Pentagon gives gloomy Iraq report

[gully]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060901/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_iraq

Sectarian violence is spreading in Iraq and the security problems have become more complex than at any time since the U.S. invasion in 2003, a Pentagon report said Friday.

In a notably gloomy report to Congress, the Pentagon reported that illegal militias have become more entrenched, especially in Baghdad neighborhoods where they are seen as providers of both security and basic social services.

The report described a rising tide of sectarian violence, fed in part by interference from neighboring Iran and Syria and driven by a "vocal minority" of religious extremists who oppose the idea of a democratic Iraq.

Death squads targeting mainly Iraqi civilians are a growing problem, heightening the risk of civil war, the report said.

[Botany]

1. It will be fine

[PurityOfEssence]

2. That's an ominous visual, isn't it?

That's the problem in a nutshell: we plan for victory but don't have any plan for defeat. We don't have a plan for a draw or a standoff or anything other than total success. There's no contingency plan for anything these cocksure maniacs envision; that's why the insurgency got such a lucky foothold and that's why the whole thing's an unholy holy mess.

These guys have gotten everything wrong; for them to demand blind obedience is ridiculous. They're perfectly sure they can make up their own reality and they've botched everything. Isn't that one of Einstein's definitions of insanity, repeating the same action and expecting a different result?

If we don't just gird ourselves into a complete police state or touch off a big-ass world war so humanity enters a new dark age or dies out completely, future historians are going to have a field day with these thugs. In time, it may even seem funny.

Ha.

[Botany]

8. I read part of the "Plan for Victory"

It was about 30 pages

I quit on page 10 when it talked about interfacing w/ our allies.

It went like this:

1
a)
b)
c)

2
a)
b)

3
a)
b)
c)
d)


4
a)
b)

It was a fucking outline .... and was total B.S.

[Aviation Pro]

22. Looks like a multiple choice (guess)....

...exam.

[Akoto]

12. Hmm ... plan for victory ...

A) Invade Iraq
B)
C) Victory!

(With apologies to the Underwear Gnomes of South Park.)

[BadgerKid]

13. What, no 'profit!' step? LOL n/t

[gully]

9. And if it's not -

Iraq
America
World

[PSPS]

3. Yup! It's Friday! Better yet, before a three-day weekend!

[VegasWolf]

4. I thought Bush said everthing was going along swimmingly? nt

[waiting for hope]

5. That was Anne the Man....

:puke:

[VegasWolf]

6. Ann with a penis? nt

[waiting for hope]

7. and an adam's apple.....

I still :puke: every time I even have a thought of her.

[Up2Late]

10. Pentagon: conditions for civil war exist in Iraq (Reuters)

(Slightly less turd polishing in this article)

Pentagon: conditions for civil war exist in Iraq

Fri Sep 1, 2006 06:21 PM ET

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The core conflict in Iraq has changed from a battle against insurgents to an increasingly bloody fight between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims, creating conditions that could lead to civil war, the Pentagon said in a report on Friday.

The congressionally mandated report provided a sober assessment of Iraq over the past three months, saying overall attacks rose 24 percent to 792 per week -- highest of the war -- and daily Iraqi casualties soared 51 percent to nearly 120.

Violence between minority Sunnis, who controlled Iraq under former President Saddam Hussein, and the majority Shi'ites, who are asserting themselves after decades of oppression, now defines the conflict, it stated.

Sectarian violence is spreading north, outside of Baghdad into Diyala province and oil-rich Kirkuk, it said. Death squads, sometimes with "rogue elements" of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces, are heavily responsible for the sectarian violence, including execution-style killings, it said.

(more at link) <http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=13368570&src=rss/topNews>

[gully]

11. We shall see if the main stream tele media tells the story.

thanks for the additional information.

[Erika]

18. Yes, even Faux is reporting the bad news. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

24. Yesterday on CNN the anchor - one of those

interchangable airheads - asked a reporter on the ground in Iraq - no doubt the green zone - if in his impression a civil war was underway. He hemmed and hawed, not sure how to get a glimmer of truth out there with offending his corporate masters - and then diplomatically said that an Iraqi man he knew believed that yes, the country was already in a civil war. That is what passes for reporting these days. No mention whatever of the Pentagon report.

[Johnny Noshoes]

31. "sometimes with "rogue elements" of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces"

Yeah trained by Negroponte to do exactly what they are now doing.

[Up2Late]

34. Exactly what I was thinking...

...it fails to say if they were trained to be "rogue elements" or if they just evolved into that role.

[John Q. Citizen]

14. I like how they blame everyone except the the occupation force for

the shit hitting the fan.

[madrchsod]

15. wait a minute ---are`t they spending millions to monitor

tv and other media to make sure they can counter "bad news" with the "good news" from iraq? so what`s with the gloomy gus report?

