The Most Amazinger Progressiest Iraq Ever

WASHINGTON - The number of Iraqi battalions capable of combat without U.S. support has dropped from three to one, the top American commander in Iraq told Congress Thursday, prompting Republicans to question whether U.S. troops will be able to withdraw next year…

In June, the Pentagon told lawmakers that three Iraqi battalions were fully trained, equipped and capable of operating independently. On Thursday, Casey said only one battalion is ready…

By the December elections, Casey said, the number of Iraqi security forces available will rise to 100,000, allowing the United States to ask for only 2,000 more U.S. troops compared with the 12,000 extra needed during last January’s elections.

It never stops being amazing, does it?  In fact, as the Preznit would say, it gets more amazinger!  Just two weeks ago, the Iraqi "Preznit" said there were 60,000 "well-trained" Iraqi troops:

Talabani said the number of "well-trained" Iraqi security forces stood at 60,000 and would reach 100,000 by the end of the year. All told, there about 190,000 Iraqis enlisted in the military or local security forces. "Some are well-trained, some are not so well-trained," he said. Iraqi troops have light arms, but he said they need 50 tanks and automatic weapons…

Which I thought was so incredibly bizarre, it was laughable.  Because, again, in June, the American military commanders in Iraq told the U.S. Congress that there were three "well trained" Iraqi battalions.

REP. CURT WELDON, (R-PA): Well, Senator Biden and I and the six-member delegation I took with us to Iraq were concerned because the level of training of the Iraqi troops has been represented to the American people as being much more competent than it is today. Senator Biden and I probed this issue aggressively with our generals and they agree with us that you have to define what the level of training, in fact, is. And if you look at those troops that have a level one capability, which mean they can operate totally on their own without backup of U.S. support, it's not the size the numbers that are being reported back home here in America.

    MR. RUSSERT: How many would you say it is?

    REP. WELDON: I think it's around three divisions.

    MR. RUSSERT: Which is?

    REP. WELDON: Was it 80,000, Joe?

    SEN. BIDEN: No, it's much less. It's three battalions.

    REP. WELDON: Oh, three battalions.

    SEN. BIDEN: Three battalions. You're talking about thousands, Tim. Not tens of thousands.

And, again, in case you didn't know, an Iraqi battalion is about 800 guys.  Three battalions would be about 2,400 "well trained" Iraqi troops.

So from June of this year, we went from 2,400 "well trained" Iraqis to about 60,000.  Which is great!  Though a disappointment, just the same, since, again, during the September 2004, Presidential debates, the Preznit hisself told us there were already 100,000 Iraqis trained to do the job!

BUSH: Let me first tell you that the best way for Iraq to be safe and secure is for Iraqi citizens to be trained to do the job.

And that's what we're doing. We've got 100,000 trained now, 125,000 by the end of this year, 200,000 by the end of next year. That is the best way. We'll never succeed in Iraq if the Iraqi citizens do not want to take matters into their own hands to protect themselves. I believe they want to. Prime Minister Allawi believes they want to.

And the Preznit told us we would have 200,000 trained by the end of this year!  So, you can see why it was disappointing to go from the 100,000, last September, that went up to 125,000, by the end of last year, dropped down to 2,400 in June and then jumped up to 60,000 in August.

Oh, I know!  I know!  The last time I pointed this out, some right wing nut wrote me that I was ignoring the distinction between "trained" and "well trained".  Which is just nutty.  It's par for the course of the modern Republican party which believes that private citizens, who have no influence over the national discourse, who have no input in our foreign policy, who are reaching maybe dozens of people are somehow to blame for national and international catastrophes under Bush's insane clown posse.

I didn't get up on national TV in front millions of Americans and ignore the distinction between "trained" and "well-trained" Iraqis.  That's the Preznit who did that.  According to the Preznit, last September, there were 100,000 Iraqis "trained to do the job".

That's a pretty unambiguous statement, isn't it?  100,000 Iraqis "trained to do the job".  200,000 by the end of 2004.  There was no mention of "trained to do the job" but not "well trained".  I mean, even assuming this idiotic distinction isn't just an intentionally misleading statement to the American people, what does it mean? 

I mean, you don't say "My dog is house trained, but not well trained.  He still shits on the sofa."

You don't say, "I'm a trained pilot, I just can't fly a plane.  Without crashing.  A lot."

If your dog still shits on the sofa, he isn't house trained.  If you're a pilot who can't fly a plane, you aren't trained.  And if Iraqis can't fight without American air and ground support, they aren't trained.  They are untrained to do the job.  Why mention them?

So, no, I'm not the one who ignored the distinction.  And, no, I'm not still ignoring the distinction--I'm ridiculing it.

According to the loony right wingers and their very narrowly defined distinctions of "trained", Iraq, a nation of 25 million people, probably has 25 million trained security forces.  Though, only 2,400 of them can actualy provide any kind of security.

Whatever.  Fine.  My original post was soooo wrong, I'm embarrassed.  The Preznit, last September, when he said there were 100,000 Iraqis "trained to do the job", clearly meant that there probably a heck of a lot less "well trained" to do the job.  And it was totally unfair of me to suggest that the numbers of trained Iraqis are wholly fictitious and seem to go up and down depending on political considerations.

I breathlessly await the next right wing nut to explain to me how Iraq has gone from having 2,400 "well-trained" Iraqis in June of this year to 800 "well-trained" Iraqis in October of this year.

And, please, don't forget to explain how this is actually more progress.

Comments

[Duplex Dude]

In the world of military precision you know a guy is making stuff up when he says, "I think it's around three divisions," with the emphasis on I think.

[Duplex Dude]

Thinking about it further, it all depends on what job GW was talking about. If he meant the job of serving as easy targets for the insurgents he was probably right.

[Mary]

I wonder if the Rove spin machine is programmed with psychological numbers - numbers that are significant to raise our hopes and numbers low enough to minimize, aka, number dead, number of protestors. Also, I wonder how willing the Iraqi forces are to open fire on their own people. Come to think of it, how willing are our own National Guardmen to open fire on their own???

[Ellen]

I don't think they can answer any of that ridiculous stuff until they agree on an answer to the really important question...

"If you get a blowjob in the Whitehouse, is it considered sex?"

You're moving too fast for them, Ricky.

[Neil Shakespeare]

Just saw a pissed-off Rumsfeld crying to the press: "You have to stop using the numbers '1' and '3'!"

[cookie]

poor rumsfeld. he can't count that high. cut him some slack, will ya?