[Dean's World] Dave Price: Progress

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
Progress
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1185640810.shtml


   The ISF continue to [1]get better as they also become more numerous.

     The first priority is to get as many soldiers into battle as
     quickly as possible, Dubik said.
     "What you can't produce at the same time ... (is) leaders. So you
     end up with units with about half the number of leaders they really
     need," he said, referring, for example, to unit leaders such as
     captains, majors and lieutenant colonels. "But that's sufficient.
     It's not ideal, but it's sufficient."
     More broadly, Dubik said he was pleased with the rate of progress
     in building Iraq's defenses. He praised the Ministry of Interior in
     particular for taking steps to weed out officers with sectarian
     agendas.

   I've been hearing this at [2]Roggio's site too. American troops are
   relaying their advice on the Iraqi officer corps to Iraqi higher-ups,
   and generally being heeded.
   This is what needs to happen for our troops to be able to come home.
   The ISF are going to be the glue that holds the country together, and
   a competent, nonsectarian officer/NCO corps will hold the ISF
   together.

     He steered away from questions about the likely duration of the
     U.S. troop buildup, but made clear that he sees Iraq's movement
     toward stability as a long-term project. He said emphatically that
     he believes the troop buildup, with its more aggressive approach to
     fighting the insurgency, needs to continue.
     "If it stops today, we would give the initiative back to our
     enemies â al-Qaida and other extremists," he said. "It was fought
     over and died for and there's no reason to give it back right now."

References

   1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070728/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_security_forces_4;_ylt=Ak9SG35CF1vTP.E3CGO2bYtX6GMA
   2. http://www.billroggio.com/