[NewJeffCT]

26. that is the good news

the bad news is things like the British military base that is now overrun with the al-Sadr militia... while the Brits were pushed out into the countryside.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083106A.shtml

[beltanefauve]

16. Civil war?

"Asked if Iraq already was in a low-grade civil war, Rear Adm. William Sullivan, a senior strategic planner for the military's Joint Staff, said, "It's hard to say," adding there is no "universally accepted definition" for civil war.

How about, a "rising tide" in "sectarian violence"? There, that sounds better now, doesn't it?

[gully]

28. Well here's what the dictionary has to say:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=civil+war&x=0&y=0

civil war

1. A war between factions or regions of the same country.

[beltanefauve]

33. Well, if it looks like a duck...

[Erika]

17. Freepers heads must be exploding

W and Rummy said all is fine, as did Casey, then the Pentagon comes out with this?

I'm sure glad I'm neither a bushbot nor a republican. The schizoids led by the same.

[ClintonTyree]

21. Is the Pentagon suffering from "moral confusion"?

Rummy has more or less stated that criticism of Der Fuhrer's war is tantamount to treason. Are those commie bastards in the Pentagon happy now that they're aiding and abetting the enemy? :shrug:
Is the Pentagon, whose opinions were discounted in the run up to the invasion of Iraq, rubbing this in the face of the civilians in charge of this heinous mistake of a war? Let's hope so. Let's hope that they shout it from the highest mountain top, "the Bush civilians in charge don't know what the hell they're doing"! "This war is a failure, unwinnable and we should leave NOW"!
Of course, they won't go that far. They still have to give the appearance of supporting their "commander in chief" no matter how bone-headed he is, no matter how many mistakes Rummy, Wolfie, Dick and George make.
Rummy still insists it's a "few dead-enders" and Cheney says they're "in their last throes". Oh, that the Bush Administration were in it's last throes, that somehow this long national nightmare would end quickly.

[gully]

29. The pentagon is obviously full of "angry liberals."

:P

[mkb]

19. Killing Is Not Good, Either There Or Here

     I hope I don't Strikeout explaining the various ways a
person can get Killed, although baseball lovers can probably
figure it out.  Circling around Looking for answers is not
necessarily a bad way to make progress.
     There are bad ways to die, and not so bad ways to die,
depending on how you look at it.
     Over there they're really dying in terrible ways, while
where I live, we only have Three Strikes and you're Out. 
There is a difference, even though it's unfortunate either
way.
     It's really dicey, our common situation, because I think
that everything counts in life, and one persons efforts can
make a big difference in the course of the world.
     Look closely at things, and you can find answers to how
things work.  It can really change your life, even though
sometimes cause difficulty.
     A come down can occur if you "catch on", but
you will be able to contribute to a good cause, and hopefully
reap the rewards of your effort.
     If I could guarantee health and happiness for everything,
I would, but realistically, progress involves negatives as
well as positives.  We hope you can learn and help us minimize
the negative and promote the positive.  Good Luck.
      

[gully]

36. I don't see any positives in this situation.

eom

[0007]

20. Okay

[ckramer]

23. Where is the US protector?

Iraqis thought when the US army arrived, there would be a paradise.

Are you telling me that US army is less capable than Saddam's ?

Well we sure learn a big lession, don't we?

The lesson is minding our own business. Leave the Iraq business to Iraqis.

[NewJeffCT]

25. The Pentagon - appeasing the terrorists again

But, you know that Pentagon - famous for its secular humanist, liberal elitism and its plethora of tree hugging, dope smoking hippies and birkenstock wearing limousine liberal lesbians. What a bunch of cheese eating, America hating surrender monkeys (or is that macacas?)

[young_at_heart]

27. But...but...but......those guys are "terrorists", not sectarians!

Pound in the words "terrorist" and "evil" if you are a Republican and definitely make no mention of militias and religion.

[gully]

30. OMG, I think you're right. How do we square "the terrorists will fight us

at home" bullshit with the "civil war" evidence?

[young_at_heart]

32. I predict they will NEVER use the words "Civil War"

Remember, Bush did not know about the differences between Sunnis and Shites after he had already planned an invasion!

[unkachuck]

35. out of Iraq....

NOW!...are we still in Iraq? Why?....forget about it, it's over, it's done....it was a lie and a joke in the first place....bushco you've screw it up, good try, now leave it be....

....and come on defense contractors, you've stolen enough money from the treasury....now go steal money elsewhere or go out and get a real job....

....what form of brain-dead asshole keeps troops in Iraq, in the middle of a civil war, for domestic political reasons?

.....OUT OF IRAQ NOW!!!