The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Editorials

Related Photos

June 24, 2008

Progress in Iraq: Is it enough?

In early 2005, three Iraqi army or security units out of 115 were considered by the Pentagon to be “Level 1” capable units, those able to plan and execute counterinsurgency operations on their own with no assistance from Americans.

A report this week by the Government Accountability Office estimates there are now possibly 10 percent of Iraqi forces that can operate on their own. But that apparent progress — from 2.5 percent ready to 10 percent ready — masks the real issue.

While the GAO estimates that 10 percent of the forces could operate without U.S. assistance, the U.S. Commander in Baghdad Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin said Monday that “there are no areas...that we would be willing to separate out right now to dedicate specifically to the Iraqi security forces. We’ve been clear about saying that they’re not there yet. There are still some things that need to be done,” he told the Associated Press.

The training of Iraqis to be able to provide their own security and stability remains key to U.S. troop involvement and withdrawal. It seems in four years time, the progress has not been terribly encouraging. At the rate of that improvement — 10 percent readiness every four years — it would take 40 years to get the Iraqi security forces to be completely self sufficient.

Even the Pentagon appears to be suggesting U.S. troops in Iraqi cannot maintain this kind of commitment. On Monday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, suggesting things were better in Baghdad but suggested the current reductions in troops there would be needed to shore up operations in Afghanistan where it has been widely reported the Taliban is gaining foothold again in key areas.

At the same time, it’s clear the incidents of violence have been reduced in many Iraqi areas since the U.S. troop surge that began in 2007. But even with the scheduled pullout of close to 30,000 surge troops, total U.S. forces in Iraq in July will be about 142,000, or 7,000 more than when the surge began, according to the Pentagon. That force is about 20 percent of all regular U.S. Army and Marine forces.

Year-to-year violent attacks have been down by double digit figures, but in March and April of this year violent attacks were up 54 percent as a result of Iraqi security forces and militias clashing in Basra. These relatively small uprisings could go on for years.

The GAO report and the quarterly report to Congress also point out that Iran and Syria continue to supply insurgents in Iraq with weapons and funding, and access to cross their borders. The Iraqi economy is fragile at best and Iraq has a weak political structure and cannot manage its economy and significant oil reserves.

The quarterly report to Congress said the Iraqi government “lacks the ability to execute programs on the scale required,” and economic improvements remain “fragile, reversible and uneven.”

These reports remain the stubborn facts of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Certainly, the U.S. soldiers who serve and have served in Iraq have made a difference. Iraq is no longer a country run by a brutal dictator. A lot of its infrastructure is being rebuilt. The U.S. continues to be generous with reconstruction money.

Still, the reports provide a realistic picture of just how much success the U.S. will have in making Iraq an even moderately stable democracy in the Middle East. U.S. soldiers continue to be victims of what now seems to be an Iraq civil war.

We continually need to review these Congress-mandated reports and not be locked into one strategy or another, no matter how they play politically on the homefront. They will provide us with a good cost-benefit analysis of the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Editorials
  • Legislature: Vows kept, mistakes made

    There will be plenty for Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL legislative majority to crow about this week after the conclusion of the session Monday night.

    May 21, 2013

  • Our View: Lakes reveal chemical abundance Even if your mother may not have had scientific data at her fingertips, she obviously knew what she was talking about when she said don't drink lake water. A new study makes that advice more important than ever and raises concerns about how we treat

    May 20, 2013

  • Press 'shield law' is a bad idea Press 'shield law' is a bad idea The Obama administration announced last week that it is throwing its support behind the press shield law that has been stalled in Congress since time immemorial. Critics insist that the administration, suddenly mired

    May 19, 2013

  • mfp thumbgraphic Shelter for homeless right start To Mankato civic leaders for, once again, stepping up to address a growing demand for shelter by homeless women. The needs appears to be dramatic and continuing even though the Theresa House, Welcome Inn shelters and the CADA House program for domest

    May 18, 2013 1 Photo

  • Our View: SEC should act on ratings conflicts Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want. Minnesota Sen. Al Franken and

    May 17, 2013

  • Time runs short for Legislature Focus, Minnesota legislators, as you have many details left So much for the theory that one party controlling Minnesota's House, Senate and governor's chair would mean fast work in St. Paul. Exactly one week from the end of the 2013 regular session a

    May 16, 2013

  • records' seizure harms free press This has not been a good week for President Obama. First it was learned that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative organizations with special scrutiny, the practice of which the White House said it was unaware. Then news surfaced th

    May 16, 2013

  • Investigate IRS action on groups The revelation that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting conservative groups has drawn criticism from both parties. But the Wall Street Journal this week revealed that the scrutiny went beyond groups that had "tea party" or "patriot" in their n

    May 15, 2013

  • Military needs new approach in assault cases Just when you thought the sexual assault problems in the military couldn't get worse, two events emerged last week to prove you wrong. The chief of the Air Force sexual assault prevention branch was arrested on suspicion of drunkenly groping a woman

    May 14, 2013

  • A watchdog carries on the fight In journalism circles, the Timberjay is the little newspaper with lots of moxie. This weekly newspaper Up North, in Ely, has established a tradition of fighting hard for the public's right to know. That's not a task to be taken lightly. It's a big, e

    May 13, 2013