More Iraqi Security Forces Needed?

CBS News Has Learned That U.S. Commander In Iraq Will Recommend Boosting Forces By Up To 100,000

(CBS)  President Bush's National Security Adviser showed up unannounced in Baghdad Monday to meet with Iraq's Prime Minister al-Maliki — who, according to U.S. intelligence, is telling his inner circle the situation is "nearly out of control," CBS News correspondent David Martin reports.

CBS News has learned exclusively that Gen. George Casey, the U.S. Commander in Iraq, is expected to recommend the size of Iraqi security forces be increased by up to 100,000. This comes just as the U.S. military is about to reach its long-stated goal of training and equipping 325,000 Iraqis to take over the fighting from American troops.

Officials say the explosion of sectarian violence, which Gen. Casey calls a fundamental change in the nature of the threat, now makes that number look inadequate. On top of that is the fact that any given day, one quarter of the Iraqi Army is on leave.

Increasing the size of the Iraqi security forces would also mean more American soldiers would be needed to train and advise them. The United States is also considering doubling from 12 to 25 the number of American advisers embedded in each Iraqi unit.

Gen. Casey is also expected to recommend equipping Iraqi security forces with more heavily armored vehicles — police now ride in pick-up trucks — and heavier weapons.

But an audit by a Pentagon Inspector General found that of 370,000 small arms provided to the Iraqis, so far, 14,000 could not be accounted for — and most of the weapons came without spare parts or repair manuals.

Perhaps most alarming is that Iraq may not be able to pay for its army.

"It's going to take $3.5 billion to sustain the Iraqi Army next year, and we’re unable to uncover information in the course of the audit to indicate that Iraq was ready to sustain that burden," says Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., the Inspector General.

Increasing the number of Iraqi forces will take time, but if the situation is as bad as al-Maliki says it is, time may be in short supply.

[tank611]

QUOTE:

'how and why we invaded and destroyed another country'

The people destroying Iraq are the Muslim insurgents/terrorists with their car bombs,IEDs and suicide bombings. The United States is not destroying Iraq.

Why we invaded? The Middle East,as a region,has been waging a terror war against the United States since 1979. Which gives the United States the right to wage war on the Middle East.

Why we invaded? To prevent another 9/11 type attack. Every scumbag terrorist who ever thought about attacking the United States has gone to Iraq instead. There have been no attacks on US soil since 9/11. Which means our plan is working.

[arthurcl1]

Bush at it again slinging mud on Kerry for a bad joke. Kerry has Purple Hearts, how many does Bush, Cheyne or Rumsfield have? 0 How did Bush serve in the mililtary? He didn't do much because he was from a rich family and they helped get him out of going to Vietnam. But look at what Bush has done for us, like spending billions on a failed policy in Irag. Going over the UN to go it alone! Recently millions of dollars of our taxpayer money for weapons for their armed forces was ripped off from under our noses? They will no doubt be used against our troops! No reconstruction going on for the people, civil war, and the Cleric is back to controlling Sadar City? They told us to get out! Our National Debt is at 4 TRILLION! Left for our grandchildren to try to pay? What a mess Bush has us in. It's another Vietnam. We will never be able to get out of there thanks to these guys!
That was what Kerry was trying to say!

[peterbaldwin-2009]

From the AP: "U.S. forces disappeared from the checkpoints within hours of the order, setting off celebrations among civilians and armed men on the edge of the sprawling slum controlled by the Mahdi Army militia run by radical anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr."

A few weeks ago Bush was demanding that Maliki crush the Mahdi Army. Today Bush ordered US troops to leave Sadr City while members of the Mahdi Army cheered.

Did Bush change sides?

[talkingham]

This is so three years ago. Troops on the ground saw this insurgency coming in May of 2003 but the Cheney Bush team ignored the truth (like it ever mattered to them) and floated out that rosey mission accomplished theme that Karl Rove developed. It's now cost thousands and thousands of lives. Yes, Bush Cheney will say if was faulty intelligence- or is just plain lies and deception from day one. It will never be investigated- I doubt this country even wants the "truth." They certainly don't want to know the truth about 911 and the whitewash investigation of what really happened that day. The Towers should have been treated like the crime scene rather than hauling everything out as fast as possible so no real investigation could be done. Yet, we still have only a hole in the ground 5 years later. Iraq should be treated like a crime scene too, the crime of how and why we invaded and destroyed another country.

[observantx]

There are no good options here. Rummy, Fearless Leader, Darth Cheney and His Roveness have painted themselves and you and me into a tight sweaty corner.

