Click
photo to play
Length: 2:48
LOU DOBBS: Iraqi insurgents have killed eight more of
our troops. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in
northwest Baghdad by a roadside bomb. One soldier and
three Marines were killed west of the Iraqi capital
in al Anbar Province. Two of our soldiers died in
Samarra, where an improvised explosive device
exploded.
2,859 of our troops have now been killed. More
insurgent bombs and bullets killing scores of Iraqis
today. Twelve killed by a car bomb near a gasoline
station in Baghdad. The bullet-riddled bodies of 55
people were found in neighborhoods all across the
city.
General Abizaid's plan for Iraq is to speed up the
hand-over from American to Iraqi troops. But the
question is, are Iraqi forces up to the task?
Michael Ware reports from Baghdad with some answers
to that question and a reminder of what past
experience with the Iraqis has taught us -- Michael.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the answer to
both questions, whether the security forces are up to
the task and what experience has actually taught us
here on the ground, is the same. It's truly a mixed
bag.
I've personally been in combat with some Iraqi units,
particularly from the army, that can definitely hold
their own. They've had a lot of time with American
forces. But most of these units are Kurdish, from the
Kurdish Peshmerga militia.
But by and large, within the Iraqi security apparatus
it's a very different story. As the national security
adviser said of the Iraqi cabinet, the same could be
said of much of the security forces. They answer more
to their political and sectarian bosses than they do
to their military commanders.
We see entire national police brigades pulled off
line under the suspicion of corruption and
involvement in sectarian death squads. We've seen
Iraqi units on the battlefield that have not shown
the mettle that is required of them to stand in the
face of al Qaeda onslaughts. We've seen other units
where more men are on vacation than are actually on
duty, where men are on the rosters who don't actually
exist, and where units which have been asked to be
deployed to other troublesome parts of the country
have refused to leave their home bases.
So the Iraqi security forces that General Abizaid and
other American commanders and war planners are
placing their faith in certainly do not seem to be
apparent here on the ground -- Lou.
DOBBS: Michael Ware reporting from
Baghdad.