he said amid the wreckage with corpses around him.

The attack came shortly after two other suicide bombings killed another 23 people, mostly policemen, in the north and central regions of the country.

The deadliest strike was in the northern oil refining town of Baiji in which 15 people were killed when a bomber ploughed an explosives-laden oil tanker into the police headquarters of the town, a local police officer said.

Another 50 people, mostly civilians, were wounded.

"A suicide bomber driving an oil tanker tried to break into the building but he blew himself up at the gate because he could not get in. It resulted in huge damage to the building," said Police Captain Ahmed Hussein of Baiji.

"All the wounded are civilians from shops near the headquarters, but most of those killed are prisoners and policemen," he said, adding that rescuers were still pulling bodies out of the rubble.

Local authorities imposed a full curfew and blocked all roads leading in or out of the town, which is just north of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit.

In central Iraq, in the town of Hilla, a suicide bomber slammed into a crowd of recruits waiting outside a police academy, killing eight and wounding several dozen.

"The recruits were just a week away from their graduation," said Police Lieutenant Mohammed al-Dulaimi of Hilla police.

An AFP reporter said the attack gouged out a large crater in the middle of the street. A number of nearby buildings, including a school, and many shops were damaged by the blast.

Salim Saleh, the governor of Babil province, who visited the site, blamed the attack on "takfiris" (Sunni extremists).

Hilla has seen regular bomb attacks as Sunni insurgents have targetted Shiite pilgrims travelling from Baghdad south to the holy shrine cities of Karbala and Najaf.

The three bombings appear to be the latest assaults on Iraq's fledgling security forces and tribal leaders, seen by both the US military and the Iraqi government as the cornerstones of any future stability in Iraq.

Insurgents have managed to carry out high-profile bomb attacks even as US and Iraq forces have launched massive operations across the country to root out Al-Qaeda strongholds.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

Generals Say Not Enough Forces to Hold Gains in Iraq

Just one more general for the pinhead to ignore. :oyvey:

[TailgateNut]

Just one more general for the pinhead to ignore. :oyvey:

"Father knows best"!ROFL!

[Bronco_Beerslug]

GOP senator says Iraq plan not working (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070626/ap_on_go_co/lugar_iraq_9;_ylt=Av.RbqY0FqaF9q6CEzImJdYE1vAI)
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Sen. Richard Lugar, a senior Republican and a reliable vote for President Bush on the war, said that Bush's Iraq strategy was not working and that the U.S. should downsize the military's role.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070626/capt.nyol93006260216.lugar_iraq_nyol930.jpg?x=271&y=345&sig=L0wIDvpusCdMIcl2p52EBw--
Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. is shown in this 2005 file photo. Lugar, a senior Republican and a reliable vote for President Bush on the war, said Monday that Bush's Iraq strategy was not working and that the U.S. should downsize the military's role. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The unusually blunt assessment Monday deals a political blow to Bush, who has relied heavily on GOP support to stave off anti-war legislation.

It also comes as a surprise. Most Republicans have said they were willing to wait until September to see if Bush's recently ordered troop buildup in Iraq was working.

"In my judgment, the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved," Lugar, R-Ind., said in a Senate floor speech. "Persisting indefinitely with the surge strategy will delay policy adjustments that have a better chance of protecting our vital interests over the long term."

Only a few Republicans have broken ranks and called for a change in course or embraced Democratic proposals ordering troops home by a certain date. As the top Republican and former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lugar's critique could provide political cover for more Republicans wanting to challenge Bush on the war.

Lugar's spokesman Andy Fisher said the senator wanted to express his concerns publicly before Bush reviews his Iraq strategy in September.

"They've known his position on this for quite a while," Fisher said of the White House.

However, Fisher said the speech does not mean Lugar would switch his vote on the war or embrace Democratic measures setting a deadline for troop withdrawals.

In January, Lugar voted against a resolution opposing the troop buildup, contending that the nonbinding measure would have no practical effect. In spring, he voted against a Democratic bill that would have triggered troop withdrawals by Oct. 1 with the goal of completing the pull out in six months.

Next month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to force votes on several anti-war proposals as amendments to a 2008 defense policy bill. Members will decide whether to cut off money for combat, demand troop withdrawals start in four months, restrict the length of combat tours and rescind Congress' 2002 authorization of Iraqi invasion.

Expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass controversial legislation, the proposals are intended to increase pressure on Bush and play up to voters frustrated with the war.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Another GOP senator urges pullout (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070626/ap_on_go_co/us_iraq_17;_ylt=Al3uNLmR146fyGQCxmBZU24E1vAI)
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer 20 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Sen. George Voinovich said Tuesday the U.S. should begin pulling troops out of Iraq, joining Richard Lugar as the second Republican lawmaker in as many days to suggest President Bush's war strategy is failing.

He said the Iraqi people must become more involved and "I don't think they'll get it until they know we're leaving."

The Ohio senator's remarks followed similar comments by Lugar, R-Ind., the previous night. The two GOP senators previously had expressed concerns about Bush's decision to send 30,000 extra troops to Iraq in a massive U.S.-led security push in Baghdad and Anbar province. But they had stopped short of saying U.S. troops should leave and declined to back Democratic legislation setting a deadline for troop withdrawals.

"We must not abandon our mission, but we must begin a transition where the Iraqi government and its neighbors play a larger role in stabilizing Iraq," Voinovich wrote in a letter to Bush.

Lugar and Voinovich said they were still not ready to insist on a timetable for withdrawal. But they both made it clear their patience was gone.

Once Iraq's neighbors "know we are genuinely leaving, I think all of a sudden the fear of God will descend upon them and say, 'We've got to get involved in this thing,'" Voinovich told reporters.

"It can't be something that is precipitous, but I do believe that it should be enough so that people know we are indeed disengaging," he added.

The loss of GOP support for the president's strategy is significant. Democrats may still not be able to push through legislation demanding an end date to the war, but softer alternative proposals are in the works that could still challenge Bush.

After the Fourth of July recess, "you'll be hearing a number of statements from other (Republican) colleagues," predicted Sen. John Warner, R-Va., a longtime skeptic of the war strategy.
CONT.

[Muddled]

So that 1% increase in the number of troops (or what it was) didn't solve it?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

So that 1% increase in the number of troops (or what it was) didn't solve it?I think it was closer to 5% but it was obvious from the beginning that is no where near enough to secure all the trouble areas over there.