| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| CIA: Iraq security to get worse |
| 2003-11-13 |
| A recent CIA assessment of Iraq warns the security situation will worsen across the country, not just in Baghdad but in the north and south as well, a senior administration source told CNN Tuesday. The report is a much more dire and ominous assessment of the situation than has previously been forwarded through official channels. It was sent to Washington Monday by the CIA station chief in Iraq. In his Veterans Day speech Tuesday, Bush referred to "recent reporting" of cooperation between Saddam loyalists and terrorist elements from outside Iraq. "Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists may have different long-term goals, but they share a near-term strategy: to terrorize Iraqis and to intimidate America and our allies," Bush told the conservative Heritage Foundation. "In the last few months, the adversary has changed its composition and method, and our coalition is adapting accordingly." Doesn’t seem like it. Hurry up with the adapting. Another senior administration official said those points in the speech were based on a U.S. intelligence report about the security situation. A third U.S. official said the intelligence report was from the CIA and that it highlights what the official conceded are several "major ongoing security issues." That official refused to characterize the report in further detail. But the senior administration source who did discuss the report said it essentially says things are "gonna get worse" across Iraq. I don’t doubt it one bit. It may appear that by-passing the smaller towns in a drive towards Baghdad in the initial war was a mistake. Unless it’s mostly foreigners doing the damage, in which case, why aren’t the borders sealed? The source said the memo notes that: • More Iraqis are "flooding to the ranks of the guerrillas." Many of these Iraqis are Sunnis who had previously been "on the sidelines" but now believe they can "inflict bodily harm" on the Americans.U.S. officials in Washington and military commanders in Iraq have voiced concern about the recent increase of attacks against coalition and other targets in Iraq. Bush has urged his national security team to accelerate the training and deployment of Iraqi security forces. |
| Posted by:Rafael |
| #3 Three steps that won't solve the situation overnight, but should help calm it down a whole lot... (1) Immediately negotiate with the president of South Korea for the commitment of a division-size force of ROK Marines. (2) After the ROKs have a chance to get acclimated, select a particularly nasty operational area such as Fallujah. Remove the US troop contingent, replace with the ROKs (and most importantly, remove all media personnel. (3) Wait one month, then return and ask the locals if they're ready to be good, cooperative citizens. Since anyone with knowledge of the ROK Marines' rep knows they'll say "By Allah's beard, yes, PLEASE!!", replace the ROKs with the original US unit, and move the ROK's to the next hot area. |
| Posted by: Jeff 2003-11-14 12:09:53 AM |
| #2 "More Iraqis are "flooding to the ranks of the guerrillas." Many of these Iraqis are Sunnis who had previously been "on the sidelines" but now believe they can "inflict bodily harm" on the Americans. • Ammunition is "readily available," making it much easier to mount attacks" Im not sure this is wrong. It doesnt say that most iraqis support the Baathists, or even that all Sunni Arabs do. It DOES say that larger number of Sunni Arab fence sitters are moving towards the Baathists. Given that Sunni Arabs make up about 20% of the population, that could mean about 10% of the population supports the Baathists now, versus say less than 5% a few months ago. Thats not Viet Nam. or quagmire, but it IS a big problem. Theyre also saying ammo is readily available - this seems to be true - whether its cause we dont have enough troops to go after all the ammo, or dont have the intell, is another question. But certainly Saddam left behind HUGE stocks of ammo,perhaps with the intention of making possible this very thing, and its a problem. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-11-13 11:02:33 AM |
| #1 Based on the last two years, this report included, one can conclude two things about the CIA: It's rarely accurate. It's not working for the United States government. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-11-13 9:58:27 AM |