October 7, 2005
George Bush's "80 Iraqi Army Battalions" vs Reality
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
Collected by a BuzzFlash Reader:
On October 6, 2005, George Bush claimed:
"At the time of our Falluja operations 11 months ago, there were only a few Iraqi army battalions in combat. Today there are more than 80 Iraqi army battalions fighting the insurgency alongside our forces."
Curious that Bush didn't admit that only one Iraqi battalion can stand on its own feet.
Just 1 Iraqi battalion fit to fight insurgents
Washington Post
Sept. 30, 2005 12:00 AMWASHINGTON - The number of the Iraqi army's 86 battalions that can fight insurgents without U.S. and coalition help has dropped from three to one, top U.S. generals told Congress on Thursday, adding that the security situation in Iraq is too uncertain to predict large-scale American troop withdrawals anytime soon.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/
news/articles/0930iraq-generals30.html
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS