Article

2006-05-30 Iraq

US reserve troops being deployed to Anbar

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Posted by Dan Darling 2006-05-30 01:58|| || Front Page|| [5 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 The brigade comes from the Army's First Armored Division, which has been deployed in Kuwait for months as a reserve
Was the whole Division in Kuwait or just this Brigade?

Posted by 6 2006-05-30 07:58|| 2006-05-30 07:58|| Front Page Top

#2 according to WaPo that brigade is the entire reserve force in Kuwait, apart from a Marine Combat Team.

Posted by liberalhawk 2006-05-30 14:09|| 2006-05-30 14:09|| Front Page Top

#3 We were joking today that we hoped the brigade got their special Chiarelli briefing - don't hurt anybody or offend anyone while you're here.

As I like to remind everyone, starting with myself, this stuff "isn't as easy as it looks" to an outsider, and there's generally no doubting the ability or commitment of the brass being criticized, but it's fair to say that many many mid-level military and even a larger % of civilians here are unhappy (ranging from uncomfortable to near exasperation or despair) with US military strategy here. That is, the lack of one - or more precisely, the substitution of sloppy thinking (we'll hand over to the Iraqis real soon) with nutty theories of conflict (unemployment is the problem, not violent behavior based on criminal, clan, and ideological motivations; and AQIZ is the main threat to our objectives here, not the Sunni rejectionist sea in which they swim, and without which they wouldn't last a month).

I'm hearing of more and more meetings in which senior military are being challenged, without effective reply, on their clearly disastrous policies (in general, a lack of offense, and a corresponding lack of results). Junior officers are chomping at the bit to put war back in warfare. Everyone hears about the violence here and out west, but down south Jaish al-Mahdi has been stockpiling weapons and inserting itself into local security structures non-stop for months. Not apparent that we're doing anything about it, other than watching, and it's hard to imagine what our plan might be to deal with it when we can't even bring ourselves to target known sources of trouble in the city in a serious manner.

Don't know if the situation's retrievable. No real defeat will result - but a greatly diluted payoff, marred by far higher costs, seems likely now. Too late to turn back the clock effectively, even if the sense/will suddenly appeared, given the new need to defer to a permanent govt. that is likely to prove d**kless in terms of decisive action on the security front ("national unity" is real neat, except when you have internal conflict requiring, like all conflicts, total victory and total defeat for any resolution and progress).

Absolutely baffled that the civilians higher up have chosen/acquiesced in this. Can't imagine how anyone could be satisfied, even with the political successes proceeding apace.

Attacks in B'dad are up so much that US civilian movement has been radically reduced (oddly, indirect fire into the IZ has dropped from very little to almost nothing). Aside from the EFP threat created by Iran - for which they have paid zero price and against which no truly effective action seems to have taken place - we still face the weakest, least impressive enemy we've faced in modern times.

Great quote today from an Anbar sheikh explaining that cooperation with the US was out for now, as AQIZ was more powerful in his world. Gee, now how does that compute, using Gen. Chiarelli's concepts of war as social work and the imperative need to appear less rude while conducting convoy security?

Not much war left in the American way of war in Iraq. And no game in the administration's communications. Dubya publicly regrets "bring it on"? WTF? As if clans fighting for smuggling/racket revenue and to fend off "Persian" revenge attacks, and nutcase jihadis care what the POTUS says. And Abu G. was a "mistake"? Felonies taking place over a few hours one day in 2004, discovered and prosecuted, are a "mistake"?

The bad guys have it much worse, but the good guys sure aren't looking too clever right now.

Posted by Verlaine in Iraq 2006-05-30 17:08|| 2006-05-30 17:08|| Front Page Top

#4 That's sobering stuff, Verlaine. Thanks for the update-- and take care of yourself over there.

Posted by Dave D.">Dave D. 2006-05-30 17:19|| 2006-05-30 17:19|| Front Page Top

#5 more than sobering it's depressing.. hope it's not all true thruout Iraq.

Posted by RD 2006-05-30 22:46|| 2006-05-30 22:46|| Front Page Top

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