From: "Rich Gauszka" 

"We obviously had inadequate plans, concepts, organizations,
resources, and policies for the conduct of...stability and reconstruction
operations."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/01/23/couricandco/entry2391566.shtml

 As part of his confirmation hearing to be the next commander in Iraq, Lt.
Gen. David Petraeus submitted 27 pages of written answers to questions
posed by the Senate Armed Service Committee. The answer to the question
"What do you consider to be the most significant mistakes the U.S. has
made to date in Iraq?" goes on for two and a half pages. For those
still interested in dissecting where the U.S. went wrong in Iraq, it's a
must-read coming from a man who has been deeply immersed in the war from
the beginning.

"First, there were a number of assumptions and assessments thak did
not bear out. Prominent among them was the assumption that Iraqis would
remain in their barracks and ministry facilities and resume their functions
as soon as intermin govermmental structures were in place...The assessment
of the Iraqi infrastructure did not capture how fragile and abysmally
maintained it was... There was an underestimation of the degree of
resistance that would develop... There was the feeling that elections would
enhance the Iraqi sense of nationalism. Instead, the elections hardened
sectarian positions as Iraqis voted largely based on ethnic and sectarian
group identity...There was an underestimation of the security challenges in
Iraq...coupled with an overestimation of our ability to create new security
institutions following the disbandment of the Iraqi security forces...We
took too long to recognize the growing insurgency and to take steps to
counter it...Misconduct at Abu Ghraib...inflamed the insurgency and damaged
the credibility of coalition forces in Iraq...We obviously had inadequate
plans, concepts, organizations, resources, and policies for the conduct
of...stability and reconstruction operations...In certain (areas) there
were more tasks than troops... Repeated operations in Baghdad...to clear
hold and build did not prove durable due to lack of sufficient Iraqi and
Coalition forces for the hold phase of the operations."

........

Petraeus also included a list of 14 lessons he learned from his two
previous tours in Iraq. The first two are "Do not try to do too much
with your own hands," and "Act quickly, because every army of
liberation has a half-life." As more than one Senator noted, sending
more troops seems to violate the first lesson learned and the fact that the
American Army has now been in Iraq for nearly four years would seem to
violate the second lesson.

Petraeus is also the author of the military's new manual for counter
insurgency warfare. According to the manual, he should have one soldier for
every 50 inhabitants in order to protect the population. In Baghdad, that
works out to 120,000 troops. Counting all the U.S. and Iraqi troops that
are supposed to be part of the surge into Baghdad, Petraeus will have
85,000. No wonder, he told the Armed Services Committee, "the
situation in Iraq is dire...the way ahead will be hard."

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