Rumsfeld Says Iraqi Forces Improving (yeah, the ones they pay directly) [View All]

WASHINGTON - U.S.-trained Iraqi troops, faulted for ineffective fighting in previous clashes with insurgents, made a "generally pretty good" showing in the Fallujah offensive, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday.

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At a Pentagon (news - web sites) news conference, Rumsfeld said it was too early to know how soon the Iraqi forces will be ready to take full responsibility for security, allowing the 138,000 U.S. troops to go home.

Appearing with Rumsfeld, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was hopeful that a successful Iraqi election to choose a national assembly, scheduled for Jan. 30, would take some steam out of the insurgency.


Myers said the Iraqi situation after the January elections might prove analogous to what he said happened in Afghanistan (news - web sites) in the weeks after its presidential election in October


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more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&ncid=693&e=10&u=/ap/20041124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/iraq_us_military

Myers is hopeful...cuz just the other day he brought up the prospects of a civil war after the elections. JMO, but there seems to be a civil war today.