Which war are you watching?

January 22, 2003: 4th Infantry Division Commanding General's Briefing from Iraq

From Army Maj. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno of the 4th Infantry Division (the Saddam "capture" division):

We have made significant progress during combat operations against non-compliant forces while continuing the steady improvement in the quality of life for the Iraqi people through civilian-military operations....Capturing Saddam was a major operational and psychological defeat for the enemy....

The former regime elements we have been combating have been brought to their knees.

This past week's headlines from Juan Cole, historian, Middle East scholar:

3 US soldiers Wounded in Mosul Blast
5000 Sadrists March in Baghdad
US and UN: Caught between Shiites and Sunnis
Bomb Blast Rocks Shrine City of Karbala; 13 Injured
23 Killed (2 Americans), 130 Injured (including 6 Americans) in Baghdad Car Bombing
3 US Soldiers Killed North of Baghdad

Major General:

The attacks against Iraqi security forces have not deterred brave Iraqis, however, from joining these organizations. In my area alone we have recruited over 5,000 Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers, 18,000 police officers and 2,000 border police. These forces are conducting joint patrols with coalition forces as well as independent operations to defeat anti-coalition elements.

Training an Iraqi army:

CNN reports that the first new battalion of the Iraqi army being trained by the US has collapsed, with nearly half of recruits having resigned.  article

Agents for deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have penetrated the U.S. command in Iraq, ABCNEWS has learned. As a result, they have the potential to undermine U.S. authority....The United States has been rapidly recruiting Iraqis to take over security in the war-torn nation. Some 162,000 Iraqis have been trained in the areas of civil defense, police and other security activities since May....On a recent trip to Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was told by the commander of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division that every two or three weeks the military discovers someone who should not have made it through the vetting process.
  article

"the CPA is fully 50 percent short of its current goal of training and staffing the critical Iraqi Border Police Service. Some 12,600 - out of a goal of 27,500 - trained officers are on line, with only 100 in training."
  Defense Department Report

Recruiting Iraqi police:

Any candidate who was not underage, did not have a fake ID and would sign a form disavowing any ties to the Baath Party passed the test.   article

Major General:

Over the past 10 months we have completed nearly 2,000 improvement projects valued at $41 million throughout our area of operations. Today we have another 700 projects worth almost $42 million in progress. We have another -- we have refurbished over 600 schools, 70 mosques, 75 medical facilities, improved over 500 miles of roads, completed hundreds of other projects for children, such as soccer fields and youth centers. These projects have created over 60,000 jobs and have been a major boost to local economies.

Reconstruction projects:

"To be honest," says Ed Kubba, a consultant and board member of the American Iraqi Chamber of Commerce, "I don't know where the line is between business and corruption." He points to US companies subcontracting huge taxpayer-funded reconstruction jobs for a fraction of what they are getting paid, then pocketing the difference.  article

During repairs, "reports started coming in about poor quality," said 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion Maj. Linda Scharf, who was responsible for the schools in question, and who started fielding calls from concerned teachers and headmasters.

"So I asked one of my teams to go verify the rumors," Scharf said. "They took their digital camera, and the reality turned out to be worse than the rumors."

What they found: The subcontractors Bechtel hired left paint everywhere - on the floors, on desks, all over windows. The classrooms were filthy, the school's desks and chairs were thrown out into the playground and left, broken. Windows were left damaged, and bathrooms that were reportedly fixed were left in broken, unsanitary condition.  article

Open questions from the press:

Q: Specifically, what has caused the insurgency to, as you put it, to be brought to its knees? The capture of Saddam? Other factors? How much fight is left in the insurgency and do you have any feel for how many armed fighters you're facing?

Odierno: I don't. I think the threat has changed and it continues to be evolution. And I think the threat is moving toward somewhat of a nationalistic threat and away from a former regime threat. And I think there's still some reorganization going on because of how much we fractured them in the last -- specifically the last 60 to 90 days.

Backing down so soon? He just read his statement, and now, when questioned about what he's said, he goes into truth mode. "I don't know." "I think."

Q: General, Jamie McIntyre again from CNN. Is there any way that you could -- do you have any educated guess on a time frame that it's going to take to effectively neutralize the insurgency in the area that you're responsible for?

Odierno: Well, I think -- and again, it depends on how you quantify "neutralize." You know, what's interesting is -- I had this discussion today with my commanders, actually. And what we talked about is how do you quantify that? You know, how do we know that some of this isn't normal activity? What I mean by that is, there was always some level of -- there's always some level of violence in a society; what is the level of violence here that's normally associated? And it's hard for us to determine what that is.

But what's interesting is we are now talking in those terms now, and I think that gives you an idea how we think the level of violence is. You know, when does it get down to where we're seeing some small- arms fire that can be classified as, you know, drive-by shootings, and how much of that has occurred forever here in this country? So, what is normal, might not be normal for what we're used to, but what is normal for this region?

I am not even going to comment.

But on a timeline, it's hard to say. But I would tell you I believe within six months I think you're going to see some normalcy. I really believe that.

Nope. Not on that either.

Major General:

Ambassador Bremer here in the last few days signed a memorandum, which was also done by the Iraqi Governing Council, that lays out the policy for dealing with land disputes within Iraq. I think that is a help. And we're going to put the commissions together in each one of the provinces that will now be able to deal with these issues. We've been given some initial guidelines. I don't have the specifics in front of me. But it is a good step, and that's what we needed. So now we'll be able to -- they are registering for land disputes. There is a process that is now clearly defined that we can go through. That, along with the people now working together in the government positions that we've set up, I think, will help to stabilize the area. But again, we must continually watch it.

Well, that's something, at least. And I'll bet it's a holy nightmare. Wouldn't want to be in those negotiations.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.