Well, That's One Approach
News from the Pentagon:
It sounds like a joke, doesn't it? If only it were. The spin-engines at the Defense Department are in danger of overheating: they now claim that the force readiness numbers were never supposed to have been public in the first place. Riiiight. It has nothing at all to do with the fact that the already pitiful numbers were becoming even more ridiculous. Now they say they don't want to reveal information about Iraqi readiness to the enemy.
Somehow, I have a feeling the enemy is doing its own real-time, empirical force assessment. It's called the battlefield. The enemy would know if there were lots of units ready to fight them. The bullets headed in their direction would be a significant clue, as would the sudden decrease in their ability to kidnap, maim and murder. The insurgents in Iraq don't need to see the Pentagon's numbers.
The only part of the 'enemy' that classifying these reports defeats is that 'enemy' on Capitol Hill that might be critical of the administration, and the American people, who have a right to judge how well our training mission is succeeding. You know, that enemy.
Is there any doubt that, if the numbers were fantastic, they would not only have avoided classification, but they'd be regularly trumpeted in Presidential news conferences? Are we supposed to think that, after years of failure, they've developed a super-secret effective training program, and we don't want to telegraph the sudden increase in readiness to the bad guys before the big attack? Please.
It's not just that they lied us into a war we shouldn't have started and that they've made a mess of it. What gets my goat is their utter contempt for even the pretense of responsible, honest behavior, much less the real thing.
Gah.
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has stopped releasing its assessment of the number of Iraqi army units deemed capable of battling insurgents without U.S. military help.Yes, that's right, 'we'll stand down as the Iraqis stand up', but the level of Iraqi units standing up is classified.
U.S. officials had been releasing a tally every three months of Iraqi military units that were sufficiently trained to operate by themselves, without the aid of U.S. firepower, logistics or transportation.
The decision to stop making the information public came after reports showed a steady decline in the number of qualified Iraqi units. That number now is classified, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Victor Renuart, director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It sounds like a joke, doesn't it? If only it were. The spin-engines at the Defense Department are in danger of overheating: they now claim that the force readiness numbers were never supposed to have been public in the first place. Riiiight. It has nothing at all to do with the fact that the already pitiful numbers were becoming even more ridiculous. Now they say they don't want to reveal information about Iraqi readiness to the enemy.
Somehow, I have a feeling the enemy is doing its own real-time, empirical force assessment. It's called the battlefield. The enemy would know if there were lots of units ready to fight them. The bullets headed in their direction would be a significant clue, as would the sudden decrease in their ability to kidnap, maim and murder. The insurgents in Iraq don't need to see the Pentagon's numbers.
The only part of the 'enemy' that classifying these reports defeats is that 'enemy' on Capitol Hill that might be critical of the administration, and the American people, who have a right to judge how well our training mission is succeeding. You know, that enemy.
Is there any doubt that, if the numbers were fantastic, they would not only have avoided classification, but they'd be regularly trumpeted in Presidential news conferences? Are we supposed to think that, after years of failure, they've developed a super-secret effective training program, and we don't want to telegraph the sudden increase in readiness to the bad guys before the big attack? Please.
It's not just that they lied us into a war we shouldn't have started and that they've made a mess of it. What gets my goat is their utter contempt for even the pretense of responsible, honest behavior, much less the real thing.
Gah.
posted by Paul at 5:57 PM |
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