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As the number of U.S. troops killed marches over 1,000, the Bush administration’s failure to devise a real strategy to secure Iraq has never been more evident. Attacks in Iraq have recently increased, and more troops have died in the months after the transfer of power than in the months just before.
- Despite the transfer of sovereignty, attacks in Iraq are increasing in number and severity. Since the transfer of power on June 28, U.S. forces have been attacked an average of 60 times a day. That is a 20 percent increase from the three-month period before the transfer. The number of American troops wounded in combat has also skyrocketed. About 1,100 soldiers were wounded last month, by far the highest combat injury toll for any month since the war started.
- The administration still does not have a plan for securing Iraq. Sixteen months after the invasion, the president still has no real strategy for securing Iraq and letting our troops come home. At a press conference yesterday, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the situation in Iraq is likely to get worse, not better, in the coming days.
- Despite administration promises, the Iraqi Army still isn’t ready for battle. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that the American strategy in Iraq depended on Iraqi forces taking the lead. Fewer than half of the planned number of troops have been trained and equipped, however, meaning that Iraqi forces are months away from being ready to fight.
Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund.
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Daily Talking Points is a product of the American Progress Action Fund. |
