Simply freaking unbelievable.
10 days later and that required report to Congress still not delivered. Between Rove and the Supreme Court it looks like Congress really can't chew bubble gum and walk at the same time.
Rumsfeld said information about the readiness and performance of U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces -- one of the most telling measures of progress -- would be included in a classified annex to the report but not made public.
Clever little shithead, isn't he? Not only does Rummy prevent John Q Public from finding out just how little there actually is to the 'Iraqi fighting forces', but Democratic Members of Congress who try to complain about it will be cited with 'revealing classified information' if they attempt to use the actual numbers from the report to back up their arguments. This has Rove's grubby fingerprints all over it. Damned if you do, look like an idiot if you don't.
Sadly, that's not the worst of it.
"The information we're getting is in large measure from the Iraqi security forces," he said. "It's their information. It's not for us to tell the other side, the enemy, the terrorists, that this Iraqi unit has this capability and that Iraqi unit has this capability." He said it would be "mindless" to publish information about the combat readiness of Iraqi security forces that would reveal their strengths and weaknesses.
Speaking at the same news conference, Gen. Peter Pace, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Pentagon's unwillingness to publicly release that information does not mean Congress is kept in the dark.
"We do tell the Congress privately, classified, exactly what these facts are. So there is a dialogue, just not one in the public," Pace said.
Yeah, and we all know how the Republican majority just LOVES to actually dialogue instead of employing partisan bullying to get these pesky reports out of sight and mind.
Do these dickheads really believe the crap they're spouting off? The Iraqi guerillas have so riddled the Iraqi military and police with informants that they almost certainly ALREADY know the strengths and weaknesses of each unit better then we do.
Somebody needs to remind the Pentagon that the only side who's having intelligence problems against the enemy is OUR side. This report would reveal nothing new to the enemy, it would reveal to the American people just how badly Bush has been lying about Iraq.
Rumsfeld indicated Tuesday that the report, which he said would be provided to Congress on Thursday or Friday, would not include an estimate of how many U.S. troops are likely to be required in Iraq next year. That is among the things Congress had specifically requested be included in the unclassified report.
Rumsfeld said it is not possible to know how many U.S. troops will be needed because the size of the force will be determined by conditions, including further progress in containing the insurgency and training the Iraqis.
This is the same tired old bullshit he's been claiming for the last 2 years. Only this time he's done it in DIRECT disobedience to Congress's request. Rumsfield has apparently never heard of estimates...except when it comes to budgets. The Pentagon's yearly budget to be precise.
Find me a Democratic Senator to nail Rumsfield's balls to the wall. Please. This incompetent idiot is just getting more and more people killed for nothing.
