Experts Advise Bush Not to Reduce Troops
12 December Washington Post - Experts Advise Bush Not to Reduce Troops by Michael Fletcher and Thomas Ricks.
Quote:
President Bush heard a blunt and dismal assessment of his handling of Iraq from a group of military experts yesterday, but the advisers shared the White House's skeptical view of the recommendations made last week by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, sources said.
The three retired generals and two academics disagreed in particular with the study group's plans to reduce the number of U.S. combat troops in Iraq and to reach out for help to Iran and Syria, according to sources familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was private.
The White House gathering was part of a series of high-profile meetings Bush is holding to search for "a new way forward" amid the increasing chaos and carnage in Iraq. Earlier in the day, Bush met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other high-ranking officials at the State Department, where he was briefed on reconstruction and regional diplomatic efforts in Iraq...
More than training needed
President Talibani, in discussing the ISG report, said the big problem was that we were training troops who were loyal to entities other than the government, be they tribal or clerical. What he was implying was that rather than pushing people through the training process more care needed to be given to the vetting process. I would add that once trained those who demonstrate the loyalty problem needed to be weeded out. Too often people focus only on the training of the troops and do not focus enough on the infrastructure of NCO's and mid level offices that are needed to make the troops effective. It will take more time to build that infrastructure than it takes to train the troops.