Iraqi polls might be limited, says Rumsfeld (Now that's always a good sign. Come to think of it, Republicans sorta like it when you only count some of the votes.)

DONALD Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, yesterday raised the possibility that Iraq might conduct only limited elections in January, excluding areas where violence was too severe for people to go to polls."

More troops needed to secure Iraq: Abizaid (Just beating the hell out of them.)

WASHINGTON, Sept 23: Amid escalating violence in Iraq, the top US commander has acknowledged more troops are needed to secure the country before elections in January.

Gen John Abizaid, head of the Central Command, said he believed the gap can be filled by Iraqi security forces, and that more international troops may be deployed to protect the UN-organized elections. But his remarks after closed door sessions with congressional armed services committee members late on Wednesday raised the prospect that the United States may have to enlarge the 140,000-member force deployed in Iraq, at least during the elections.

George W. Bush - "We can expect terrorist attacks to escalate as Afghanistan and Iraq approach national elections." (Now that's a-whuppin' 'em!)

THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ: THE RECONSTRUCTION; U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism On Iraq's Future (What do they know??!!)

Iraq's Sunni-Shiite tension rising (Great sign - let 'em fight each other.)

The killing of two Sunni clerics earlier this week could be part of a slide toward sectarian civil war, analysts say.

By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

BAGHDAD – Iraq's violence took two turns this week that carry the potential to send the crisis - and American involvement in it - in new directions.
The execution of one US hostage in Iraq and the grim prospects for two fellow businessmen - another American and a Briton - held by an extremist Islamic group cast a dark shadow over the foreign presence here.

At the same time, the separate killings of two prominent Sunni clerics in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad raised again the possibility of sectarian conflict - that Iraq could eventually slip into civil war.

And here's part of a Brookings Institute report: (Now this is hard to figger. Somehow they don't seem to want "freedom" American-style.)

NOTE: The decline in the Iraqi Army and Police on duty since early April is due to the fact that “some were sent to retraining, some were killed in the line of duty and others were removed for actions supporting the insurgency.” Draft Working Papers: Iraq Status”, Department of Defense, May 3, 2004. Unclassified. Provided to the author by contacts at the DoD.

NOTE: 10% of Iraqi security forces fought against coalition forces during the upsurge in insurgent violence in April, according to the commander of the 1st Armored Division, Major General Martin Dempsey. Another 40% “walked off the job because they were intimidated,”
Major Dempsey said. Connie Cass, “10 Percent of Iraqi Forces Turned on U.S. During Attacks,” USA Today, April 22, 2004.

Arf