One of Ours

The country is in flames!
Actually, most of the country continues to rebuild and is at peace. The fighting is restricted to a few areas, but this is where the reporters and cameras go...

Americans are hated in Iraq!
Not according to the polls that have been conducted, nor according to the experience of most Americans working in Iraq. But a lot of Iraqis, especially those who used to work for Saddam, or who want to set up an Islamic theocracy, don't like the Americans and their "alien" ideas about democracy and rule of law...

U.S. troops are fed up with the war and leaving [the service] in droves!
New recruits, and people wanting to stay in are at record levels in the armed forces. This applies to reservists as well as active duty troops...

The Iraqi Governing Council is despised by most Iraqis!
...Iraq has lots of constituencies, including over a hundred tribes and dozens of religious leaders with large followings. The country has not allowed any party politics for over four decades. You need more than 25 members of a government to even begin to cover the demands of all the constituencies for representation. Even after the elections, Iraq will have more than 25 organized factions competing with each other.

The U.S. Army doesn't have enough troops to handle current combat operations!
...The last two weeks of violence in Iraq were suppressed with available combat troops, and more were called for in case the violence returned on a grander scale...Sending more troops won’t help with the basic problem; gathering intelligence. That requires people speak Arabic and have police experience. More American troops won’t solve that problem, more trained Iraqi police will.

The effort in Iraq detracts from the war on terror!
...Iraq operations inflamed al Qaeda members in Saudi Arabia to start attacking Saudis and other Arabs. This cost al Qaeda a lot of support among Arabs, and would not have happened if Iraq were not invaded. The war on terror is mainly a police and intelligence function. The troops that are needed most for counter-terrorism are special operations (Special Forces and commandoes.)...The war in Iraq gave the Special Forces an opportunity to work intensively, and without restraint, in an Arab country.

U.S. Army should be expanded!
It takes several years to recruit new troops, train them and organize them into new units. By then, the army leadership feels they won’t be needed...

Iraqi army should not have been disbanded after Saddam fell!
The Iraqi army has been, for over half a century, the chief source of tyranny and oppression in the country. Army commanders overthrew the government time after time, and used their soldiers to brutalize the population. By keeping all, or part, of the army intact, and armed, coalition risked a quick return of the warlord...Keeping the old Iraqi army in business was just asking for more trouble.

Iraqi security and army troops, and police cannot be relied on!
About half the police and security troops have worked well with coalition troops when put under pressure (attacked by al Sadr militia or Sunni gangs). Another 40 percent simply fled and about ten percent went over to the rebels...it was realized, even before the invasion, that the police force and army would have to rebuilt from scratch. And that’s been going on for a year. It will take years to create a professional police force and army. The old Iraqi police and army were accustomed to corrupt practices (bribes and personal influence) rather than evenhanded application of the law. Eliminating the bad habits takes time. Meanwhile, the only way law and order will return to Iraq is via a professional police and security force. Foreign troops cannot do this.

Keeping all Baath Party members out of the new government was a mistake!
All Baath Party members were barred from government jobs after Saddam was topped for the simple reason that the vast majority of the Iraqi people hated the Baath Party...some key professionals were allowed back on the job even though they had been in the Baath Party. This was always done at some cost, for there were always other Iraqis who were quite bitter about any Baath Party member being back in a position of authority. This situation will continue for a generation.