John Burns reports:
The new American operational commander in Iraq said Sunday that even with the additional American troops likely to be deployed in Baghdad under President Bush’s new war strategy it might take another “two or three years” for American and Iraqi forces to gain the upper hand in the war.
The commander, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, assumed day-to-day control of war operations last month in the first step of a makeover of the American military hierarchy here. In his first lengthy meeting with reporters, General Odierno, 52, struck a cautious note about American prospects, saying much will depend on whether commanders can show enough progress to stem eroding support in the United States for the war.
So, the war will last two or three more years unless the American people lose their resolve and stab our forces in the back. Got it. As for our troops not getting involved in a sectarian civil war, don’t worry:
General Odierno contrasted his approach with the last effort to secure Baghdad, effectively abandoned for lack of enough Iraqi troops last fall.
Then, American troops conducted house-to-house clearing operations before moving on to other neighborhoods, leaving the holding phase of the operation to Iraqi troops, who failed to control the areas and forced Americans to return. This time, the general said, American troops would remain in the cleared areas “24/7,” to stiffen Iraqi resolve and build confidence among residents that they would be treated evenhandedly.
Equally important, he said, coalition troops would move into both Shiite and Sunni neighborhoods. That, too, would break with the pattern set last fall, when American troops concentrated on known Sunni insurgent strongholds, especially Dora, in southwest Baghdad. This time, the general said, it was crucial the security plan be evenhanded. “We have to have a believable approach, of going after Sunni and Shia extremists,” he said.
Going into Shiite neighborhoods, particularly the sprawling working-class district of Sadr City, the base for the powerful Mahdi Army militia that has spawned Shiite death squads, will risk new strains in the relationship between American commanders and the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.
Enjoy the surge.
Can Syria, Jordan and Lebanon take two or three more
years of rivers of refugees?
Tony Snow can –
When they start going door-to-door here, I’ll be on the road.
“So, the war will last two or three more years”
Isn’t he really saying that we will only have the upper hand by then, and that means it still won’t be over then, just that we MIGHT still not be losing the war.
“it might take another “two or three years” for American and Iraqi forces to gain the upper hand in the war.“
Sorry. I may be splitting hairs but having an upper hand is a far cry from the end, ie: winning. Wars usually last until they are won OR lost. And sometimes there is no real winner. But there is always a lot of losers. Those that lose their lives or limbs.
3000 +++ dead American soldiers, and what? Probably nearly 25,000 wounded now? 600,000 +++ dead Iraqis? And no win in sight. Just having the upper hand, and the hope that we, at home, won’t still question their tactics and motives.
To be fair to the General and the reporter, and I may be wrong on this, but that really is the closest thing to an honest assessment I have seen reported in the MSM and sourced to a high ranking officer lately. That is the sad part. Sigh
…it might take another “two or three years”…
It might take another two or three years for the collapse to come on someone else’s watch.
Bingo! lol
Obviously the whole thing is open ended. Constant, continous war until…the next constant, continuous war. ‘Two or three years’: the honest answer would be ‘I don’t know, I don’t even know if it will ever work.’ Great, now we at least know what to expect. Constant, continuous war… Bush’s only talents are to manipulate, emotionally, and to intimidate, emotionally, and, if necessary, take revenge, emotionally.