That, believe it or not, is an Associated Press headline from January 26, 2006:
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - With American help, the Iraqi army is emerging as a lightly armed counterinsurgency force that may control more of the country than the U.S.-led coalition by this spring, U.S. military officials say.
But in coming years, the Iraqi army will remain too weak to defend the country and will be reliant far into the future on America to guarantee Iraq's sovereignty, experts say.
''They're not going to be the 101st Airborne anytime soon,'' said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Fred Wellman, spokesman for the military transition command in Baghdad. ``But in 2006, this is the year that the majority of Iraq will be secured by Iraqis.''
I'm not so sure about that "too weak to defend the country" bit...too weak to defend itself against, say, the United States...but I'm pretty sure that man for man the Iraqi army can already make mincemeat of the dispirited, poorly trained, led and equipped conscript armes of the rest of the Arab world. The most important part of the story is that by Spring the majority of Iraq will be entirely under Iraqi control...thus freeing up our military to either return home for a well-deserved rest or, if necessary, tackling whatever other problems might arise in the area.
HAT TIP: Indepundit
Posted by Mark Noonan at January 30, 2006 05:24 AM
Track
del.icio.us
digg it
IM
Facebook
Comments
Sorry to deviate from the topic, but I was wondering whether there was something like a podcasts for Bush? I'd like to join.
Posted by:
Gil Podcast at January 30, 2006 08:16 AM
The obvious "red" force is of course Iran. The Iraqi's abilities "man for man" don't mean much against a much more populous neighbor which Iran is in spades. But already in the Iran/Iraq war we've seen that the Iranians are not much for strategery. Of course neither were the Iraqis under Saddam but things have changed there. For now, the US owns the skies, including space and that is the most important thing. An armored column from Tehran will not get the chance to test itself against Iraqi infantry so long as the US guarantees the sky. The big threat now (other than a failure of American will) is asymmetrical countermeasures that defeat our advanced weapons. We haven't seen this yet but EMP, microwave and other anti-electronic weapons promise to change the battlefield, possibly returning us to something near the WWII level of battlefield intel and integration. That would hurt.
Posted by: megapotamus at January 30, 2006 10:40 AM
Very true meg- Thats why we need to continue weapons that will orbit the earth. they will be very hard to target.
Posted by: Rich at January 30, 2006 11:12 AM
The most important part of the story is that by Spring the majority of Iraq will be entirely under Iraqi control...thus freeing up our military to either return home for a well-deserved rest or, if necessary, tackling whatever other problems might arise in the area.
Did you miss the whole "Our troops are being stretched to the breaking point" statement or something? Do you actually think our army can afford to let alone fight a necessary war not just take care of other "problems" in the area? Our army is undersupplied and exaughsted. God help us if Iran and North Korea say "fuck you" and attack, then we are left without even a national guard. Luck to all you hawks out there.
Posted by: Steve at January 30, 2006 11:59 AM
Steve;
This is not true, no matter how many morons on your side of the aisle say it. Rush Limbaugh had Secretary of the Army, Dr. Francis Harvey, on yesterday and Army retention is at the highest level it's been for five years. In the Secretaries words;
" ...we retained 69,500, the highest in five years, and I think if you think about that retention, it's a great indicator of a number of things. First of all, it says the soldier is satisfied and has confidence in the leadership. The soldier is satisfied that he has the equipment he needs to do his job. The soldier is totally satisfied with the job he's doing and the difference he's making in defending the peace and freedom of this country, and that he likes his quality of life.
So all those factors are answered by the retention rate, and if you want to get more detailed you just look at the retention rate of the 3rd Infantry division that's just rotating out of Iraq this month. They beat their retention goal by 36% and that goal was the highest that anybody can remember in their history. That was, by the way, their second deployment. So all the indicators in the general retention and specifically with the unit that had been deployed twice now in Iraq indicate that the Army is not broke, that the soldiers have high morale, and they are deriving a lot of satisfaction out of the difference they're making in the world, and they're very, very proud of being the liberators of 50 million people and providing them with a democratic way of life."
Not broke at all, blees them.
Posted by: Mel Evenson at January 30, 2006 03:50 PM
Order Matt and Mark's book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble
Sorry to deviate from the topic, but I was wondering whether there was something like a podcasts for Bush? I'd like to join.
The obvious "red" force is of course Iran. The Iraqi's abilities "man for man" don't mean much against a much more populous neighbor which Iran is in spades. But already in the Iran/Iraq war we've seen that the Iranians are not much for strategery. Of course neither were the Iraqis under Saddam but things have changed there. For now, the US owns the skies, including space and that is the most important thing. An armored column from Tehran will not get the chance to test itself against Iraqi infantry so long as the US guarantees the sky. The big threat now (other than a failure of American will) is asymmetrical countermeasures that defeat our advanced weapons. We haven't seen this yet but EMP, microwave and other anti-electronic weapons promise to change the battlefield, possibly returning us to something near the WWII level of battlefield intel and integration. That would hurt.
Very true meg- Thats why we need to continue weapons that will orbit the earth. they will be very hard to target.
The most important part of the story is that by Spring the majority of Iraq will be entirely under Iraqi control...thus freeing up our military to either return home for a well-deserved rest or, if necessary, tackling whatever other problems might arise in the area.
Did you miss the whole "Our troops are being stretched to the breaking point" statement or something? Do you actually think our army can afford to let alone fight a necessary war not just take care of other "problems" in the area? Our army is undersupplied and exaughsted. God help us if Iran and North Korea say "fuck you" and attack, then we are left without even a national guard. Luck to all you hawks out there.
Steve;
This is not true, no matter how many morons on your side of the aisle say it. Rush Limbaugh had Secretary of the Army, Dr. Francis Harvey, on yesterday and Army retention is at the highest level it's been for five years. In the Secretaries words;
" ...we retained 69,500, the highest in five years, and I think if you think about that retention, it's a great indicator of a number of things. First of all, it says the soldier is satisfied and has confidence in the leadership. The soldier is satisfied that he has the equipment he needs to do his job. The soldier is totally satisfied with the job he's doing and the difference he's making in defending the peace and freedom of this country, and that he likes his quality of life.
So all those factors are answered by the retention rate, and if you want to get more detailed you just look at the retention rate of the 3rd Infantry division that's just rotating out of Iraq this month. They beat their retention goal by 36% and that goal was the highest that anybody can remember in their history. That was, by the way, their second deployment. So all the indicators in the general retention and specifically with the unit that had been deployed twice now in Iraq indicate that the Army is not broke, that the soldiers have high morale, and they are deriving a lot of satisfaction out of the difference they're making in the world, and they're very, very proud of being the liberators of 50 million people and providing them with a democratic way of life."
Not broke at all, blees them.