"Hell to Pay. Whoever wins, the road ahead in Iraq is rough."

[Strelnikov_]

Reading this article, the ING forces sound a lot like the ARVN.

I am afraid that at 140k troops in country, we are done, and fairly soon. The upcoming offensive could be the beginning of the end. Someone needs to take control of this sorry situation and either develop a strategy to win, or a strategy to leave.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6370525/site/newsweek/

Both Bush and Kerry have plans that depend on newly trained Iraqis. But insurgents are killing recruits, and infiltrating the forces. A report from the front.

…

Scarfe says he trusts Jassim implicitly—which is more than he can say for most Iraqi National Guardsmen, less-trained locals thought to be collaborating with the insurgents. "The ING guys usually slept outside during the summer," says Scarfe. "When they slept inside, you knew a mortar barrage was coming."

…

Just as worrisome, the insurgents have managed to infiltrate Iraqi forces, enabling them to gain key intelligence. "The infiltration is all over, from the top to the bottom, from decision making to the lower levels," says the senior Iraqi official. In the Kirkush incident, the insurgents almost certainly had inside information about the departure time and route of the buses.

[newyorican]

1. The real trick will be...

how quickly the media will stop giving a Kerry Administration a free pass, like they have BushCo.

From nothing being shrubs fault, to everything being Kerrys (personal) fault quicker than you can say, "Bob's your uncle.".

[Fear]

2. Very VERY good point, haven't really thought about that yet.

[HawkerHurricane]

3. Are you kidding it? They'll post date it to 'Kerry's Fault'...

Remember how they blamed Clinton for the Ruby Ridge stuff, which happened while Clinton was still Gov. of Arkansas? And how nuclear secrets lost in the 1980's were laid at Clinton's door?

It will be 'Kerry's ill planned invasion of Iraq' by the 2nd of February next year.

[number6]

4. yep, those new Iraqi forces can just take over soon (not)

"The infiltration is all over, from the top to the bottom,...
yes, how many insurgents have joined the "new Iraqi Army"

[ogsball]

5. I have great hope that using some intelligence

and some well placed folks like Wes Clark I predict that Kerry will indeed turn the Iraq mess around rather quickly. Unfortunately it will be shown as Bushes success.

[Dangerman]

6. It will be a failure.

We will lose this "war" whoever is in the White House. We must pull out out troops ASAP.