Iraqi VP Disputes Bush's Assessment of Iraqi Military

Posted on December 5, 2005

Apparently, Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer didn't get his faxed copy of the talking points memo for today. In a huge embarassment to the Bush administration, Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer today said that the training of Iraqi security forces has suffered a big "setback" in the last six months. He declared that the army and other armed forces are being used for private political purposes and to settle private scores. In other words, they're being used as a private goon squad instead of as a unit to fight terrorists. The Associated Press reports:

Al-Yawer disputed contentions by U.S. officials, including President Bush, that the training of security forces was gathering speed, resulting in more professional troops. Bush has said the United States will not pull out of Iraq until Iraq's own forces can maintain security. In a speech last week, he said Iraqi forces are becoming increasingly capable of securing the country.
Al-Yawer, a Sunni moderate, said he agreed the United States cannot pull out now because "there will be a huge vacuum," leaving Iraq in danger of falling into civil war. In particular, armed Shiite militias in the south might try to incite war if U.S.-led coalition forces leave, he said in an interview with The Associated Press and a U.S. newspaper at a conference here. "I wish it were that simple," he said of calls to set a timetable for withdrawal or a drawdown.
But al-Yawer said recent allegations that Interior Ministry security forces -- dominated by Shiites -- have tortured Sunni detainees were evidence that many forces are increasingly politicized and sectarian. Some of the recently trained Iraqi forces focus on settling scores and other political goals rather than maintaining security, he said.
In addition, some Iraqi military commanders have been dismissed for political reasons, rather than judged on merit, he said. He said the army -- also dominated by Shiites -- is conducting raids against villages and towns in Sunni and mixed areas of Iraq, rather than targeting specific insurgents -- a tactic he said reminded many Sunnis of Saddam Hussein-era raids. "Saddam used to raid villages," using security forces, he said. "This is not the way to do it."

He had a lot more to say: he thinks that the Iraqi army will be used to keep Sunni voters from the polls on December 15th, he said that there was intimidation and voter fraud in the October 15th constitutional referendum, and that the entire country is going to fall apart the minute U.S. troops leave.

Did he sleep through the orientation meeting run by Chalabi? Someone has got to explain to this guy that this isn't the way we do things. He's not supposed to tell the truth, he's supposed to regurgitate the talking points over and over to the press. Look for this guy to announce his retirement "to spend more time with his family" very soon.