NYT: 2 C.I.A. Reports Offer Warnings on Iraq's Path

[Dickie Flatt]

NY Times

A classified cable sent by the Central Intelligence Agency's station chief in Baghdad has warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon, according to government officials.

The cable, sent late last month as the officer ended a yearlong tour, presented a bleak assessment on matters of politics, economics and security, the officials said. They said its basic conclusions had been echoed in briefings presented by a senior C.I.A. official who recently visited Iraq.

The officials described the two assessments as having been "mixed," saying that they did describe Iraq as having made important progress, particularly in terms of its political process, and credited Iraqis with being resilient.

But over all, the officials described the station chief's cable in particular as an unvarnished assessment of the difficulties ahead in Iraq. They said it warned that the security situation was likely to get worse, including more violence and sectarian clashes, unless there were marked improvements soon on the part of the Iraqi government, in terms of its ability to assert authority and to build the economy.

[Seldona]

1. Something tells me to watch for

a couple of resignations in the next couple days.

[necso]

2. "the recent formation of a Shiite militia

intended to carry out attacks on Sunni militants" -- their own attacks, I imagine.

And I wonder what their definition of a "Sunni militant" is.

Still, it's nice to get the occassional dribble of potentially useful information.

[Javaman]

3. It's just like when Hitler got bad news from his generals...

Hitler never liked the Prussians. They were his best generals. When they began letting him know that the war was beginning to turn against him, he did what any megalomaniac does, he killed them.
Moron fires them, but only after several bad things are said about them first. Character Assassination.

[leftchick]

4. good analogy...

bushitler* is never going to admit Iraq is a failure and won't be stopped until someone stops him. You know that ain't gonna happen. This next four years will seem like twenty. :(

[Moderator]

5. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1050390