If we stay in Iraq with our present %u201Cstrategy (or is it %u201Ctactics%u201D this week), we will simply get more of our sons and daughters killed or maimed along with many more average trying to make a living Iraqis.

At this point, if we hand over control to the Iraqi %u201CArmy%u201D, we will be handing control over to the insurgents, death squads and militias that have thoroughly saturated and corrupted the Iraqi Army, police, and Interior Ministry. In this case the sectarian bloodbath will soak the sands of that country ankle deep.

The only way I can see to even begin to pry ourselves out of this corner is to clean this administration out of the White House and Congress. As someone once said %u201CFirst steps, first%u201D

We all need to make those first steps to the polling booth and make room for ourselves in this corner. Only then can we silence all the lies and spin that din in our ears and find the right people who can formulate workable and effective plans to heal the festering wound this war has become.

We need a huge turnout of genuine patriotic Americans to get our nation moving in the correct direction. The path we are on now is leading to destruction. Please vote to clean house!

[bluestardad]

soon these idiots will be gone and we can bring our kids home.

[cathaleen]

The Iraqis should have a draft and get all those young guys running around shooting our soldiers and civilians and put them in the army. Give them something to do - in exchange for all these guys being inducted into their army - our guys can go home. That's a fair trade.

ronin10 wrote:

"Stay the course...If you are going to have a war, it should be to win."

That's all fine and dandy, but this war was never going to be won - just how many lives need to be lost before a point is proven?

Regardless, I can't help but wonder that if the Generals in Iraq were able to make their own decisions, instead of the idiots in Washington (Republican or Democrat) making decisions for them, how this war would have turned out.

I say that it's time for the idiots in Washington to stop playing their childish war games and let those in Iraq start calling the shots.

Rumsfeld may think he's a general, but he isn't.

And as for the Commander in Chief, he isn't mentally fit enough to command a boy scout troop.

Perhaps if he had turned up for his own military service, instead of drinking and snorting various substances, just maybe Iraq wouldn't be the mess it is today.

Politicans do not win wars - they lose them.

Generals and troops win wars.

[pudd54]

The president's stratagy of speaking of Iraq, the war on terror, and Sept 11th constantly together must be working great. When asked directly he will tell you he never said Iraq had anything to do with Sept 11th. In a recent poll over 50% of Americans believe Iraq was involved, not fundimentalist from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. That is 10 times the number of people that know Saddam's Deputy Prime Minister (#2 man) was Catholic.

So you see, Iraq supporting religious fundimental groups aimed at attacking christians would be like the president being against gay marriage when the VP's daughter is gay. No wait, a better simile would be like the pres supporting gay bashing when the VP was gay.

[bluestardad]

Heck of a Job Rummy, Stay the Course

[alphaa10-2009]

Clearly, Bush understands the American people reject his Iraq policy, else why did he fear to raise troop levels before the election?

Bush tried his best to present a low posterior for voters to kick, not wanting to invite more punishment for his misdeeds-- even if it meant American lives might have been saved had additional troops been injected months earlier. Appalling as it might seem, the timing of fresh troops follows the coldest political cost analysis Bush ever made of the disaster called Iraq.
This is not at all the "stay the course" Bush his speeches would present%u2013 this Bush finds his "stay the course" mantra now hangs like an albatross about his neck.

Only montbs after the invasion was complete, Bush was agitated to learn Bremer was actually making commitments in Iraq that could impede rapid, post-invasion American troop drawdowns. Bremer, himself, was so surprised at the cool Bush reception, he wondered whether Bush actually had a change of heart about the "nation building" alibi Bush had begun to push when no WMDs were found.

Though Bush cynically will fly extra troops to Baghdad within days of the election, it doesn't matter in the near-term. US strategy has been revealed as a holding action, and everyone, especially the insurgents, knows it. Even Saudi Arabia is now fearful of a Shiite Iraq, groping its way to alliance with Iran. For the US, the most poisonous of options is simply to persist in enabling the current civil war.

[kcstan11]

George Bush started his own "100 YEAR WAR" and, the way that he is running it, it could be an ETERNAL CONFLICT.

[bluestardad]

"and in the last days mens hearts will fail them for fear"

[bluestardad]

Hey it%u2019s the two stooges again bobble heads for Bush from Iraq, Stay the Course, Slam Dunk, Mushroom Cloud boys/buckaroos.

S_LINK90 wrote:

"well,,maybe if clinton would have put more missles in iraq instead of putting his missle in monicas mouth,, we may not be in iraq now,,afaganistan too,,, clinton failed america on terrorism..."

Spot the Republican supporter.

