Military admits problems in Anbar after leaked report

[cal04]

The most senior US marine commander in Iraq has been forced to downplay a secret intelligence report which asserted that the United States had "lost" Anbar province, the main heartland of Sunni resistance to the American occupation.

The report, parts of which were leaked to the US media at the weekend, painted a dramatic picture of a collapse in US military control. But, without denying the accuracy of the leaks, Major General Richard Zilmer sought on Tuesday to minimise the damage. "The classified assessment was intended to focus on the causes of the insurgency. It was not intended to address the positive effects coalition and Iraqi forces have achieved over the past years," he said. But he acknowledged that "progress" in Anbar was "much more challenging" than elsewhere in Iraq.

The report was written by Colonel Pete Devlin, the marine corps' chief of intelligence, and is the most negative assessment by a senior US officer so far.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, who returned last week from a two-week trip to the Middle East, said yesterday: "Most of the leaders I spoke to felt the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath has been a real disaster for them. They believe it has destabilised the region."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1871986,00.html

[billbuckhead]

1. Al Queda had very little influence in Iraq before the occupation

Now they have control of a province.

[Webster Green]

2. Translation:

The report is correct, but it makes ChimpCo Inc. look bad, so it must be (ahem) "revised".

[rodeodance]

4. yes, that is it.

[Botany]

3. Captain of Titanic admits mistake

<But he acknowledged that "progress" in Anbar was "much more challenging" than elsewhere in Iraq.>