LoungeMachine
02-03-2007, 11:24 AM
Because there hasn't been any good news for BushCO.
The TROOPS have done wonderful things, in spite of being SET UP for failure by their Commander in Thief
Iraq assessment bleak and sobering
By KATHERINE SHRADER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2/3/2007
WASHINGTON - The U.S. acknowledged Friday that Iraq is spiraling downward, with sectarian animosity growing and new Iraqi troops being added too slowly in a precarious mix that could draw Iraq's neighbors into the violence if American troops leave.
The sobering assessment from the National Intelligence Council was seen by congressional Democrats - and some Republicans - as new evidence that President Bush's Iraq policy is failing.
"I do not see anything so far in the report that suggests the president's new plan is a winning strategy that protects America's national interest," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Yet Bush administration officials said the intelligence assessment reinforced their view that the United States cannot leave Iraq. At a news conference, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he knew of no one on Capitol Hill who believed that leaving the country in chaos "would have anything other than very serious and negative consequences for the United States and for the region."
Indeed, the report suggested that a pullout of U.S. troops could draw Iraq's neighbors into the violence.
Friday's newly declassified portions of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq concluded that Iraq's security situation is likely to worsen over the next 18 months unless the slide toward sectarian polarization is halted. Iraq's security forces will be "hard-pressed" to handle their new responsibilities because of divisions that are tearing apart Iraqi society, it said.
Gates said the extra troops that Iraq promised to send into Baghdad as part of a new U.S.-Iraqi military buildup are arriving in insufficient numbers. His outgoing commander in Baghdad, Gen. George Casey, has said the arriving Iraqi units have only 55 to 65 percent of their intended troops.
"Fifty-five percent probably isn't good enough," Gates said.
Knowing the findings were likely to become public, intelligence analysts stepped gingerly around one of the most politically charged questions of the Iraq debate: Is the country in the midst of a civil war?
The analysts found the term "civil war" doesn't capture the complex situation in Iraq. In addition to Shiites fighting Sunnis, the country also faces attacks on U.S. and coalition forces and struggles within ethnic and religious sects.
Yet the estimate said the term "civil war" does reflect key elements of the conflict: the hardening of sectarian identities, changes in the nature of the violence and the geographic displacement of significant segments of the population.
The bleak analysis prodded even some Republicans to criticize Bush. The estimate "makes clear that we cannot continue the same stubborn strategy that has brought us to this point in Iraq," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.
The report comes as the administration worries about Iran's role in Iraq and the region. It is sending a second aircraft carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf region.
Gates said the carrier group is meant to underscore to friends and adversaries alike that the U.S. considers the Persian Gulf vital to its national interests. "We are not planning for a war with Iran," he said.
He acknowledged the United States is trying to counter Iran's role in providing "explosively formed projectiles" - so lethal that they can take out an Abrams tank. The intelligence estimate highlighted Iran's role in providing weapons and Syria's inadequate border security measures. But analysts concluded that these actions aren't likely to be a major driver of Iraq's violence, which will sustain itself even without outside influence.
The spy agencies saved some of their most dire warnings for the consequences of a sudden U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
If there is a quick withdrawal, analysts said, Iraqi security forces will not be able to survive, and neighboring countries may become increasingly involved in the conflict. Al-Qaida in Iraq would attempt to use the Sunni-dominated Anbar province of western Iraq as a base for attacks inside and outside the country, the report said. And spiraling violence, especially in the northern Kurdish areas, could prompt Turkey to act militarily.
The TROOPS have done wonderful things, in spite of being SET UP for failure by their Commander in Thief
Iraq assessment bleak and sobering
By KATHERINE SHRADER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2/3/2007
WASHINGTON - The U.S. acknowledged Friday that Iraq is spiraling downward, with sectarian animosity growing and new Iraqi troops being added too slowly in a precarious mix that could draw Iraq's neighbors into the violence if American troops leave.
The sobering assessment from the National Intelligence Council was seen by congressional Democrats - and some Republicans - as new evidence that President Bush's Iraq policy is failing.
"I do not see anything so far in the report that suggests the president's new plan is a winning strategy that protects America's national interest," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Yet Bush administration officials said the intelligence assessment reinforced their view that the United States cannot leave Iraq. At a news conference, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he knew of no one on Capitol Hill who believed that leaving the country in chaos "would have anything other than very serious and negative consequences for the United States and for the region."
Indeed, the report suggested that a pullout of U.S. troops could draw Iraq's neighbors into the violence.
Friday's newly declassified portions of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq concluded that Iraq's security situation is likely to worsen over the next 18 months unless the slide toward sectarian polarization is halted. Iraq's security forces will be "hard-pressed" to handle their new responsibilities because of divisions that are tearing apart Iraqi society, it said.
Gates said the extra troops that Iraq promised to send into Baghdad as part of a new U.S.-Iraqi military buildup are arriving in insufficient numbers. His outgoing commander in Baghdad, Gen. George Casey, has said the arriving Iraqi units have only 55 to 65 percent of their intended troops.
"Fifty-five percent probably isn't good enough," Gates said.
Knowing the findings were likely to become public, intelligence analysts stepped gingerly around one of the most politically charged questions of the Iraq debate: Is the country in the midst of a civil war?
The analysts found the term "civil war" doesn't capture the complex situation in Iraq. In addition to Shiites fighting Sunnis, the country also faces attacks on U.S. and coalition forces and struggles within ethnic and religious sects.
Yet the estimate said the term "civil war" does reflect key elements of the conflict: the hardening of sectarian identities, changes in the nature of the violence and the geographic displacement of significant segments of the population.
The bleak analysis prodded even some Republicans to criticize Bush. The estimate "makes clear that we cannot continue the same stubborn strategy that has brought us to this point in Iraq," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.
The report comes as the administration worries about Iran's role in Iraq and the region. It is sending a second aircraft carrier battle group to the Persian Gulf region.
Gates said the carrier group is meant to underscore to friends and adversaries alike that the U.S. considers the Persian Gulf vital to its national interests. "We are not planning for a war with Iran," he said.
He acknowledged the United States is trying to counter Iran's role in providing "explosively formed projectiles" - so lethal that they can take out an Abrams tank. The intelligence estimate highlighted Iran's role in providing weapons and Syria's inadequate border security measures. But analysts concluded that these actions aren't likely to be a major driver of Iraq's violence, which will sustain itself even without outside influence.
The spy agencies saved some of their most dire warnings for the consequences of a sudden U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.
If there is a quick withdrawal, analysts said, Iraqi security forces will not be able to survive, and neighboring countries may become increasingly involved in the conflict. Al-Qaida in Iraq would attempt to use the Sunni-dominated Anbar province of western Iraq as a base for attacks inside and outside the country, the report said. And spiraling violence, especially in the northern Kurdish areas, could prompt Turkey to act militarily.