Thought Theater

Who Took The Training Wheels Off The Iraqi Forces? genre: Just Jihad & Polispeak & Six Degrees of Speculation

The Bush administration is shuffling the cards again. This time we're being told that the focus on training Iraqi security forces has been de-emphasized due to the latest surge effort.

This is about the third time that we have had a wholesale reevaluation of the preparedness of Iraqi forces. Each time the assessment is different but the bottom line remains that the Iraqi security force is ill-prepared to assume responsibility for maintaining the security in the troubled country.

Perhaps I'm dense but if the surge precluded the training of Iraqi forces, what is the plan at the point we determine that the surge is finished? Just who is going to assume the role of maintaining order? Will we need another surge? Frankly, this is worse than a game of "whack-a-mole"...it is approaching comparison with a game of Russian Roulette.

WASHINGTON, July 13 — American commanders said Friday that the effort to train Iraqi Army and police units had slowed in recent months and would need to be expanded to enable any large-scale reduction in American force levels.

The problem has arisen, several senior officers said Friday, in large part because preparing Iraqi units to operate without American backing had become a secondary goal under the current war strategy, which has emphasized protecting Iraqis and the heavy use of American combat power.

WASHINGTON, July 13 — American commanders said Friday that the effort to train Iraqi Army and police units had slowed in recent months and would need to be expanded to enable any large-scale reduction in American force levels.

The problem has arisen, several senior officers said Friday, in large part because preparing Iraqi units to operate without American backing had become a secondary goal under the current war strategy, which has emphasized protecting Iraqis and the heavy use of American combat power.

WASHINGTON, July 13 — American commanders said Friday that the effort to train Iraqi Army and police units had slowed in recent months and would need to be expanded to enable any large-scale reduction in American force levels.

The problem has arisen, several senior officers said Friday, in large part because preparing Iraqi units to operate without American backing had become a secondary goal under the current war strategy, which has emphasized protecting Iraqis and the heavy use of American combat power.

But several officers acknowledge that this approach has been tried before and has foundered because of concerns that Iraqi units remains incapable of supporting and handling security on their own.

Something is amiss in this situation. If the United States can train American soldiers for combat in short order and send them overseas and into combat, why is it not possible to have a functional Iraqi force trained in well over four years?

Isn't it possible that the Iraqi people are simply not committed to the objectives that the U.S. has established? Isn't it possible that those Iraqi's which join the military effort are simply doing so in order to obtain training and weapons to assist the sectarian groups to which they pledge allegiance? Lastly, isn't it possible that the Iraqi people simply aren't interested in resolving their long standing issues and establishing a national identity?

In the end, I'm at a loss to know what it would take for the Bush administration to conclude that they have exhausted all of the options and that it is time to step back and allow the Iraqi people to take the lead in determining their own destiny. Perhaps its time to acknowledge the wisdom behind the expression "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"?

If the polling is accurate, the American voter has already concluded that our vision for Iraq is simply not achievable given the current dynamics. Given George Bush's self-reported fondness for democracy, isn't it about time to demand that he practices what he preaches?