POL-Interesting reconstruction article

[JPhillips]

For all Abazaid is saying about numbers, I think this really stands out,

Sectarian violence is still a problem in Iraq, Abizaid acknowledged, but areas where U.S. and Iraqi troops have applied pressure have seen a slight drop in violence

He also fails to mention that the Iraqi troops are in many cases more committed to their local militia than the national government.

Dutch, I'll give you that you can find ways in which things have improved, but I just believe that the only metric that matters is security. By that measure things haven't improved in three plus years.

[MrBigglesworth]

Originally Posted by Dutch

As for progress, you would have to look at a timeline for Iraq troop experience as of today and compare it to what it was like a year ago, and what it was like two years ago. I think such a visual representation of the Iraqi military would show progress. I would hope so anyway. If the Iraqi military isn't making any progress, the news media hasn't let me know.

Number of Iraqi battalions capable of independant operations

March 2003: 0 battalions (start of occupation)

May 2005: 3 battalions (source)

October 2005: 1 battalion (source)

February 2006: 0 battalions (source)

June 2006: REPORT CLASSIFIED

The Pentagon has stopped releasing its assessment of the number of Iraqi army units deemed capable of battling insurgents without U.S. military help.

U.S. officials had been releasing a tally every three months of Iraqi military units that were sufficiently trained to operate by themselves, without the aid of U.S. firepower, logistics or transportation.

The decision to stop making the information public came after reports showed a steady decline in the number of qualified Iraqi units. That number now is classified, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Victor Renuart, director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...606120361/1009

I really don't know what to say, Dutch.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Dutch

How many people are in your brother's unit?

During his year, he usually had 3 (including himself - he was a Sergeant) in his squad, when ideally they should have had 5 or 6. After his truck got blown up, he did a number of patrols with only him in the truck. His company was around 80 people, give or take.

Originally Posted by Dutch

Also, I saw in the Stars and Stripes the other day that all personnel who spent their own money on body armor and equipment are able to get up to $1100 in compensation if they provide receipts. Did your brother do this yet?

He didn't pay for body armor because they got theirs after a few months. The main thing he paid for was ammunition, but I don't believe he kept the receipts. When I talked to him this weekend he hadn't heard anything about reimbursements.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Are you serious? Your bro' was paying for his OWN AMMUNITION? Someone please tell me this is not what is going on over there. If it is, this is about as shameful as it gets. I'd be willing to pay higher taxes so our military can put bullets in their guns.

[JPhillips]

Its particularly frustrating when a minimum of nine billion has gone missing in Iraq and numerous contractors have been charged with over-pricing and/or theft.

Oh, and the Pentagon has a budget over four hundred billion dollars!

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by MrBigglesworth

I really don't know what to say, Dutch.

I don't know how many battalions they have today, but they have somebody doing the work that are considered Iraqi and security.

http://www.centcom.mil/sites/uscentc.../AllItems.aspx

As of Sept. 14, Iraqi Security Forces and MND-B have cleared more than 55,500 buildings, 60 mosques and 50 muhallas, detained more than 90 terrorist suspects, seized more than 1,200 weapons, registered more than 780 weapons and found 33 weapons caches. The combined forces have also replaced more than 1,100 doors, 35 windows and 1,350 locks damaged during clearing operations and have removed more than 110,000 cubic meters of trash from the streets of Baghdad.

[Jonathan Ezarik]

In case anyone is interested, Rajiv Chandrasekaran is the main guest on today's Fresh Air on NPR.