Can 160,000 Iraqi troops control the country?

[elias49]

The DOD and the administration maintain that their goal is to train 160,000 Iraqis to secure and stabilize their country. Given that, currently, there are somewhere in the vicinity or 160,000 American troops in Iraq - 160,000 of the best trained, best armed troops in the world - how can anyone expect that ill-trained Iraqis would be up to the task?
I'd like to suggest that the Iraqis couldn't possibly do what American Marines, Army, Air Force and Guard can't do. I'd like to suggest that our lovely DOD is training cannon fodder, and that when (or IF) that number of Iraqis are trained, the US will pull back to their new military bases across Iraq and take to the air in a video-game type war and will be there for as long as I live. More Iraqi civilians will die. More Iraqi children will starve. More terrorists will be born and raised, and our imperial intentions will be realized. Washington's only plan is a cynical effort to conquer the Middle East with limited American casualties. War is great if only the other side is blown to bits.

[Just Me]

1. The only winners in war are the profiteers.

Everyone else sacrifices life, limb and treasure.

War is not great. War is a bloody nightmare.

[displacedtexan]

2. There are about 40,000 police officers in NYC.

Is that enough?

Not hardly.

160,000 sounds like a really big number, but Baghdad is the size of Los Angeles.

This is just another BUSHCO attempt to obfuscate.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. The real question is: What side will they be on in the civil war?

The one that the geniuses in D.C. and the military has made inevitable.

"Stabilize" my ass.

[dArKeR]

4. Only Saddam can control Iraq and he didn't do such a bad job Warning Graph

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I have European friends who visited Iraq in the 80s. They say Iraq was way more open than the other hard-line Middle East countries (with American puppet dictators). In Iraq women were protected by rights to walk the streets freely and uncovered. People were free to choose their dress styling. Many people were "western" clothing and jewelry. People were allowed to attend any religious services. There was a bustling "New York" style of nightlife.

Then later on, the only thing I've seen reported which had some sort weight was the use of gas on Kurds. I surely don't believe what a thousand fold liars Novak, Pearl, Bush, Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld... has to say about this. But we do know the US/CIA was supporting the Kurds to overthrow the Iraqi Government. What would the Bush Adm. do to people inside America if they were gathering weapons, chemicals, missiles... to overthrow the American government?

The American Corporate Media lied more than the Bush Adm. for the blood money they would hope to receive by installing a puppet government in Iraq which would allow Disney to open movie theaters, GE to build nuclear plants, Halliburton to recieve oil contracts, Exxon to control the oil, Lockheed Martin to get the airport contracts... Wake up to reality. This is American Christianity! Read it and Weep.

[dArKeR]

5. No - as a dozen European friends told me before the war. They told

me the history of European countries invasions. Look at history.

[sybylla]

6. I was wondering what the numbers meant when * brought it up last night

We have about the same number of trained troops in that country. With a total of about 300,000 trained troops, we still don't have a handle on WTF is going on over there. How the f*** many is it going to take?

It would seem to me that the "more troops" philosophy is taking us down the wrong road. I've always been convinced that our heavyhandedness without sufficient planning for the immediate aftermath of attack doomed our efforts in Iraq. I can't imagine any level of troops that can handle what's going on well enough to stop it.

Funny thing is, we fought a war just like this 230 years ago. Only the British were the ones wearing uniforms and we were the "insurgency." There is a long history in the world of the insurgency winning. The trick is to keep them from forming in the first place. We lost this the day the chimp and his puppet congress ordered war without putting in place a support system that would keep the Iraqi people happy in the immediate aftermath. We can only succeed if it is the will of the people.

[oasis]

7. "My commanders tell me we have enough troops" Bush says. Then he

goes on to give a political explanation why we should not have more troops. "The Iraqis will think we're there to stay".

Commanders are making political calculations before asking the Prez for more more troops? I don't think so.

The Lt. General who said "We need more boys and less toys in Iraq" was fired and recieves his retirement pay in a lesser pay grade.
And his superior, Gen. Shenseki got the axe after saying we needed 300,000 troops before we invaded Iraq.

Wake up America. Please wake up.

[Patty Diana]

8. How many troops did Saddam have? Only Saddam can control

IRAQ_______Bush has created a failed state and failed states are breeding grounds for terrorists. THANKS A PANT LOAD BUSH!!!