Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Monday, September 11, 2006
Big News Today!
No, not the 911 indulge-a-thon.

This:
The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country's western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents . . .

[Col. Pete] Devlin reports that there are no functioning Iraqi government institutions in Anbar, leaving a vacuum that has been filled by the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has become the province's most significant political force . . . Another person familiar with the report said it describes Anbar as beyond repair; a third said it concludes that the United States has lost in Anbar.
Beyond the obvious, another interesting aspect of this story is that this report was leaked to the press. The Pentagon, other than Rummy, is disgusted with Bush and the whole Iraq adventure. The military has, yet again, been led down the garden path by lousy civilian leadership.

As Billmon points out, how nice that the insurgents, many of whom are apparently al Qaeda, have secured another little country (the first being Talibanistan) that is much closer to it's friends.


Having Anbar would indeed make it much easier to conduct operations in the middle east rather than having to make all those trips from Talibanistan.

Happy 911 Anniversary!