Iraq Quickhits
In a bit of a hurry,
(AFP) Iraqi President Talabani asks for a "long term" US presence in the country. (Talabani is a Kurd, so his request for two permanent airbases is probably to keep the Turks out over the long term.)
(USA Today) Army explores issue of living wills as more return from war in comas.
(AP) Iraqi Soldiers hinder US efforts. It's a litany of sins from not supporting US troops to actively working against them.
(NYTimes) "the Third Infantry Division is preparing for the likelihood that it will go back to Iraq for a third tour. Col. Tom James, who commands the division’s Second Brigade, acknowledged that his unit’s equipment levels had fallen so low that it now had no tanks or other armored vehicles to use in training and that his soldiers were rated as largely untrained in attack and defense."
And, out of Afghanistan: "The fugitive Taliban commander Mullah Omar has emerged as the key player behind the movement's controversial peace deal with Pakistan."
(Later: I forgot to include Gen. Schoomaker refusing to sign off on Rumsfeld's underfunded budget. Unprecedented.)
(AFP) Iraqi President Talabani asks for a "long term" US presence in the country. (Talabani is a Kurd, so his request for two permanent airbases is probably to keep the Turks out over the long term.)
(USA Today) Army explores issue of living wills as more return from war in comas.
(AP) Iraqi Soldiers hinder US efforts. It's a litany of sins from not supporting US troops to actively working against them.
(NYTimes) "the Third Infantry Division is preparing for the likelihood that it will go back to Iraq for a third tour. Col. Tom James, who commands the division’s Second Brigade, acknowledged that his unit’s equipment levels had fallen so low that it now had no tanks or other armored vehicles to use in training and that his soldiers were rated as largely untrained in attack and defense."
And, out of Afghanistan: "The fugitive Taliban commander Mullah Omar has emerged as the key player behind the movement's controversial peace deal with Pakistan."
(Later: I forgot to include Gen. Schoomaker refusing to sign off on Rumsfeld's underfunded budget. Unprecedented.)
posted by mikevotes at
1:20 PM
2 Comments:
This is just me playing Captain Hunch, but I am convinced the reason the Pentagon held the Stryker brigade (Alaska) for four extra months (and they go back in May) is that they have brand new trucks.
Btw, the training problems with vehicles is not just endemic to the units reporting it in large numbers.
By
Bravo 2-1, at 2:21 PM
I'd buy that on the Stryker extension, but also I think they withheld the Strykers because they are the only troops specifically equipped and trained for something approaching insurgency/urban combat.
And, if you haven't seen the readiness reports on the Nt'l guard, it's terrifying. Something like 1/3 of the vehicles and now there's talk of sending them back.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 4:33 PM
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