Operation Together Forward II - we already did this plan

[LSK]

In a major effort to quell the violence in Iraq, U.S. military
forces joined with Iraqi forces to establish security in
Baghdad with an operation called “Operation Together
Forward II,” which began in August 2006. Under Operation
Together Forward II, U.S. forces are working with
members of the Iraqi Army and police to “clear, hold, and
build” in Baghdad, moving neighborhood by neighborhood.
There are roughly 15,000 U.S. troops in Baghdad.

This operation—and the security of Baghdad—is
crucial to security in Iraq more generally. A capital city of
more than 6 million, Baghdad contains some 25 percent
of the country’s population. It is the largest Sunni and
Shia city in Iraq. It has high concentrations of both Sunni
insurgents and Shiite militias. Both Iraqi and American
leaders told us that as Baghdad goes, so goes Iraq.

The results of Operation Together Forward II are
disheartening. Violence in Baghdad—already at high levels—
jumped more than 43 percent between the summer
and October 2006. U.S. forces continue to suffer high casualties.
Perpetrators of violence leave neighborhoods in
advance of security sweeps, only to filter back later. Iraqi
police have been unable or unwilling to stop such infiltration
and continuing violence. The Iraqi Army has provided
only two out of the six battalions that it promised in
August would join American forces in Baghdad. The Iraqi
government has rejected sustained security operations in
Sadr City.

Security efforts will fail unless the Iraqis have both
the capability to hold areas that have been cleared and
the will to clear neighborhoods that are home to Shiite
militias. U.S. forces can “clear” any neighborhood, but
there are neither enough U.S. troops present nor enough
support from Iraqi security forces to “hold” neighborhoods
so cleared. The same holds true for the rest of Iraq.
Because none of the operations conducted by U.S. and
Iraqi military forces are fundamentally changing the conditions
encouraging the sectarian violence, U.S. forces
seem to be caught in a mission that has no foreseeable end.

- Iraq Study Group Report page 11 and 12.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. It'll be different this time. "We can and we will prevail".

He didn't say that last time.

[LSK]

3. kick