Fact: Bush has been involved in the "war on terror" for over 5 years.

The result?

Five years of failures. Many thousands of dead, innocent civilians. Thousands of dead American soldiers. A war in Afghanistan that still continues. A war in Iraq that still continues and is getting worse every day. Bin Laden still roaming free. The deaths of more people than those that died on 9/11.

The fact is that Bush has failed in the "war on terror" - something that even the most idiotic Republicans should be able to see.

Clinton was bad - but Bush is even worse.

Perhaps if Bush hadn't destroyed his brain by years of alcohol and substance abuse - maybe, just maybe he'd stand a chance of success in *something*.

[radiob-2009]

To processor2 100 US soldiers died in Iraq last mth.This does not count the civilian toll which is close to 3000.Read the article before you post and if you still feel the same way,then move to Iraq.I am sure your head will be found dismembered back in the US as it currently is.What are you drinking Jack Rovette Daniels?

[s_link90]

well,,maybe if clinton would have put more missles in iraq instead of putting his missle in monicas mouth,, we may not be in iraq now,,afaganistan too,,, clinton failed america on terrorism, 1st trade center bombing sure made a few arrests,,he found a blind cleric in new jersey,,great job,,,,,. the uss cole,,all the embasy bombings,, and lets not forget our soldiers getting dragged in the streets of somalia,,, and what was doneeven after all this happend? nothing.oh yeh,, there was 1 thing that was done,, he let binladen continue to plan for 911,sorry,,i forgot that 1.
what needs to happen now it to let our military do what its trained to do,, that is to eliminate the enemy.
round up ALL media sources and fly THEM back home,where they belong.
and let the greatest army in the world do thier job,,its quite simple.
clinton,, monica gate,paula jones gate,filegate,travel gate,china gate,ron brown?, vince foster?.
think twice before you pull the lever on the 7th of november.

[rmlaw402]

My heart is absolutely sick. I have no idea of what to say to my comrades and friends about this ridiculous leadership. Our troops are dying and Rumsfeld wants to increase the number of his PR hacks. That's what he's worried about. I feel as if the world is in an unreal state where nothing makes sense. We need to train another 100,000 ineffectual troops and we can increase the number of forces we have with each failed Iraqi unit. Why? This can't be true. Yet I know that this President and his worthless staff will be killing Americans and everyone else for another two years, no matter what happens Nov. 7. Over 600,000 Iraqi deaths, tens of thousands of Afgani
deaths, over 2,800 soldiers, tens of thousands of Americans wounded. All the result of this amoral
leadership. This has to change.

[marcelde]

OUR TROOPS ARE NEEDLESSLY DYING IN A CIVIL WAR IN IRAQ. WE DON%u2019T KNOW WHO TO SUPPORT, SHIITES OR SUNNIS SO WE ARE CAUGHT AGAIN, ON BOTH SIDES OF THIS CIVIL WAR.

No matter how much double speak and back tracking of this misadministration, it is evident that

%u201CStay the course%u201D means STAY THE CURSE!

LABELS LIKE 'CUT AND RUN' ARE SIMPLY PROPAGANDA TO PROP A GANDER. GIVE US PROPER CANDOR!

[marcelde]

"Mission Accomplished!"
The Unlearned HISTORY Lesson of Vietnam
George Bush's triumphal announcement of "Mission Accomplished" could be viewed as correct if we agree that the mission was to kill thousands of our troops, uncounted civilians, destroy the infrastructure of Iraq, erode any residual respect of the rest of the world for us, and set the stage for a bloody civil war in Iraq. ===

In accomplishing that "mission" we have already lost over 2,800 U.S. military, diverted critical funds from the War on Terror, and, TO QUOTE RUMSFELD, %u2026 %u201CSTILL HAVE NOT LEARNED HISTORY%u2019S LESSONS%u201D ===
Labels such as "Defeatist" or platitudes like "Cut and Run" are transparent propaganda offered because this administration lacks a workable solution to their self made problem. ===

THE HISTORY LESSON RUMSFELD SHOULD BE LEARNING is the tragic lesson of Vietnam. Those who suggest we "still have not learned history's lessons" ignore 58,249 soldiers that needlessly died there. That war left Vietnam a Communist country, but our trading partner. We who objected to that war want to Support Our Troops by bringing them out of harm's way. We need to actively resist mindless leaders who suggest that Weapons of Mass Destruction, never found in Iraq, are the cause of 911, and that every culture is eager to embrace our form of democracy. Our soldiers who are dying in Iraq are another "Inconvenient Truth" just as those in 1970 whose names are engraved on the Vietnam War Memorial..