US admits it won't be able to train enough troops in time for Mosul offensive

[Eugene]

Source: The Telegraph

US admits it won't be able to train enough troops in time for Mosul offensive

US Central Command initially said it was preparing between up to 25,000 Iraqi troops
for the offensive on Mosul against Islamic State to take place as early as early as April

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut 7:05PM GMT 20 Feb 2015

Only hours after announcing a major new ground offensive to retake Iraq’s second city, the US was forced to admit on Friday it is unlikely to be able to train enough troops in time.

US Central Command initially told reporters in Washington it was preparing between 20,000 and 25,000 Iraqi troops for an offensive on Mosul to take place as early as April or May.

Revealing the details of the onslaught for the first time, a senior US military official said five Iraqi brigades would form the main attack force against the jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) who currently occupy the city.

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Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/11426172/US-admits-it-wont-be-able-to-train-enough-troops-in-time-for-Mosul-offensive.html

[TwilightGardener]

1. Er...why did they announce the details, then?

Edit to add: I hope this does not turn out to be a fustercluck.

[bemildred]

2. Perhaps this is an attempt to unannounce it. nt

[TwilightGardener]

5. Well, it makes them look stupid.

[bemildred]

6. Indeed. nt

[Vox Moi]

3. The US should train and equip ISIS

The US has a dismal track record for training and equipping foreign troops.

- It takes forever. Over a decade of US training and equipping and still there aren't 20,000 troops in Iraq to re-take Mosul, which was lost by Iraqi troops who abandoned all that expensive equipment to ISIS. The Afghan situation isn't any better and we all remember how very effective the South Vietnamese army was after all the training and money we provided them.

- It doesn't work, even after forever. Underfunded, under-trained and resource-challenged irregulars make mincemeat of the armies we have trained and equipped.

So, if the USA trained and equipped ISIS, the Taliban and Boko Haram, they wouldn't stand a chance.

[leveymg]

4. We did, along with our "moderate regional allies," train and equip "moderate opposition"

elements who have largely gone over to ISIS, taking their US, Saudi, and Qatari-supplied equipment with them.

Actually, exactly what you propose was the very program that seems to have failed -- only it succeeded exceptionally well in keeping the various factions killing each other for years on end, neutralizing states in the region that might pose otherwise a threat to our other "moderate friends" in the region, which was a core goal of the policy to begin with.

I'll see your bet and raise you one irony.

[msongs]

7. the incompetent US military has been training the Iraqis for years and years lol nt