Truth is the first victim

[kallend 2,175]

www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N30472299.htm

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[JohnRich 4]

I keep getting "connection refused" when attempting to access that story. Perhaps this explains the lack of response...

[kallend 2,175]

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I keep getting "connection refused" when attempting to access that story. Perhaps this explains the lack of response...

Same story as this, with Rumsfeld's spin on it.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[waltappel 1]

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I keep getting "connection refused" when attempting to access that story. Perhaps this explains the lack of response...

In case you still haven't been able to get through, here it is.

Walt

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Rumsfeld touts Iraqi troops, downplays setback
30 Sep 2005 19:16:33 GMT

Source: Reuters
By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday said U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces were improving daily, downplaying the fact that the number of Iraqi battalions able to fight without U.S. help had melted to one.

"There are an awful lot of people chasing the wrong rabbit here, it seems to me," Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon, when asked about the number of Iraqi battalions that can operate independently.

"The important fact is ... that every day, every week, every month the Iraqi security forces are larger, they're better equipped, they're better trained and they're more experienced. And that is the central fact," Rumsfeld said.

Pentagon officials have said that creating Iraqi security forces able to defend their own country is a prerequisite to an eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. But there are persistent questions about the quality of these forces and the degree to which they have been infiltrated by insurgents.

Rumsfeld said there are 194,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi army troops and police.

One of the few measurements the Pentagon has offered the public to judge the capabilities of Iraqi security forces has been the number of battalions that can go into combat with insurgents without the help of the U.S. military.

During congressional testimony on Thursday, Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. John Abizaid, top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said the number of such battalions had dropped since July from three to one, out of the roughly 100 Iraqi battalions.

During his briefing, Rumsfeld initially called that fact "irrelevant," but later amended himself. "It's relevance is minimal," he said.

'NOT A SETBACK'

Casey told the briefing that U.S. forces will continue to have to accompany Iraqi security battalions for "a couple of years, for sure."

Casey said the number of Iraqi battalions capable of taking the lead in counter-insurgency operations with U.S. support had doubled since May. He declined to say how many there were in this category, saying that information was classified.

He said it will be "a couple of months" before more Iraqi battalions achieve the ability to fight on their own.

Casey did not explain the reason for the decline from three to one battalions that can operate on their own, but said that "we purposely set a very high standard" for these units.

"No, it's not a setback. I mean, unit readiness is going to fluctuate. And it is such a small number. And at this stage, I'm not concerned about small numbers," Casey said.

"Next year, at this time, I'll be much more concerned about it. Right now, I'm not," Casey said.

Casey also expressed concern about diminishing U.S. public support for the war, as shown in recent opinion polls, suggesting this was exactly what insurgents wanted.

"Look, you guys read the polls just like I do. And this is a terror campaign. And they are trying to create the impression that we and the Iraqis cannot succeed in Iraq," Casey said.

Rumsfeld added that the insurgents "know what they're doing. They're focusing on public opinion in the United States. They're trying to do things that are dramatic and affect that."

"They can't win a battle," Rumsfeld said. "They can't win a war out in the field. The only place they can win is in a test of wills, if people say, 'The cost is too high and the time is too long.'"