Bush saw a half-full glass when he put his 'spin' on the report, but the important stuff wasn't touched on in his press conference. WaPo gives us a view of the finer points of the 'report' on Benchmarks:
Despite stepped-up training, the readiness of the Iraqi military to operate independently of U.S. forces has decreased since President Bush's new strategy was launched in January, according to the White House progress report released yesterday.
Combat losses, a dearth of officers and senior enlisted personnel, and an Iraqi army that has expanded faster than the equipment available for it have resulted in a "slight reduction" in the number of units designated at Level 1 status, or "capable of independent operations," the report said.
But the fine print in the 25-page document contains some remarkably candid descriptions of problems, as well as qualifiers for claimed achievements and briefly referenced, unexplained new facts.
The Pentagon refused yesterday to elaborate on the "slight reduction" in independent Iraqi units. Any information about the number, size or designation of such units is "in the classified realm," said a spokesman, Lt. Col. Mark Ballesteros.
Bush and his boyz really can spin the obvious..then they just bury this shit. Its an old trick similar to LOOK, look at the shiny object..isn't it pretty!
And then they take you for all you got. Are you talking Divisions or Battalions gents? It's a valid question..are they still sucking the teat of the US military or are they 'fully independent"? The writeup goes on to say the Iraqi Military has been going backwards more than forward in the readiness department. Gee, that's a shocker!
The article also goes on to explain how technically, the Iraqi's look good on paper regarding their commitment to rebuilding their own infrastructure, but the truth is...
They haven't released even a quarter of the money needed to begin work. They will get ALOT done that way right? Perhaps they are a tad worried about all the graft and corruption that is rampant in the government? Ya think???
It also touches on other benchmarks that are suspect as to how well Iraq has performed. Oh yeah..that is a REAL hair-raising statement there.
Tags: Iraq Military, Iraq Benchmarks, Smoke and Mirrors
