U.S. General Declares Iraqi Resistance "Broken"

[XASA]

If true, fantastic, if not true, political blunder on the part of the general along the lines of General Westmoreland stating he could see the light at the end of the tunnel during the Tet Offensive (and Charlie was holding it ;))


US commander says backbone of anti-occupation resistance has been broken
By Robert Burns, Associated Press, 1/22/2004 12:00

WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. forces have ''brought to their knees'' the former Saddam Hussein regime holdouts who formed the backbone of the anti-occupation insurgency in areas north and northeast of Baghdad, the American commander responsible for security in that region said Thursday.

''The former regime elements we've been combating have been brought to their knees,'' Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told reporters at the Pentagon in a satellite video news conference from his headquarters in the city of Tikrit.

In December Odierno's forces led the raid that captured former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein near Tikrit, his tribal home.

''Capturing Saddam was a major operational and psychological defeat for the enemy,'' he said. ''But a more important result of his capture is the increase in accurate information brought forward by Iraqis allowing us to conduct numerous, precise raids to kill or capture'' those who are financing and producing homemade explosives used to kill and injure American troops.

Odierno's comments came as insurgents killed two U.S. troops and critically wounded a third in a barrage of mortar fire at an American military encampment in central Iraq. And, in separate incidents, gunmen killed several other Iraqis working for the U.S.-led coalition.

Odierno, whose troops are preparing to depart Iraq in several weeks, said that although the former Baath Party loyalists are no longer a major threat, the nature of the anti-American violence could shift, fueled by what he called a nationalistic motive to get U.S. troops to leave.

He defined the nationalistic threat as being posed by ''those that really just want Iraqis to run their own country,'' and ''elements that are going to try to use Iraqi nationalism to say we need to get the Americans and the coalition forces out of Iraq, and they will continue to attack us.''

[Falco]

Let's just hope it's true

[Trident-za]

Call me a cynic, but this seems a tad premature. I hope like hell that he is right though.

As an aside, why the hell would he say something like this? It can only come back to bite you on the ass. Every time there is any attack with casaulties, the media is gonna be quoting this. (the same way they keep going on about the "end of major combat").

[usa320]

I agree with Odierno. The number of attacks are being fewer and farer between, less sophisticated. ALmost all of the leadership are captured, and the number of guns in the street are dwindling.

Not to mention the resources being put into public affairs and reconstruction are increasing, making the lives of the Iraqis less hellish.

[Trident-za]

Maybe I've been reading different newspapers to you - I was under the impression the attacks were getting MORE sophiscated, not less. I was also under the impression the attack numbers were the same, although the targets were different. Oh well..... I sincerely hope you are right, and I hope the bad guys agree with you too. Time will tell, I guess.

[Beowulf]

Call me a cynic, but this seems a tad premature. I hope like hell that he is right though.

As an aside, why the hell would he say something like this? It can only come back to bite you on the ass.



Odierno, whose troops are preparing to depart Iraq in several weeks, said that although the former Baath Party loyalists are no longer a major threat....


It's not his fault if someone else screws it up....just my take on the purpose of the statement.

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Call me a cynic, but this seems a tad premature. I hope like hell that he is right though.

As an aside, why the hell would he say something like this? It can only come back to bite you on the ass. Every time there is any attack with casaulties, the media is gonna be quoting this. (the same way they keep going on about the "end of major combat").

Yea I agree it will only bite them on the ass every time a soldier becomes wounded or KIA.

Hopefully this doesnt come to bite them in the ass......

[wholagun]

kinda reminds me of the Bush carrier thing - mission accomplished. Well US lost more after that statement then prior to it. Let's hope this time thats not the case.

[PsihoKeke]

So they see the light at the end of the tunnel.

History realy repets itself. There wont be any Tet offensive, but there are still some ugly suprises in the sack.

[LordHalbert]

If you think that attacks are becoming less sophisticated, let
me remind you of some recent events:

* An M2 Bradley was destroyed and crew members killed - this was not your typical IED.
It turned out to be at least 2 artillery shells and other explosives. The trap was designed
to destroy a Bradley or even heavier. It's way overkill for a Hummvee or a person,
So the trap was probably remotely triggered by a human observing the event or pressure
triggered to ignore lighter vehicles. This takes some level of sophistication.

* Several US personal have been killed recently by mortar fire. I would imagine that
using a mortar effectively and hitting the intended target requires skill and training.
These folks seem to know what they're doing - not your average insurgent. They
also seemed to have escaped.

* Several aircraft have been hit by SAM recently including an Apache helicopter and a C-5A.
Again, it takes training to use these effectively.

I think the frequency of the attacks have decreased but the sophistication has increased.

[Argyll]

I just spoke to my buddy in Baghdad and he told me that the place is still as mental as ever,it is not better at all,and these words will come back to haunt the General!

[George W. Bush]

The point is that we're adapting, improvising, etc. and defeating them.

[cut]

deja-vu

[Argyll]

Not every single incident gets reported to the US Authories,just to give the tabloids something to print!.
There are PMC's who are targeted daily,but this doesn't get reported,Iraq is still a very very dangerous place to be for EVERYONE!

[Vance]

I just spoke to my buddy in Baghdad and he told me that the place is still as mental as ever,it is not better at all,and these words will come back to haunt the General!
That must be hell on your phone bill. ;)

[Argyll]

MSN mate ;)

[Vance]

MSN mate ;)
Mind giving me his MSN account? ;)

[Argyll]

Which one? I have 5 mates there with another 3 going back next week? ;)

[Vance]

Any one would be fine...:)

[Trident-za]

The thing which worries me about the opinion stated in the first post is that it ignores history completely. The coalition will not "lose" this war... but they don't have to. The terrorists/insurgents/guerillas don't have to beat the coalition, they just have to outlast it.

This might seem overly pessimistic, but think about it for a second. The current plan is to hand over power in June/July. Even if coalition troops remain behind to provode security for the next 10 years.... what happens after that? When they leave, will the process of democratization over those 10 years have been enough to ensure that the bad guys cannot retake power soon after? Is the number of "bad guys" going to go down, or up, in that time? I know that the Iraqi population is currently in support of the coalition, for the most part. This could change drastically over the next 10 years. And what about the potential for civil war between the 3 major groups?

I'm rambling a bit here, but my point is: I'm concerned. How long will the coalition countires be prepared to takes losses (and the enormous cost) in Iraq before they decide it's not worth it? 10 years? 20? And after that - what happens? Perhaps it will all turn out rosy..... but what other similar situations have?

Forgive my pessimistic ramblings - alcohol inspired worry is a terrible thing :)

[RP]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&e=1&u=/ap/20040124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[ibstolidude]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_42