The Real Story of the Insurgency

At a testy hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 16, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld refused to say how many insurgents are operating in Iraq. "I am not going to give you a number for it because it's not my job to do intelligent (sic) work," Rumsfeld replied. A little later, Rumsfeld claimed that the two most recent assessments of the insurgency provided by the CIA and DIA were classified and couldn't be disclosed. "Frankly, I don't have a lot of confidence in any of them," he said.

While Rumsfeld bobbed and weaved, General Richard Myers sounded triumphant almost two years into the war. "I'd say the insurgents' future is absolutely bleak," Myers said at the same February 16 hearing. He then reversed course a week later, admitting that the insurgency could last anywhere from seven to twelve years. "This is not the kind of business that can be done in one year, two years probably," he told reporters.

The contradictions in these recent exchanges reveal the extent to which the Bush Administration has downplayed or distorted what is knows about the size, strength and structure of an insurgency that only continues to grow. A "pocket of dead-enders" has turned into a mix of former Baathists, Sunni nationalists, Shiite radicals and foreign terrorists numbering as many as 40,000 core fighters and 200,000 sympathizers, according to Iraq's own intelligence chief. Below is a recap of the Administration's tragedy of errors:

Nation Blog

The sheep who listen to them will believe that the insurgency is done for, and will repeat it ad nauseum whenever presented with evidence to the contrary. The administration will be able to tell anyone who questions them in the future that "hey, we said it could last 12 years." They get it both ways. Rhetoric.

God they are dumb motherfuckers.

Tell me how many times that song's been beaten into your heads.

Given the past week, the insurgency is down to its last man and his heart's not even in it.

Dumb motherfuckers only begins to scratch the surface of their stupidity.

"They are keeping terrorism at bay because they are fighting it there instead of here"

GAG

The last thing they want to lose is their rationale for keeping an American military presence in the country. Sometimes I wonder if their egregious mismanagement of postwar Iraq was on purpose.

Then the NeoCons are fucked, but then that has been clear for
a while now. The Martians and Venusians piece lays it out well too.

Frankly, Generals Franks and Abizaid have failed. Donald Rumsfeld has failed, as have his top aides. As a former military leader, I am appalled at the Pentagon leadership and the leadership in our military. These men should be drummed out of the military with their heads in shame for the needless loss of the lives of our young men and women.

But that's not the worst of it. What business did they have calling up our Reserves and National Guard to attack another country. These troops are for emergencies and to protect our nation. I know the law, that these troops can be called up.
On the other hand, they are to be used for short periods of time, not for long periods of time as they have been abused in Iraq. I note that the recruiters are having a hard time in the Reserves and the National Guard. I can't blame the people for walking away. I would if I'd been lied to this much.

As a man of three wars, from Korea to Viet Nam to Gulf War I, I am embarrassed by such men as General Mattis. If he was under my command, I'd have him disciplined for ignorance and leading his men astray. No, it is not "fun" to kill people.
Killing is a serious business, not something you brag about to businessmen or to the media about. We never told our men to kill for the fun of it. You killed to save yourself and to achieve an objective, never for the "fun of it."

I fear that we have hit the bottom in our military men and women. Lower level officers are now afraid to report atrocities for fear that they will lose their rank, men are afraid to admit they are shot, women are afraid to report rape, when they report rape they are told it was their fault!
What has this man's army come to? Have we totally lost our honor? To be a military man in this army means to be immoral, a liar, to accuse the innocent and to not grieve for killing women and children.

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