Iraq - Failure Buried.

Gen. Pace got headlines with his statement that the number of National Guard troops is Iraq would be reduced by a third, but maybe this little item, in the same hearing, should have been the BIG story.

Pace said only one Iraqi army battalion is capable of fighting without U.S. help. That is the same number as in September, when U.S. commanders disclosed that the number of such highly trained battalions had dropped from three to one, prompting criticism from lawmakers.

Dropped from Three to One. And remember, when they say a unit is unable to fight without US support, that represents a broad span of incapability. Very often, "US help" means food, and water, and gasoline which the Iraqi government cannot supply "their army."

(Interestingly, the more recent rewrite in the first link(different author), doesn't even mention Pace's comment.)