Pentagon institute calls Iraq war 'a major debacle' with outcome 'in doubt'

[maddezmom]

Source: McClatchy

Pentagon institute calls Iraq war 'a major debacle' with outcome 'in doubt' By Jonathan S. Landay and John Walcott, McClatchy Newspapers
40 minutes ago



WASHINGTON — The war in Iraq has become "a major debacle" and the outcome "is in doubt" despite improvements in security from the buildup in U.S. forces, according to a highly critical study published Thursday by the Pentagon's premier military educational institute.

The report released by the National Defense University raises fresh doubts about President Bush 's projections of a U.S. victory in Iraq just a week after Bush announced that he was suspending U.S. troop reductions.

The report carries considerable weight because it was written by Joseph Collins , a former senior Pentagon official, and was based in part on interviews with other former senior defense and intelligence officials who played roles in prewar preparations.

It was published by the university's National Institute for Strategic Studies , a Defense Department research center.

"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," says the report's opening line.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080418/wl_mcclatchy/2913186_1

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pdf link to study here:
http://www.ndu.edu/inss/Occasional_Papers/OP5.pdf

[Arctic Dave]

1. Whoa!!! This is huuuuge.

I don't think you could bitch slap rummy and georgie harder if you tried.
"From a must win to a can't win" that is some serious honesty going on. This guy is going to get seriously flamed by the RW hate machine tommorow.

[saigon68]

6. "NO DOUBT" in my mind as to the Outcome

[Supersedeas]

7. not peep from the television newroom accomplices to be heard

[MadMaddie]

2. Hunh! Our soldiars have been living it everyday.

I suppose tomorrow * will come out and say that the author of the report is not qualified. We will see.

[ms liberty]

3. Nothing to see here, move along...K&R...n/t

[bemildred]

4. It's not in doubt, they are just trying to be diplomatic. nt

[LaStrega]

5. that Landay chap is aces in my book ...

:kick: & rec

[downindixie]

8. Will Iraq be America's first

LOSS?

[truthisfreedom]

9. But remember, that's coming from an .EDU site... No truth comes from education in bushcoland.

In the new US of bushcoland, education is liberal and must be silenced.

[Narkos]

10. Good stuff, but the author persists in the right wing lie...

that the WMD was not "concocted" and sold a to a gullible American public, and also that there may have been a symbiotic realtionship with Zarqawi and the Iraqi intelligence service. Haven't read all of it, but it sounds like it was written by a conservative who believed all the bullshit about Iraq being a threat, but has problems with how it was handled. At least there's some honesty there, but not totally.

[maddezmom]

12. agree, the author had problems with another war report

The Other War: Pentagon’s Own Report On Afghanistan Invasion Blasts U.S. War Strategy
A report commissioned by the Pentagon on the invasion of Afghanistan was turned away after it concluded there was a wide gap between how the White House represented the war and what was actually taking place. We speak with the New Yorker’s Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh who says, “It’s a great trifecta for this administration. In three-and-a-half years of office, we have destroyed Afghanistan, destroyed Iraq and we are in the process of destroying the UN too.”

~snip~

In late 2002, the Pentagon commissioned a report from a retired colonel and leading military expert in unconventional warfare to examine the invasion of Afghanistan.

Retired Army Colonel Hy Rothstein, who served in the Army Special Forces for more than 20 years concluded the US failed to adapt to new conditions created by the Taliban’s collapse and created conditions that have given “warlordism, banditry and opium production a new lease on life.” This according to the New Yorker magazine.

After Rothstein submitted the report in January, the Pentagon returned it with a request he cut it drastically and soften his conclusions. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Joseph Collins said of the report “There may be a kernel of truth in there, but our experts found the study rambling and not terribly informative.”

more:http://www.democracynow.org/2004/4/7/the_other_war_pentagons_own_report


Profile: Hy Rothstein
Hy Rothstein was a participant or observer in the following events:
January 2004: Critical Internal Report of US Military Efforts in Afghanistan Is Suppressed
Hy Rothstein. In late 2002, the Defense Department asks retired Army Colonel Hy Rothstein, a leading military expert in unconventional warfare, to examine the planning and execution of the war in Afghanistan. Rothstein travels to Afghanistan and interviews dozens of military personnel at all levels. The New Yorker calls his report, completed this month, “a devastating critique of the administration’s strategy.” While Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has described the US military to be mostly reliant upon unconventional forces, Rothstein sees a reliance on heavy aerial bombing that results in large numbers of civilian casualties. He sees a poor effort at winning the hearts and minds of Afghans, and many mistakes such as allying with corrupt, drug-dealing warlords who oppress the population. One military expert calls the US strategy “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.” When Rothstein presents his conclusions to Rumsfeld, he is told to dampen his criticisms before the report can be published. He refuses to do so, and so the report is left sitting in bureaucratic limbo. Many other officials privately agree with the report’s conclusions. One former senior intelligence officer says, “The reason they’re petrified is that it’s true, and they didn’t want to see it in writing.
more: http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/entity.jsp?entity=hy_rothstein

[Lasher]

14. That's consistent.

Neocons like Paul Wolfowitz blame Junior for screwing up their 'perfect' plans. They're frustrated because we haven't already invaded Iran, Lebanon, Libya, and Syria.

[Wizard777]

11. I can hardly wait to see what the Pentagon has to say after they have left office.

[Lasher]

15. Keep in mind, they won't have anything different to say if McSame gets elected.

We really need a Democrat in the White House.

[Amonester]

13. Next thing we'll learn, Joseph Collins will be "resigned" and the reason...

will be "to spend more time with his family."

Bet on it.

[maddezmom]

16. Ex-Rumsfeld deputy describes Iraq as 'major debacle'

Ex-Rumsfeld deputy describes Iraq as 'major debacle'
The Iraq war has turned into a "major debacle," a former Pentagon official writes in a report published by the National Defense University in Washington.

"Measured in blood and treasure, the war in Iraq has achieved the status of a major war and a major debacle," Joseph Collins writes at the beginning of his 60-page article.

Collins, a retired Army colonel, served as a senior DoD official under Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld.

Among the conclusions he reaches in Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath:

Globally, U.S. standing among friends and allies has fallen. Our status as a moral leader has been damaged by the war, the subsequent occupation of a Muslim nation, and various issues concerning the treatment of detainees. At the same time, operations in Iraq have had a negative impact on all other efforts in the war on terror, which must bow to the priority of Iraq when it comes to manpower, materiel, and the attention of decisionmakers. Our Armed Forces—especially the Army and Marine Corps—have been severely strained by the war in Iraq. Compounding all of these problems, our efforts there were designed to enhance U.S. national security, but they have become, at least temporarily, an incubator for terrorism and have emboldened Iran to expand its influence throughout the Middle East. As this case study is being written, despite impressive progress in security during the surge, the outcome of the war is in doubt.


more:http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/04/ex-rumsfeld-dep.html?csp=34