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Defense Estimates of Availability of Iraqi Police and Soldiers Criticized

by TChris

A GAO investigator today told a subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee that the Defense Department's claims about the number of Iraqi soldiers and police officers who are trained and equipped to do their jobs are unreliable.

Mr. Christoff [testified] that the U.S. government's claim that Iraq now has more than 80,000 trained and equipped soldiers and over 60,000 trained and equipped police officers must be understood in the context of the many challenges facing the effort to expand Iraq's security forces. He said those challenges include problems in the Iraqi force structure and leadership ranks, a lack of clarity on the actual readiness of those forces to conduct independent operations and the need to continually re-evaluate security needs as the insurgency continues.

Calling the Defense Department's numbers "Fantasyland" and accusing the department of issuing a "phony report," Committee member Dennis Kucinich compared the Department's assessment to its assurances that Iraq was filled with weapons of mass destruction.

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    Re: Defense Estimates of Availability of Iraqi Pol (none / 0) (#1)
    by scarshapedstar on Mon Mar 14, 2005 at 03:24:53 PM EST
    In other news, chocolate production is up 400% and shoe production is up 200%.

    It's been said that chocholate hits the same neuron receptors in your brain as when having sex. Could there be a correlation?

    Dennus Kucunich call anyone or anything "Fantasyland" is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. But hey, we all need a good chuckle.

    Re: Defense Estimates of Availability of Iraqi Pol (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue Mar 15, 2005 at 07:18:31 AM EST
    Why would the DOD lie?

    Re: Defense Estimates of Availability of Iraqi Pol (none / 0) (#5)
    by kdog on Tue Mar 15, 2005 at 09:35:32 AM EST
    Nice one scar. Got any razors? The Ministry says production is up 400%, yet there are none to be found.

    Re: Defense Estimates of Availability of Iraqi Pol (none / 0) (#6)
    by Dadler on Tue Mar 15, 2005 at 10:10:20 AM EST
    jim, address the issue. unfunny, unoriginal, off point partisan snipes are tired. we already underestimated almost everything about iraq, why on earth would this surprise you? a head in the sand is worth two in the mud.

    The Department of Death, and the rest of the Clown Bus have REPEATEDLY baldfaced lied about the number of Iraqi troops trained. That's because they have no intention of training Iraqi troops, because "There is no more Iraq. There will be three territories." -- H. Mass-Murderer Kissinger With sixteen airbases installed, there will never be a need for an 'Iraqi' army, unless they agree to kill Iraqis in the service of the new Viceroy, as part of rightwing deathsquads. Having already hired up as many rightwing deathsquad mercs as they could find, why do they need Iraqis? Translators, traitors, and spies, what else.