… ''One of the insurgency's strengths is its capacity to regenerate," said retired Army General John Keane, who returned recently from a fact-finding mission in Iraq. ''We have killed thousands of them and detained even more, but they are still able to regenerate. They are still coming at us."
… ''Right now, everybody's worried about it, so we're watching to see if that trend continues," a senior coalition military official told reporters Friday in Baghdad.
…
''The Iraqi government, as well as the commanders, are working very hard to make sure that they can truly understand [if] there something more here that we need" to learn about the nature of the insurgency, (emphasis added) he told reporters.
US military worried over change in Iraq attacks April 24, 2005
'... Iraqi army and police units are deserting their posts after the
recent escalation in insurgent attacks, according to reports from around the country yesterday.
The failure of the victors of January's election to form a government has resulted in the defence and interior ministries being placed in limbo, and security experts cite this as partly responsible for the subsequent fall in army and police morale.
... Ministerial initiatives against insurgents have all but ceased, many senior officials are due for replacement and recruitment has been hampered by confusion over future selection policies.'
Iraqi forces desert posts as insurgent attacks are stepped up April 25, 2005
'... The U.S. military has established an intelligence team to find bombmakers and their support cells in Iraq.
... U.S. officials said the intelligence team began operations in late 2004 as part of an effort to use the Iraqi military to identify and track producers of so-called improvised explosive devices. IEDs comprised nearly 22 percent of all attacks against coalition forces in 2004 and the leading cause of casualties.
... U.S. Central Command chief Gen. John Abizaid said "We are attempting to deny the enemy access to bomb-making materials, are focusing on technologies that provide persistent surveillance along our likely routes of travel, that help neutralize undiscovered IEDs and detect them outside their intended blast zone."
U.S. Establishes IED Intel Team in Iraq April 25, 2004
Vietnam lessons notwithstanding, an Iraqi proverb states: "The chicken pecks in the dung looking for watermelon seeds".Cockeyed US Intelligence
PS: See how much fun it is spreading 'Liberty and Freedom' to a row of apparently residential homes (
video).
.