Meanwhile, returning to the original topic. Tommy Franks has rephrased his words in support of Rumsfeld. Six months retired Meyers, former Joint Chief, has also endorsed Rumsfeld. But their reasons reek of one fundamental fact - 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management.
We did not and do not have enough troops in Iraq. That made obvious from the situation in Anbar Providene - the only part of Iraq that borders Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. From Fallujah to Qaim is a provience in total disarray because there were not enough Marines. And even because of this from Washington Post of 13 Apr 2006:
Quote:
U.S., Iraq Commanders Dislike Leave RulesU.S. and Iraqi commanders are increasingly critical of a policy that lets Iraqi soldiers leave their units virtually at will _ essentially deserting with no punishment. They blame the lax rule for draining the Iraqi ranks to confront the insurgency _ in some cases by 30 percent or even half.
Iraqi officials, however, say they have no choice but to allow the policy, or they may gain virtually no volunteers.
... Iraqi army does not require its soldiers to sign contracts. That means they can quit anytime and casually treat enlistments as temporary jobs. Soldiers can even pick up their belongings and leave during missions _ and often do without facing punishment. ...
In the Qaim area near the Syrian border, dozens of soldiers complained last month that they had not been paid in months. The Iraqi Ministry of Defense has struggled to build an infrastructure to both supply and regularly pay its troops. Iraqi soldiers also often live in dilapidated barracks that are slowly being refurbished.
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This is the army that will take over Iraq? Just like Vietnam where we were also winning the war. Current generals swore we would never have another Vietnam. So where is this victory coming from as the insurgency grows AND as the militia are now killing more than insurgents. According to Rumsfeld, it is all due to Al Qaeda - he continues promoting that mythical dragon.
Somehow we are winning a "Misson Accomplished" war? 85% of all problems are directly traceable to top management - just like in Vietnam. So they (ie Rumsfeld) forgot to tell you why Iraqi units completely disappear when deployed to places such as Fallujah? Rumsfeld will even tell you they are fighting for Iraq - when they really needed a job that sometimes does not pay until Americans find more money. Another article describes an American Sgt who carried three bags - $650,000 - to finally pay those Qaim soldiers with replacement money that otherwise had disappeared.
This is a war that Rumsfeld says we are winning?