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Snipped from WashingtonPost.com.
Is there no stopping a man who thinks he has a mandate from God? No, because he feels there is no higher authority–not Congress, not the American people and not even his own Intelligence Estimates and now the Government Accountability Office…oh wait, of course he would ignore that one since neither he, nor any of his people, have been accountable for anything. The GAO draft reported in the Washington Post paints a bleak picture of what is going on in Iraq and more pointedly comments on the success of the “surge”. Does it surprise anyone out there that it will be in stark contrast to what the White House will cook up next month? So, what does the GAO have to say?
The draft report provides “a stark assessment of the tactical effects of the current U.S. led counteroffensive to secure Baghdad”. While the goal of the security plan was to reduce sectarian violence the number of attacks against Iraqi civilians remains unchanged. There, however, have been fewer attacks against U.S. forces as al Qaeda and militias reposition themselves in response to U.S. forces’ push into troubled neighborhoods.
But probably the most disturbing from the report is that the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces have not improved. And, what that means, is that our attempts at withdrawal will be further delayed while their own security forces continue to flounder. And, the generals will come back and bemoan the fact that they just can’t withdraw now because the hard-earned new security in neighborhoods will be lost if they leave. It seems like its the same old song over and over again. Wasn’t this the identical situation before the surge?
Here is a brief assessment from the GAO that puts it into perspective.
“Overall,” the report concludes, “key legislation has not been passed, violence remains high, and it is unclear whether the Iraqi government will spend $10 billion in reconstruction funds,” as promised. While it makes no policy recommendations, the draft suggests that future administration assessments “would be more useful” if they backed up their judgments with more details and “provided data on broader measures of violence from all relevant U.S. agencies.”
What is sad is that the person who provided this draft report to the press expressed concern that the conclusions of this report “will be watered down in the final version–as some officials have said happened with security judgments in this month’s National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.” So, here we go again. If we aren’t being outright lied to, then the truth is covered up or sugar coated so as to allow Bush to continue with his insanity.
If you would like to read the full article click the image below.
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