BAGHDAD (AP) - American military commanders now seriously doubt that Iraqi security forces will be able to hold the ground that U.S. troops are fighting to clear - gloomy predictions that strike at the heart of Washington’s key strategy to turn the tide in Iraq.

Several senior American officers have warned in recent days that Iraqi soldiers and police are still incapable of maintaining security on their own in the most crucial areas, including Baghdad and the recently reclaimed districts around Baqouba to the north.

And if I am not mistaken, this is exactly what I and many other reasonably well informed writers have been saying for quite some time, but we have been blasted for presenting that evaluation, because as truthful as it was, some people don’t want to hear the truth, and a lot of those people are hard core Bush Bot Republican Bloggers…

Iraqi units are supposed to be moving into position to take the baton from the Pentagon. This was the backbone of the plan President Bush announced in January when he ordered to five more U.S. brigades, or about 30,000 soldiers, to Iraq. The goal is to reduce the violence to a level where the Iraqis can cope so that Americans can begin to go home.

But that outcome is looking ever more elusive. The fear is that U.S. troops will pay for territory with their lives - only to have Iraqi forces lose control once the Americans move on.

Unless Iraqis can step up, the United States will face tough choices in months ahead as pressure mounts in the Democratic-controlled Congress to draw down the nearly 160,000-strong U.S. force.

It’s more than a fear, it’s a stone cold fact of life, the Iraqi troops will NEVER stand up and HOLD anything, they are too infiltrated by insurgents themselves, Iraq is, and has been nothing more than a clusterf*ck for quite some time and the more involved GWB gets in the plan the worse it gets…

Look, let’s go ahead and face facts, OUR forces haven’t been able to pacify Iraq, Baghdad is reported to be approximately 40% secure, in 4 years of us being there, and I place the blame for that on several levels, the President of the USA for 1, he wants to conduct a politically correct operation in which only the bad guys get hurt and we don’t make anyone angry, I blame the DoD and the LtGen’s and Generals that are constantly blowing smoke up the Presidents ass and telling him what HE wants to hear, and last but not least is al-Malaki himself, he actually thinks he can run Iraq, but he can’t, and without U.S. backing he is nothing more than a dead man walking…

If our troops had been given free reign and a decent set of ROE’s Iraq would be a peaceful little oil producing ally that was seriously being considered for future statehood, but because of the actions of the Bush family, Bush 41 back in 1991 and Bush 43 today, we are mired in a situation that is going to cost us a lot more than life and money when it’s over, if we don’t establish a DOMINATE position of control in this GWoT we will be the laughing stock of the entire terrorist world and will have opened ourselves up to attacks we haven’t even imagined yet…

“The challenge now is: How do you hold onto the terrain you’ve cleared?” said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, the operations chief of the current offensive in Baqouba, where Sunni insurgents have taken root in recent months. He said this week that U.S. forces have control of much of Baqouba.

“You have to do that shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqi security forces. And they’re not quite up to the job yet,” Bednarek said.

To the south, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch says he’s mapped out plans to stem the flow of roadside bombs into Baghdad from the outskirts of the capital.

But the key, again, is whether Iraqis can do their part.

“The issue is we can’t stay here forever and there’s got to be a persistent presence and that’s got to be Iraqi security forces,” Lynch said. “And that’s always our biggest concern.”

And in summation I say this, if we KNOW that the Iraqis can’t, or won’t stand up for themselves, WHY are we fighting and dying, and spending BILLIONS of U.S. tax dollars, on a people that just aren’t worth saving??

I am NOT a bleeding heart that thinks the USA needs to save every poor and/or downtrodden people of this earth, we don’t owe the Iraqis anything, we have a responsibility to our own people, our own nation and our own safety, do we have any leaders in possession of the balls to actually carry that mission out??

Full Story Here:
US Chiefs: Iraq Not Ready to Hold Ground

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