The Iraqis finally got around to sentencing Chemical Ali to death. He’s the guy that used chemical weapons on the Kurds. Meanwhile:
As the verdicts were read out in Baghdad, to the north some 10,000 American troops were in their sixth day Sunday of a major effort to oust al-Qaida fighters from the city of Baqouba.
The commander of the U.S. operation said U.S. troops have cleared about 60 percent of western Baqouba of militants, but Iraqi security forces are ”not quite up to the job” yet of holding the gains long term.
Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, of the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, said it will take weeks or months before Iraqi security forces are ready to police the reclaimed area on their own.
Weeks, months, or years, take your pick. I’d like a little more specificity. What is it, exactly, that the Iraqis need to learn or do in the next indefinite time frame so that they will be capable of policing this reclaimed area?
Across Diyala province, where Baqouba is the capital, Iraqi troops are short on uniforms, weapons, ammunition, trucks and radios, he said.
Great. Anything else they’re short of? Like discipline, loyalty, training, or resolve?
Our sons and daughters are dying on these missions. And for what? So a city can be temporarily cleared of militants?
