Did anyone hear this quote from Russert yesterday on MTP?

[AlCzervik]

Maybe i', hearing things but i swear he said to Jack Murtha--"A senior general at the Pentagon tells me that 700 iraqi troops are battle ready and can stand on their own"

700? WTF???? 700? not 1700, not 70,000 but just 700 so far are trained enough for battle.

[leftchick]

1. yes 700

at this rate we could leave in oh say, 2026??

[AlCzervik]

2. When were they gonna tell us that? I am actually shocked by this, i mean

i know they aren't many trained but i certainly thought there was at least 10,000 ready to go. We are so screwed.

[DemReadingDU]

9. it was briefly in the news 9/29/05

Iraq has single self-sufficient battalion, U.S. generals say

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-09-29-iraq-withdrawl_x.htm

[leftchick]

20. our troops are so screwed

I believe rummy does not give a shit how many there are. He plans to stay for the long haul. He is lining his pockets like an Enron exec.

[WiseButAngrySara]

4. And from what I understand, they are all from a predominate religious

sect, which IMO increases the likelihood of Civil War, as if that's not already going in in some fashion or other.

[papau]

3. We grade Troop readiness - other than the 700, the rest are at "C" grade

Which more or less means just off the street - and may, or may not, run away if shots are fired.

[tularetom]

5. My wife confirms that is what he said

How the fuck can they say stuff like this with a straight face?

[libertynliberalism]

6. Why would Iraqis

"700? WTF???? 700? not 1700, not 70,000 but just 700 so far
are "trained enough for battle. "

I actually never understood this part of the plan very well.

If they hate us for invading them, why would they fight for us, and not fight AGAINST us when they ARE battle ready.

[Neocondriac]

7. Joe Bieden's been screaming this for months...

[AlCzervik]

10. i know he has and others have as well b ut this is the first time i've

heard that number and i was truly taken aback.

[liberal N proud]

8. That is amazing progress

NOT!

[feistydem]

11. That's what I heard --and Rummy insisted on all other shows this was the

wrong stat.

On Stephanopolis, Fareed Zakaria called Rummy nothing more than a "potted plant" in his interview on the show because he claimed to know nothing, make no decisions, and not have read a single word since taking over the Pentagon.

Since when has being a complete idiot become a job qualification? Oh yeah, since Bush took office.

[Roland99]

12. From the Meet the Press Transcript >>>>

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10042399/

MR. RUSSERT: Congressman, according to our military experts, there are only 700 Iraqi troops who are fully independent and combat ready. That being the case, if we withdraw our troops quickly from Iraq, won't the Iraqi citizens be overwhelmed by the al-Qaeda and Saddam loyalists? Are the Iraqis capable of defending themselves without the U.S.?

REP. MURTHA: Tim, I'm absolutely convinced that we're making no progress at all, and I've been complaining for two years that there's an overly optimistic--an illusionary process going on here. They keep trying to measure Iraqi troops by our standards. They don't need to meet our standard. And until we turn it over to the Iraqis, we're going to continue to do the fighting. Our young men and women are going to continue to suffer.

I go to the hospitals almost every week. I'm going to go out there again this week, and I see these young people doing the fighting and it's time to turn it over to Iraq. Give them the incentive to do the fighting themselves. They'll have to work this out themselves. This is their country. We've become the enemy. Eighty percent of the people in Iraq want us out of there. Forty-five percent say it's justified to attack Americans. It's time to change direction.

[sabra]

13. that's why that 90 battalion talking point is pure BS...

[MADem]

14. Well, think about it--would you join the army and fight if some suckers

from America will do the lousy work for you? Iraq has no fear of being invaded so long as we're there.

And the sad truth of the matter is, Iraq did have a halfway decent army--one of the better ones in the region. But those guys worked for Saddam, so they had to go home.

It would have been far better had the US co-opted a few well-known generals, and let them keep the military in line, rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as it were.

Of course, it would have been best had we not embarked on this misadventure in the first place....

[A Simple Game]

17. I always thought it was a mistake to disband the Iraqi army.

It would have been better to just partially disarm them. Where are they now? What do they have for weapons? Are they lean and mean?

Are they volunteering for the new army? If so have they forgotten everything they knew in two years?

Would have been better to have them under our control, where we could keep an eye on them. Keeping them busy, happy and out of trouble.

[fooj]

15. I thought the same...

:wow:

[Arugula Latte]

16. Great! Only 40 more years and we should be good to go.

:eyes:

[Horse with no Name]

18. But But But Rumsfeld said last week that they had 91

battalions???
Never mind they only had 2 battalions ready in October....they had 91 in November??
Now there are only 700 troops ready?
Let's see...that makes 7.6 troops per battallion...impressive.:sarcasm:

[Skidmore]

19. Wolf Blitzer had a similar discussion with Rummy later in the

morning, but Rummy kept trying to weasel around with numbers and readiness categories.

[laureloak]

21. Is it likely that we train them then they join the other side? n/t

[GreenPartyVoter]

22. Oh my heavens, this is worse than I had thought

[Hubert Flottz]

23. And those 700 are REPUBLICAN GUARDS, so you know ...

they are all too chicken hearted to fight.