Generals Offer Sober Outlook on Iraqi War

May 19, 2005 12:54 PM

Generals Offer Sober Outlook on Iraqi War From the What Do These Guys Know Department: "American military commanders in Baghdad and Washington gave a sobering new assessment on Wednesday of the war in Iraq, adding to the mood of anxiety that prompted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to come to Baghdad last weekend to consult with the new government. In interviews and briefings this week, some of the generals pulled back from recent suggestions, some by the same officers, that positive trends in Iraq could allow a major drawdown in the 138,000 American troops late this year or early in 2006. One officer suggested Wednesday that American military involvement could last "many years.""
posted by Postroad (24 comments total)

You know, just in case somebody didn't read the New York Times today.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 1:01 PM on May 19, 2005

Well, TDDL, sometimes freepers are selective about their news sources. It's happened before.
posted by AlexReynolds at 1:09 PM on May 19, 2005

Ok, here's Anthony Cordesman's latest report Iraq's Evolving Insurgency. Just released today.
posted by warbaby at 1:16 PM on May 19, 2005

These Generals obviously hate America.

The little green snotballs assure me it is so of anyone who says such things.

ou know, just in case somebody didn't read the New York Times today.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 4:01 PM EST

Can't attack the message you don't like? Attack the messenger!

The horror dissonance! The horror dissonance!
posted by nofundy at 1:17 PM on May 19, 2005

Thank you Postroad - some of us do not read the New York Times every day. Neither America nor New York is the top of my priorities however much Amerika would like it to be.
posted by adamvasco at 1:23 PM on May 19, 2005

I come from a little place called "NotAmerica" and so, (brace yourself), I haven't read the New York Times today.

Fancy.

Thanks, Post, for the, uhh, post.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 1:27 PM on May 19, 2005

Wait.


Wait.


There's an INSURGENCY in Iraq?



I thought that Mission was Accomplished...
posted by stenseng at 1:43 PM on May 19, 2005

"little green snotballs"... heh heh

(sorry for the off-topic, juvenile humor, but that site just disgusts me)
posted by malaprohibita at 2:12 PM on May 19, 2005

Neither America nor New York is the top of my priorities however much Amerika would like it to be.

Not to derail, but occasionally I see that 'k' in 'America' in user comments—what's the significance? I remember a tv series in the 1980s about Soviet occupation of the US called 'Amerika'.
posted by jenleigh at 2:14 PM on May 19, 2005

jenleigh, it's a 60's thing. Also in AmeriKKKa. Sort of like spelling Nixon with a swastika instead of an 'x'.

It's how we commie pinkos recognize each other.
posted by warbaby at 2:19 PM on May 19, 2005

I'll hazard a guess that anyone who spells it Amarika is either mocking GW's pronunciation or pulling a Goodwind and trying to make the USA's name vaguely German sounding. As we all know, anything pronounced in German is Eeeeevil!!!
posted by cm at 2:21 PM on May 19, 2005

warbaby - thats been marked for later reading. Thank you.
jenleigh - there is America which I enjoy visiting and sometimes living in and then there is an imperialistic, arrogant, domineering place called Amerika which has an attitude problem. Love it or leave it ... I go back to Europe next month.... and on preview I matured, sort of, in the 60's. I even *shudder* wore bell bottomed trousers.
posted by adamvasco at 2:25 PM on May 19, 2005

thedevildancedlightly : You know, just in case somebody didn't read the New York Times today.

read above with "valley girl" voice. then roll eyes and smack gum.
posted by nola at 2:50 PM on May 19, 2005

vaguely German sounding

? Amerika ist der Deutsche.

Anyways, it is funny picking up teh anti-admin bias in the fpp. Do we have to troll so? What are we accomplishing?

On the other hand, is Condi still head of the Iraq Stabilization Group formed in late 2003? How'd that go, anyway?



Hmm. Not exactly a stellar job; not that I could have done any better from 10/03 tho.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 2:50 PM on May 19, 2005

You go to war with the generals you have, not the generals you want.

Um, except, you can fire Eric Shinseki when he points out that you'll need a lot more soldiers to get the job done.
posted by orthogonality at 2:53 PM on May 19, 2005

Not to derail, but occasionally I see that 'k' in 'America' in user comments—what's the significance?

It's for complete idiots who think it's cutting edge. Think of a high school kid who wears an anarchy tshirt. If that's "matured" then a great loss for ameriKa you are not.

The little green snotballs assure me it is so of anyone who says such things.

Can't attack the message you don't like? Attack the messenger!

Was that meant to be ironic? Or are you that unaware of what you write?
posted by justgary at 3:03 PM on May 19, 2005

"NotAmerica"
*AmericaFilter interprets entire message as static*
Huh? So what Mr Bismarck your on the moon or something? Weird.

I'm curious Heywood Mogroot if there is a graph of whether the numbers are mounting up faster or if they are slowing. I suspect it would be a better indicator of how things are going.

I'm still unclear why the architects (of the war) didn't listen to the building contractors (metaphor).
"Yeah, see it's gonna take a lot longer to establish a..."
"No, no, they'll be strewing our path with roses from day one!"

I didn't read the NYT today. If not for this post I wouldn't have caught that snazzy pic of the F-18 fighters over burning oil fields. Cool!
/no sarcasm.
posted by Smedleyman at 3:18 PM on May 19, 2005

Feeling a bit beligerent today justgary? If you care to read my statement I look upon there being two Americas. It seems you live in the second. So enjoy your "free" country while you may, before your neocon politicians completely fuck it over. I see that you live in Alabama, maybe that is a normal state of affairs there. All I remember about Alabama is George Wallace. Not a pleasant thought.
Now tell us - what do you think of the post?
posted by adamvasco at 3:29 PM on May 19, 2005

The non-summed graphs from Iraq Coalition Casualtie

I hadn't seen a summed graph before. That's a very steady line. It sure looks like the independent variable is the # of occupation troops in Iraq.
posted by warbaby at 3:38 PM on May 19, 2005

Smedleyman: Here's an acceleration curve of the monthly average deaths per day based on the data at icasualties.org. Looks like the post-election deceleration is swinging the other way

posted by Fezboy! at 4:26 PM on May 19, 2005

"here's Anthony Cordesman's latest report Iraq's Evolving Insurgency" : Tony Cordesman has a nice fat 6-12 month "finger to the wind" cognitive delay. And, that's generous.

It's sort of like watching city officials screwing with the crosswalk signals by a metro bus station and then reporting - amidst the growing carnage - "city buses tied to growing carnage!".
posted by troutfishing at 8:15 PM on May 19, 2005

You're going to know more about what the Pentagon thinks is going on by reading what Cordesman has to say than by not.

It was released today and TDDL seemed unsatisfied with the NYT story.

Hint: most of the meat in NYT coverage is buried in the last paragraphs, not the lead. Still, it's pretty thin stuff.

Condi's trip to Iraq was a sign of panic. Her message was "we want to negotiate -- with anybody." Guaranteed to tell the resistance to keep up the pressure.

Wars are easy to start and hard to stop. This sort of "signal" usually causes the opposing side to redouble their efforts, because it looks like the side offering to negotiate is admitting they are losing. Wars typically go on until 1) one side or the other gains an insurmountable advantage or 2) both side simultaneously recognize that they can't win. Needless to say, negotiating the end of hostilities requires condition #2 to be met. Otherwise, one side or the other thinks they can win and that the other side believes it might lose. Which totally contradicts the message being sent by offering to negotiate.
posted by warbaby at 9:15 PM on May 19, 2005

Yes justgary, many of my posts contain some hidden irony. Thank you for noticing.
posted by nofundy at 7:03 AM on May 20, 2005

Thanks Fezboy!.
posted by Smedleyman at 2:10 PM on May 20, 2005