This is starting to feel like Groundhog Day:
An independent commission established by Congress to assess Iraq’s security forces will recommend remaking the 26,000-member national police force to purge it of corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings, administration and military officials said Thursday.
The commission, headed by Gen. James L. Jones, the former top United States commander in Europe, concludes that the rampant sectarianism that has existed since the formation of the police force requires that its current units “be scrapped” and reshaped into a smaller, more elite organization, according to one senior official familiar with the findings. The recommendation is that “we should start over,” the official said.
The report, which will be presented to Congress next week, is among a number of new Iraq assessments — including a national intelligence estimate and a Government Accountability Office report — that await lawmakers when they return from summer recess. But the Jones commission’s assessment is likely to receive particular attention as the work of a highly regarded team that was alone in focusing directly on the worthiness of Iraq’s army and police force.
Expect reports from Washington that the President is “upbeat” and “confident” and “committed to his strategy” and expect further revisions to the benchmarks. Expect attacks from the 28% crowd in the blogosphere trying to pin this on… the media. Operation “DUMP THIS ON THE DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENT” has to continue for another year.
BigHank53
There’s 3700 soldiers and a few hundred thousand Iraqis that aren’t going to get a do-over.
Punchy
Uh, it’s only “highly regarded” if it says what Bush wants it to say. If it instead goes all “GAO” on his ass, then it’s a partisan, politically-motivated, Terrorist-supporting communist liberal think tank.
So, how’s this read with the media? Does “nice try, start over” favor staying in Iraq for 5+ more years, or does it signal “fuck it, we tried, let’s bail”??
Jill
We have been living in bizarro world since 12/12/00 and there is no end in sight until 1/20/09.
Zifnab
The nation of Iraq is out of control. Its harboring terrorists, plotting attacks against US troops, and it may even have WMDs.
We should invade it to set them straight.
Punchy
Wow. There’s politicizing the military, and then there’s this.
Even the Republican on the trip seemed stunned.
ArchPundit
Starting?
over_educated
Of course, considering all the pollyanna things they learn in the Green Zone I’m sure this might be a pretty clear wake-up call:
reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSL3168700020070831
carol h
My son is in the Army currently stationed in Ramadi. His unit works closely witht he Iraqi Police and he tells me they know the police is infiltrated with insurgents they just don’t know who they are. He says he tries to make friends with them thinking that if they know and like him they are less likely to kill him if they have the chance. He has just been transferred from the relatively good base of Camp Blue Diamond to a very bad COB in the center of Ramadi. It has no AC, no electricity, no showers, no toilets (pee where ever poo in an oil can and burn it), one meal a day trucked in, and in a very dangerous neighborhood. He says that Ramadi has started to get bad again after a few months of relative safety. Perhaps the next group of congressmen who go to Iraq could visit my son and his fellow soldiers instead of the propogandists in the Green Zone.