Iranian trained special militias are biggest threat to Iraq

From the beginning, we have been a team, and our mission is to get rid of all the militias and all insurgents in Iraq, Major General Ali Salih Farhood Oothman, Commander of the 8th Iraqi Army Division, said through an interpreter during a live-via-satellite Pentagon press briefing from Camp Victory in Baghdad. Oothman, head of a division that covers 24% of Iraq consisting of five Iraqi provinces including the Iranian border and Saudi Arabian border, said that his responsibilities in the area are complex because of al-Qaida. However, al-Qaida is not his greatest threat.

The greatest threat according to Oothman is the special militias. In his area of operation, he has both al-Qaida and special militias. In the capital cities of the provinces, he says, there are the militias. The reason for the higher threat level, is that the special groups are trained and equipped by the Iranians. Those groups don’t face you, he said, they use IEDs (improvised explosive devices), or they “stab us in the back” with their politicians. Because the militias are not able to face the Iraqi Army directly, they go to Iran, where they are trained, equipped, and then sent back in to assassinate leaders.

Present as well was Army Major General Michael Oates, Commander of the Multi-National Division Center and the 10th Mountain Division. He agreed with Oothman’s assessment of the Iraq Army’s capabilities, stating that the Army, although much improved and better off than in 2006, demonstrates that there is a need to raise the comparable level of operations that they are responsible for. Four things, Oates said, are needed: we need to work on improving their [Iraqi Army] forces, civics courses need to be given to learn how to assess Iraq’s civilian needs, we need to go after AQI (al-Qaida in Iraq), and we need to reduce the Iranian influence within Iraq.

The topic brought up most frequently during the brief was the inadequate training and supplies. Oates pointed out that the Iraqi Army has been fighting “right out of the box” since the beginning, and was never able to be properly trained. Watching their [Iraqi] army operate, Oates said, he sees that they are very capable and they are seeking initiative in performing their own operations, but we [United States] still are providing valuable assistance. The Iraqi Army is “coming along” but they are not sophisticated with reconnaissance and surveillance. Professionalism is what is missing; the army went into combat with no training, they’ve been in constant combat since 2003, and it’s been tough for them to learn logistics.

Oothman said that since the beginning, they had to work to train their officers. They conducted several training services for their officers, and they send medics to learn some training and they are more professional than they used to be. But to be independent in this battle, Oothman said, we have to not only learn administrative and logistical duties, but we need something else: medical facilities and garages to maintain our vehicles. 80% of these needs are met by coalition forces, and there is currently no plan to build a hospital or a garage.

The Iraqi Army is showing initiative, Oates said, I’m proud to serve with them and I’m here to provide whatever assistance I can. They are making huge strides. We [the United States] should be proud of our soldiers, and they are performing magnificently.

Back in the Saddle, Still on the road

The House is back and the Senate will be meeting pro forma for this first week of the first legislative session of 2008. There is still a bad taste in every one's mouth from the close of the last session and Bush's not-so-surprising veto over the break on the defense spending measure. The administration objected to a provision that might allow for victims of terrorism to bring lawsuits against the government of Iraq, leaving the Democratic House leadership to search for a quick fix and get the bill back to the president's desk before the Pentagon gets antsy about pay raises for service members. 

Two big interrelated E words to be aware of as this session gets rolling: Election and Economy. Members of congress tend to think and act differently in an election year, particularly in one where the economic outlook is "challenging" to say the least. The latest Gallup Poll shows that the economy was an increasingly important issue in the New Hampshire primary and forecasts that it will only continue to grow in importance as the nation marches toward Super Tuesday. The credit crunch, the housing market, the weak dollar, and the rising price of gas will be harder for Congress to ignore in this new session. Other leftovers include tax reform and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is still stuck on immunity for telecoms that helped the administration. FISA is currently running on an extension and the Senate will have about a week to address it after they return to act on the legislation before the law expires. 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said that success in this session would depend on whether "Bush Republicans" will choose to work with or against the Democrats. But the Democrats are not sending a warm welcome back to the Bush administration as they are expected to take up contempt-of-congress resolutions against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and White House Counsel Harriet Miers for their failure to appear before hearings in 2007. 

Meanwhile, things on the road are starting to look nastier than Congress, and that is quite a feat. Back and forth over the weekend about an ill-advised statement has led to even higher tensions in the triangular relationship between the Obama campaign, the Clinton campaign and the press. As much as political campaigns have progressed or appeared to progress issues of race and gender are still taking center stage over serious issues, though some sparring over Iraq was evident on the Democrat side. On the Republican side the focus was the economy and the "mini"recession of the state of Michigan. Mitt Romney is hoping to get a first place out of this primary, especially since he is a native son. Most speeches by Republicans in Detroit have focused on the auto industry and the disappearance of jobs from that sector. Romney is promising a roundtable on the auto industry with unions and industry leaders and reexamine jobs that some see as extinct.

And no matter where the U.S. automotive industry is going, it's been a heck of a road trip for us at Talk Radio News Service and it's only just begun.