U.S. Soldiers Say Administration Exaggerated Role Of Iraqi Troops In Basra Offensive»

[maddezmom]

U.S. Soldiers Say Administration Exaggerated Role Of Iraqi Troops In Basra Offensive»
Earlier this month, the southern Iraqi city of Basra was engulfed in violence as radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr calling for the “downfall of the U.S.-backed government.”

As Reuters noted, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s crackdown on the militias largely “backfired, exposing the weakness of his army and strengthening his political foes ahead of elections.” Yet the Bush administration and its allies have attempted to portray this violence as a success, demonstrating the capability of the Iraqi army:

– “It was a very positive moment in the development of a sovereign nation that is willing to take on elements that believe they are beyond the law.”

– “This is an Iraqi led and Iraqi initiated operation. And this is what we’ve been wanting to see the Iraqis do is take on more responsibility.”

– “As you know, we saw a thousand police and military desert their posts. But the rest of the military did a pretty good job, did a pretty good job. We did secure the port of Basra. Maybe I’m digging for the pony here.”

– “We’re going to talk about Iraq and the Iraqi offensive, which I think, in a sense, is good news. Because it’s the Iraqi government, who’s mostly Shi’ite, taking on Shi’ite outlaw militias in the southern part of the country and this is after all what the whole point of the surge.”

According to a new Time magazine article, some U.S. troops are bristling at all the undue credit being lavished upon the Iraqi forces:

more:http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/22/troops-basra/

[maddezmom]

1. TIME: Iraqi Troops: Asleep on the Job?

As he led his platoon across once perilous terrain, Lieutenant Colonel William Zemp was quick to praise Iraqi troops. Less than six months ago, this farming village near the town of Mahmudiya — about 50 miles south of Baghdad — was prime al-Qaeda territory, and a target for numerous raids. On this day, however, small groups of children poked their heads out of doorways to wave; an army medic checked an old woman in a wheelchair; and two families invited the troops to lunch. None of this would have been possible, Zemp said, without the efforts of the newly strengthened Iraqi Army.

But where was the Iraqi platoon that was supposed to be leading this morning's sweep of the village? As it turned out, they had all overslept.

There were a few Iraqi troops around, in mismatched uniforms, as well as a secondary commander, but the designated platoon was nowhere to be found. "The army is very good at what they do," said Zemp. "They just have a problem with sleeping in." Once the Iraqi detail arrived, they stomped down the same dirt path that U.S. troops had already patrolled, only to be called back and redirected. "I was sleeping," their commander shrugged as he greeted Zemp.

The top U.S. military commanders in Iraq and the Iraqi government have been trumpeting the growing confidence and successes of the Iraqi army and police force, since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched an offensive against Basra last month, with the aim of reclaiming control of the southern port city from the Mahdi Army militia of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Despite meeting powerful resistance from the Mahdi Army, and suffering the desertion of roughly 1,300 soldiers who refused to fight, the Iraqis' performance was commended by the U.S. as a show of their newfound competence. "Iraqi forces are taking the lead," Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll told journalists in Baghdad last week.

But for many American troops, the picture of Iraqi troop performance is not quite as rosy. In Hilla, the largest town in the central Iraqi province of Babil, soldiers and residents say the violence was fiercest on March 25. And at least one American soldier said he was angry that the role of Iraqi troops was exaggerated after the battle. "A gunfight broke out and we were fighting for about four hours," the soldier told TIME. "The army article made it sound like we were just there supporting the Iraqi Army, but we did all the work. We just had four humvees out there with some Iraqi ."

more:http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1732617,00.html?xid=rss-world

[bemildred]

2. This is all soooo Vietnam.

The body counts, the stooge armies, the "collateral damage".

[maddezmom]

3. the LIES

:(