Re: Russia, Iran, and NASA

Rand Simberg wrote:
> On 8 Dec 2005 10:23:21 -0800, in a place far, far away, "Ed Kyle"
> <edkyle99@xxxxxxxxxxx> made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a
> way as to indicate that:
>
> >> >> And this is the first that I've heard that Ansar Al-Islam has grown,
> >> >> or that the environment is more fertile for it.
> >> >
> >> >Strictly speaking, not Ansar Al-Islam itself. Remnants
> >> >of Ansar Al-Islam were folded into Zarqawi's JTJ, which is
> >> >clearly stronger than pre-war Ansar Al-Islam. JTJ is
> >> >associated with the insurgency, which itself is in firm
> >> >control of many parts of Iraq today.
> >>
> >> And not in control in many more, and losing it rapidly.
> >
> >There aren't enough U.S. forces to control the country now.
> >Estimates are that the U.S. and Iraqi government are only
> >in control of about 60% of Iraq today.
>
> Whose estimates?

That one came from Michael O'Hanlon, who heads the Iraq Index
project at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

> >We are preparing
> >to draw our forces down, according to Rumsfeld, so the
> >insurgency will move into the places we pull out of.
>
> ??
>
> I don't think that's why we're drawing down...
>
> The idea is to draw down as the Iraqi forces are able to hold
> territory on their own.

It is hard to create an Iraqi force when 45% of the Iraqi
population say they support attacks on Americans.
(That's from a CNN/USAToday poll).

I'm reading a new book written by an embed about
the Marines in last year's Fallujah battles. It tells the
story of an Iraqi brigade that was called up from
Baghdad to assist. They weren't called in to fight.
They were only going to handle roadblocks and the
like. The Iraqi brigade suffered something like 30%
casualties (mostly defections) en route - and they never
even made it the entire way.

At one point they drove into a disorganized ambush
on a Baghdad street. There are three ways to respond
to an ambush: drive through it rapidly to escape (often
best), turn to attack the ambushers (typical U.S. Marine
response), or, worst, stop in the kill zone. Guess what
the Iraqis did? U.S. soldiers had to rescue them, at the
cost of one or two more of our fellow U.S. citizen's lives.

When the Marines and Army are gone, these Iraqi
outfits won't be able to hold one square inch of
places like Anbar province, where even the highly
effective, well trained U.S. units cannot maintain
control of many cities.

>
> >I like this quote.
>
> Why? Does it please you to think we're losing the war?

Absolutely not. I like the quote, but not the truth
that it tells. The quote captures the essence of
what is happening in the classic insurgency war
that is going on in Iraq.

>
> >"the Americans and the allied forces are everywhere,
> >but they are nowhere."
> >
> >"http://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2005/051113-control-lines.htm";
>
> Oh. Them.

- Ed Kyle

.

Relevant Pages

  • Iraq: US Rapidly Losing Control
    ... Iraq: US Rapidly Losing Control ... city now seems to be in the hands of local resistance. ... according to both Iraqi witnesses and the U.S. ...
    (soc.culture.iraq)
  • Re: Iraqis Eager for Oil Money
    ... Currently, two Iraqi Army divisions are completely under Iraqi control, ... responsibility for its country's security over time, Khalilzad said. ...
    (soc.retirement)
  • US military loses control of key Iraqi province
    ... "US military 'loses control' of key Iraqi province" ... Iraq - The US military has lost control over volatile al-Anbar ... of the city now seems to be in the hands of local resistance fighters. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • OT: Stopping the carnage in Iraq
    ... from the U.S. viewpoint and for the Iraqi people. ... In Iraq, we're trying to police the place. ... American troops are trained to ... up on some areas and just let their enemies have effective control. ...
    (alt.true-crime)
  • Re: Russia, Iran, and NASA
    ... >>>There aren't enough U.S. forces to control the country now. ... >> The idea is to draw down as the Iraqi forces are able to hold ... I like the quote, but not the truth ...
    (sci.space.policy)