It's about to get worse in Iraq, are we ready?

Iraq's Sadr threatens to scrap ceasefire 09 Apr 2008 01:30:14 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Shi'ite cleric threatens to end ceasefire

* Sadr postpones anti-U.S. demonstrations

* U.S. officials testify on Iraq's progress (Adds U.S. presidential candidates in paragraphs 4-6)

By Dean Yates and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, April 8 (Reuters) - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threatened on Tuesday to end a truce he imposed on his militia last year, raising the prospect of worsening violence on a day when top U.S. officials testified on Iraq in Washington.

The U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told a Senate panel he was recommending a 45-day pause in troop cuts after July when an initial drawdown is completed. He said he would then decide over time when to recommend more reductions.

His comments suggest Washington will still have some 140,000 troops in Iraq in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election in November, roughly the same number as before reinforcements were sent in early 2007 to halt Iraq's slide into civil war.

Petraeus' testimony drew U.S. presidential candidates eager to be heard on an issue that, at least for moment, is back at center stage among the concerns of war-weary American voters before the November election.

While Republican candidate Sen. John McCain said the current policy is succeeding, Democratic senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton called for faster troop withdrawals.
go here for more
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08414740.htm


FACTBOX-Quotes from Iraq commander's testimony 09 Apr 2008 00:19:57 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Repeats to fix glitch in headline.)

April 8 (Reuters) - Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told Congress on Tuesday that uneven security gains will prompt him to stop troop withdrawals in July, in a cautious assessment of the war a year after thousands of additional U.S. troops poured into the country.

Following is a sampling of quotes from several participants at Petraeus' appearance:

PETRAEUS:

"We haven't turned any corners, we haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. And the progress, while real, is fragile and reversible."

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ RYAN CROCKER:

"I remain convinced that a major departure from our current engagement would bring failure."

SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN CARL LEVIN, MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT:

"It seems to me that what you've given to your chain of command is a plan which has no end to it."

SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN JOSEPH BIDEN, DELAWARE DEMOCRAT:

"Fifteen months into the surge, we've gone from drowning to treading water. ... We can't keep treading water without exhausting ourselves. But that's what the president seems to be asking us to do."

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, CONNECTICUT INDEPENDENT:

"It seems to me that there's a kind of 'Hear no progress in Iraq, see no progress in Iraq, and most of all, speak of no progress in Iraq.' The fact is, there has been progress in Iraq."

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN:

To Petraeus: "If I could promote you to five stars, I would."

To Crocker: "I don't know where to send you. You've been to every bad place there is to go, so I'd send you to a good place, Ambassador Crocker."

SEN. BARBARA BOXER, CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT

"After five years of unbelievable bloodshed on all sides... you have to wonder why the best you can say is the gains are fragile and reversible."

"I find your testimony very status-quo. And the status quo has been an absolute disaster."

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, Andrew Gray and Kristin Roberts, editing by Philip Barbara)

I tried to get an update from ICasualties.org, but their site was not working. As I read these two reports from Reuters, it is clear that things are going to get worse in Iraq if al-Sadr calls off the ceasefire. While Bush has been saying the surge has been working, what he did not say was that it was largely do to al-Sadr ordering his Army to stop fighting. With all the wounded we have now that we are not taking care of properly, it begs the question to be answered, are we ready for even more to come? Have we even come close to taking care of the wounded we already have? Hardly. There are still too many trapped in a mountain of claim in the VA. The DOD has been playing catch up on training wheels when they need a jet pack to push through the changes that have to be made. So where does this leave the wounded that will come, God willing, instead of the dead? The rates of kill to wound are wonderful because of the advances in technology and in theater treatment. The medics are miracle workers on many days but what happens when these wounded come home and we have proved we cannot take care of the ones we already have?

Some in this country have been touting the "surge" and thinking it's over. What they have not done is take a look at the history of the peaks and dips in violence along with the death counts. Nothing else has been done in Iraq that has not been done by our troops and the few remaining Coalition forces still willing to keep their forces there. None of this is good. Have you noticed there are more Pray for the Troops magnets on cars now than Support the Troops? Did you wonder why? If you've been paying attention, you've already replaced your's. I did.