(cross-posted from
Odd Hours)Buried near the bottom of a NY Times article,
this quote is a real shocker:
"We absolutely must regain control of Baghdad and open the lines of communication to the south, to Kuwait and down to the sea, or the position will become untenable," said Barry McCaffrey, a retired four-star general and the commander of the 24th Mechanized Division in the 1991 Persian Gulf war. "We have got to get back the road through Najaf and through Al Kut, and Rick Sanchez has the combat power to do it."
Juan Cole's interpretation:
He gave away a great deal. One may conclude that a) the US has lost control of Baghdad and b) the US communications and supply lines in the South have been cut. That is, a year after the fall of Saddam, the US faces the task of reconquering the country.
One has to wonder, if US troops have lost control of Baghdad, why isn't the media reporting it? According to Cole, General McCaffrey made those remarks in a
CNN interview. In that case, why isn't this CNN's headline? "Retired general says US troops have lost control of Baghdad." Go read
CNN's front-page article and tell me if you get the impression US troops have lost control of Baghdad. I didn't think so. The article makes it seem like the Iraqi capital is experiencing nothing worse than a tense atmosphere and a few isolated skirmishes. Either General McCaffrey is off his rocker, or the media is being extremely dishonest about what's going on in Iraq.