Posted on 01/14/2007 12:01:53 PM PST by bnelson44
The military mastermind of President George W Bush's new troop "surge" strategy for Iraq has hit out at signs that the Pentagon is watering down the proposal for political reasons.
"You cannot try and do this piecemeal. We have to implement the whole package," retired Gen Jack Keane, the former Army vice chief of staff, who co-authored the "Choosing Victory" strategy paper, told The Sunday Telegraph.
He expressed his alarm after Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, told congressmen that the troop build-up was expected to last "a matter of months" - rather than the 18 months proposed by Gen Keane.
"That makes no military sense, although it might seem to make political sense," said Gen Keane.
"We need all five brigades in Baghdad as soon as possible. It will take three to four months to clear neighbourhoods of death squads and insurgents, and at least the rest of the year to establish proper security for the population. If you only wanted to stage a clearance operation, you could do that in a few months. But if we left then, the militia would just return as they have in the past."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
IMHO the Peshmurga in Baghdad will not suffer from the same PC ROE that has hindered the effectiveness of US Forces. This may in fact be the wild card in this equation.
They are Kurds in the IA, not Peshmurga
More's the pity.
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