Field commanders tell Pentagon Iraq war 'is lost'

[Barrett808]

Mods: I know, I know, this is Capitol Hill Blue, but the story seems plausible, given what we know already.

Field commanders tell Pentagon Iraq war 'is lost'
By DOUG THOMPSON

Military commanders in the field in Iraq admit in private reports to the Pentagon the war "is lost" and that the U.S. military is unable to stem the mounting violence killing 1,000 Iraqi civilians a month.

Even worse, they report the massacre of Iraqi civilians at Haditha is "just the tip of the iceberg" with overstressed, out-of-control Americans soldiers pushed beyond the breaking point both physically and mentally.

"We are in trouble in Iraq," says retired army general Barry McCaffrey. "Our forces can't sustain this pace, and I'm afraid the American people are walking away from this war."

Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has clamped a tight security lid on the increasingly pessimistic reports coming out of field commanders in Iraq, threatening swift action against any military personnel who leak details to the press or public.

The wife of a staff sergeant with Kilo Company, the Marine Unit charged with killing civilians at Haditha, tells Newsweek magazine that the unit was a hotbed of drug abuse, alcoholism and violence.

(more)

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_8790.shtml

[Jack Rabbit]

1. A lot of what we read is CHB is plausible

It just doesn't pan out in the end.

[EarlG]

2. Locking

Capitol Hill Blue is not an acceptable source for the LBN forum.