PDF is here.
Washington Post story is here.
Highlights, with my emphasis and commentary:
"Iraq is ripped by a low grade civil war which has
worsened to catastrophic levels with as many as 3000 citizens murdered
per month. The population is in despair. Life in many of the urban areas is now desperate. A handful of foreign fighters (500+) --- and a couple of thousand Al Qaeda operatives incite open factional struggle through suicide bombings which target Shia holy places and innocent civilians. Thousands of attacks target US Military Forces (2900 IED’s) a month---primarily stand off attacks with IED’s, rockets, mortars, snipers, and mines from both Shia (EFP attacks are a primary casualty producer) ---and Sunni (
85% of all attacks---80% of US deaths—16% of Iraqi population.)" Does Bush still want to deny that Iraq has become a civil war?
"The Maliki government has little credibility among the Shia populations from which it emerged. It is despised by the Sunni as a Persian surrogate. It is believed untrustworthy and incompetent by the Kurds." al-Maliki is doing a heck of a job, eh, George?
"There is no function of government that operates effectively across the nation--- not health care, not justice, not education, not transportation, not labor and commerce, not electricity, not oil production. There is no province in the country in which the government has dominance...
No Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter, foreign NGO, nor contractor can walk the streets of Baghdad, nor Mosul, nor Kirkuk, nor Basra, nor Tikrit, nor Najaf, nor Ramadi---without heavily armed protection." Take THAT, McCain!
"The police force is feared as a Shia militia in uniform which is responsible for thousands of extra-judicial killings... The population is terrorized by rampant criminal gangs involved in kidnapping, extortion, robbery, rape, [and] massive stealing of public property ---such as electrical lines, oil production material, government transportation, etc." Again, hey... civil war!
"
The Iraqi Army is too small [and] very badly equipped (inadequate light armor, junk Soviet small arms, no artillery, no helicopters to speak of, currently no actual or planned ground attack aircraft of significance, no significant air transport assets, no national military logistics system, no national military medical system, etc.). The Iraqi Army is also unduly dominated by the Shia, and in many battalions lacks discipline. There is no legal authority to punish Iraqi soldiers or police who desert their comrades. (The desertion/AWOL numbers frequently leave Iraqi Army battalions at 50% strength or less.)"
"
US domestic support for the war in Iraq has evaporated and will not return. The great majority of the country thinks the war was a mistake. The US Congress now has a central focus on constraining the Administration use of military power in Iraq ---and potentially Iran. The losses of US Army, Marine, and Special Operations Force casualties in Iraq now exceed
27,000 killed and wounded... The war costs $9 Billion per month. Stateside US Army and Marine Corps readiness ratings are starting to unravel. Ground combat equipment is shot in both the active and reserve components. Army active and reserve component recruiting has now encountered serious quality and number problems. In many cases
we are forced to use US contractors to substitute for required military functions... Waivers in US Army recruiting standards for: moral turpitude, drug use, medical issues, criminal justice records, and non-high school graduation have gone up significantly... There is no longer a national or a theater US Army strategic reserve. (Fortunately, powerful US Naval, Air Force, and nuclear capabilities command huge deterrence credibility.)" So... which party has supported the troops? Is it the Bush cabal... or those who have stood behind John Murtha's proposals?
"The current deployment requirement of 20+ brigades to Iraq and 2+ brigades in Afghanistan is not sustainable."
"Our allies are leaving, includ[ing] the courageous and well equipped Brits—by January 2008 we will be largely on our own." - We'll be going it alone soon!
"In summary, the US Armed Forces are in a position of strategic peril. A disaster in Iraq will in all likelihood result in a widened regional struggle which will endanger America’s strategic interests (
oil) in the Middle East for a generation. We will also produce another generation of soldiers who lack confidence in their American politicians, the media, and their own senior military leadership."
In summary:
"We have very little time left. This President will have the remainder of his months in office beleaguered by his political opponents to the war. The [D]emocratic control of Congress and its vocal opposition can actually provide a helpful framework within which our... new Ambassador Ryan Crocker can maneuver the Maliki administration to understand their diminishing options.
It is very unlikely that the US political opposition can constitutionally force the President into retreat. However, our next President will only have 12 months or less to get Iraq straight before he/she is forced to pull the plug. Therefore, our planning horizons should assume that there are less than 36 months remaining of substantial US troop presence in Iraq."
More Iraq to come, plus other information. Interesting things going on in the attorney scandal as well!
