 SUBJECT: OUR BEST CHANCE ARE THE ELECTIONS
Election day for the Iraqis is December 15. This could be it for us-our very best chance to declare victory and get the hell out, relatively speaking. Trying to figure out who the players are is way beyond me. I just read this article about the lines of control and how they shift like the desert sands. On the surface, you have Iraq split into three groups, according to this article: (1) Shiite militias and Iraqi government forces control most of the south and east. (2) Sunni tribes, where most of the insurgency groups are, run the North Central and Northwestern Iraq. (3) Kurdish forces control the mountainous north. And, now we go to the election-307 political parties and 19 coalitions registered to contest for the 275 seats. It is mind boggling. Email from Wayne
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WHAT A WAY TO RUN A WAR BY KT |
(AP Photo/Mohammed Hato) |
Coalition forces control their military bases and the streets they patrol when they patrol them. Rita Katz, director of SITE Institute(which monitors Islamist web sites and news operations) says outside the fortified perimeters of coalition military bases and Baghdad's heavily guarded Green zone enclave(where the Iraqi government and the U. S. embassy are based), Iraq is really controlled by many different insurgencies and militias. The Iraqi National Guard and police don't control anything, according to Katz.
Michael O'Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution says that there are three potential groups in charge of Iraq today; one is the U. S. and Iraqi official forces, the second is the militias, and the third is anarchy.
IT IS A MESS and the election isn't going to clear it up, but may give us our shot to haul ass out
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COMMANDERS ONLY KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON IN FRONT OF THEM BY KT |
(AFP/Mauricio Lima) |
In a way, I feel sorry for the commanders. The Iraq war could not be more difficult. They only know what is going on with them, they're trying to keep their troops alive; and, overall, they are ill-prepared to deal with what they are facing. And, they give rosy reports because it is what they are expected to do. I heard a Commander say last night on TV how we were winning and defeating the enemy slowly. And, I'm sure from his perspective we may be.
This one Marine(LTC) recently acknowledged that insurgents had control of the four areas in neighboring towns where they were operating. The day before his Brigade Commander had denied that any insurgents held any areas. This poor Lieutenant Colonel can probably kiss his career goodbye.
THERE IS NO GOOD ANSWER TO THE PROBLEMS WE FACE IN IRAQ. The only one is get past the election, declare victory, and get the hell out.
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