Report: U. S. Stretched By Fighting Three Wars In Iraq

A declassified report is claiming that the U.S. military is facing three simultaneous wars in Iraq.

The Center for Naval Analyses, a federally funded research and development center serving the U.S. Department of the Navy and other U.S. Defense Department interests, has determined in its latest report that the U.S. military faces three wars at once: a sectarian war, Sunni insurgency and the threat of al- Qaida.

In a report by analyst Henry Kenny, the center said the 140,000 American troops could not wage all three wars simultaneously.

“Iraqi forces have not developed rapidly enough, and U.S. forces simply do not have the numbers necessary to cover the wide swaths of territory needed to win the three wars in which they are now engaged,” said the report, which was released in December 2006.

The report said any U.S. military option must account for each of the three wars in Iraq. The center said only a force of several hundred thousand American soldiers was capable of fighting three campaigns without Iraqi help.

Yet Kenny dismissed a troop buildup in Iraq. Instead, the report, entitled “Strengthening an Embattled Nation: A strategy for contending with the three wars in Iraq,” recommended a U.S. advisory mission to develop and mentor Iraqi security forces to fight the insurgency war.

“The option, rather, would focus U.S. combat power on [al-Qaida] and death squads,” the report said. “A better approach is to conduct ground or air precision strikes against specific [al-Qaida] and death squad locations. This enables U.S. forces to concentrate resources against the most dangerous targets – those who, more than any others, stoke the fires of chaos and civil war.”

The report said 1,300 foreigners have joined al-Qaida in Iraq. Kenny said that unlike previous assessments, the number of foreign operatives has risen steadily.

“Iraq began to attract these jihadists in the wake of the U.S. invasion, and their numbers have gradually increased over the years, despite the capture and killing of several top leaders,” the report said.

The report said al-Qaida provides training, organization and money for the Sunni insurgency. The movement has become a leading force through foreign funding and control of the vast smuggling network in Iraq.

“For example, AQI finds it easy to buy the loyalty of corrupt local leaders, and to pay disgruntled and impoverished young men to assemble, place, and detonate IEDs [improvised explosive devices],” the report said.

“This threefold combination – training, organization and money – has facilitated AQI’s operations to the point where it now controls the insurgency in Ramadi, the center of the insurgency.”

The report said Shiite forces have used U.S. equipment and training to attack Sunnis in Iraq. Kenny said the U.S. military has failed to reverse penetration of Iraqi security forces by Shiite militias.

“The civil strife, however, gives a strong impetus to AQI,” the report said. “It prevents a projected U.S. withdrawal of some forces, thereby feeding anti-occupation sentiment and attracting additional Islamic extremists toward the cause celebre. Finally, it enables AQI to appeal for and receive additional financing from Muslims sympathetic to the Sunni Arab cause in Iraq.”

David Bedein can be reached at Media@actcom.co.il. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com.

©The Bulletin 2007