US military officials downplay report troops control only third of Baghdad

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD (AP) - US commanders in Iraq are downplaying a New York Times report that US and Iraqi forces are able to provide protection for only about a-third of Baghdad's neighborhoods.

The paper cites a US assessment of the White House security plan that has sent in thousands more troops over the past few months. The military says it has been warning all along that the fight to secure Baghdad will not be easy.

Iraqi police say at least six more people have died in three separate bombings in Baghdad today.



Read more: http://www.kvia.com/global/story.asp?s=6606845

---

Once again, ignore and disregard the people on the ground :puke:

[Rydz777]

1. I seriously dobt that we "control" even a third of Baghdad. We

can scarcely control the "high security Green Zone" in which explosions are regularly occuring. This has become a war of semantics, twisting the meaning of words like "control," "progress," and "victory." Meanwhile, our troops are dying at a rate of about five a day - inserted recklessly into the middle of a civil war. Out NOW.

[bemildred]

3. Yes, the ability to run patrols through while under attack is not control. nt

[cliss]

4. That was exactly my thought ~

when I read the headline.
"Control?" Since when do we control Baghdad, much less Iraq. A country of 25 million people (less, now) and 155,000 US troops.

And even if we were to "Control" Baghdad, it would only be for about 10 minutes.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "But it's the third with the golf course, so that's cool" - commander AWOL

"We republicon cronies do love our golf

Oh yeah, too bad about all your dead sons and daughters and stuff, but on the bright side republicon crony war profits are way up smirk, smirk, smirk"

- Commander AWOL

[saigon68]

12. "Hey watch this Drive" LOL Nice photo

Great smirk on the Face of the Chimpanzee

[Barrett808]

5. U.S. military plays down report of faltering American troop drive in Baghdad neighborhoods

Source: Associated Press

U.S. military plays down report of faltering American troop drive in Baghdad neighborhoods
KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
June 4, 2007 5:07 AM

BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S.-led forces have control of fewer than one-third of Baghdad's neighborhoods despite thousands of extra troops nearly four months into a security crackdown, a newspaper reported Monday - an assessment that came as the U.S. casualty toll soared.

...

The New York Times said an American assessment of the security plan through late May found that American and Iraqi forces were able to ''protect the population'' and ''maintain physical influence over'' only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods.

Troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face ''resistance'' in the remaining 311 neighborhoods, according to the report, which cited a one-page assessment along with summaries from brigade and battalion commanders in Baghdad.

U.S. and Iraqi military officials played down the report.

''We have stated all along that this was going to be harder before it gets easier,'' military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. ''It's going to be a tough fight over the summer and the plan is just in its beginning stages.''

Read more: http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565028241120035729

[mike_c]

6. and this fighting CIVILIANS....

Sheesh.

[ckramer]

7. The best solution

Get out today!

It only gets worse in weeks or months ahead.

[Nihil]

8. Oh for a project with timescales that elastic ...

> "We have stated all along that this was going to be harder before
> it gets easier," military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.
> "It's going to be a tough fight over the summer and the plan is just
> in its beginning stages."

Well done! After how many years you come out with this?

"This was going to be harder before it gets easier" eh?
Any clues as to *when* it will get easier? (i.e., other than the
obvious one of "when you get kicked out of Iraq altogether").

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

9. Why can't you people be more optimistic?

Why... why must you see the glass as 2/3 empty instead of 1/3 full? Why?!??!

[libodem]

10. Gosh, well, just how fast can we be expected to kick

in all those civilian doors? How fast can we torture out the names, of the next families', house to go to? How many of these raids have been the result of false information, given under duress? How much money do we give in payoffs for killing the wrong civilians? I can't stand my own cynicism, anymore. I'm a blackheart of pessimism. My nephew, is supposed to go back over to that, quicksand, tarpit, quagmire, civil war, hell hole in September, for the second time. They need to jerk every fucking young Republican, out of the universities, along with the football team, and send their sorry asses over there. Ya, know what? We can send NASCAR's fucking asses over there, too, to pay for their fucking gas. How is it, that in a time of National crisis, over Oil, we can zoom those race cars around the track 50 times? What gives? Oh, yeah, we went over there so we could stop, Saddam, from making us pay for the oil in Euros. And then I hear, it's not even just to grab the oil, but to slow the production, so OPEC, wouldn't have a glut. You can't get the prices to $70.00 dollars a barrel if there is too much on the market. That's why the oil production stays behind prewar production. Keep the supply short. I'm sick of hearing, 'well they volunteered'. They VOLUNTEERED to keep..AMERCA safe, not to raid family homes, and arrest all the fighting aged males. To hell with the one third. Gas the rest of them. Make it less painful for all of us.:sarcasm: :rant: :banghead:

[Eugene]

11. Gates gives gentle prod to Iraqi govt.

Source: Associated Press

Last updated June 5, 2007 1:14 a.m. PT

Gates gives gentle prod to Iraqi govt.

By ROBERT BURNS
AP MILITARY WRITER

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave the
Iraqi government a gentle prod Tuesday to move faster toward
political reconciliation during the American troop buildup in Baghdad.

"We would certainly be happier if there were faster progress on the
political front," Gates told reporters during a joint news conference
with Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov. He noted that the Iraqis
had missed a May 31 deadline for passing a hydrocarbons law - one
of many political obstacles yet to be overcome.

Gates was asked whether it appeared to him that U.S. and Iraqi
forces were making slower-than-expected progress in establishing
security in Baghdad neighborhoods, as news reports have indicated
in recent days. He said he had not seen any early projections by
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, of how many
neighborhoods were expected to be cleared of insurgents by this
point.

"So I'm not in a position to judge whether that is faster or slower
than General Petraeus anticipated," he said. "If it's slower it's
clearly because al-Qaida and others are trying to make as much
difficulty as possible for us and for the Iraqi government."

-snip-

Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Gates_Iraq.html

[SKKY]

13. We basically control the Green Zone...

...and I can assure you that it doesn't add up to a third of Baghdad.

[Supersedeas]

14. nothing to see here--feed them more Lohan, Paris, Rosie, TB scares

[Chico Man]

15. What the war looks like to them