NIE: Iraq Unable to Govern

The latest NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) states the obvious that, Iraq "unable to govern itself."

Iraq remains "unable to govern" itself effectively and hobbled by the absence of strong leadership, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's inability to broker political accord continues to make him vulnerable, according to a new U.S. intelligence report released today.

Seven months after President Bush ordered more U.S. troops to the country, "there have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq's security situation," the report concludes. . If U.S. forces continue their current strategy, security "will continue to improve modestly" over the next six to 12 months but violence will remain high and political reconciliation will remain elusive.

GOI: The current situation in Iraq is like that of an coma victim. The decision making agent in the body (Iraq) is the brain (the Iraqi government) and that brain is dead--not functioning. Our efforts amount to clipping back toe nails that keep growing back and claiming that means the body is making progress toward reviving itself. It doesn't matter, however, how many toe-nails we clip (people we kill or capture) if the brain (Iraqi government) can not function. The brain (Iraqi government) might wake up and function today or it might wake up in 20 years--or never. At some point you have to let the person (Iraq) go by unplugging the life-support (redeploy our troops).

In other words, what good are the minimal surge improvements if the Iraqi government can't govern or establish a defense force that can stand on its own? Into the 5th year--HALF A DECADE and the Iraqi military STILL can't stand on its own. In addition, both the military and police remain corrupted by the various militias and criminal gangs:

“Iraqi Security Forces involved in combined operations with Coalition forces have performed adequately, and some units have demonstrated increasing professional competence. However, we judge that the ISF have not improved enough to conduct major operations independent of the Coalition on a sustained basis in multiple locations and that the ISF remain reliant on the Coalition for important aspects of logistics and combat support.”

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