From: "Rich Gauszka" 

You keep arguing that they cannot be 'by definition' at level one - yet our
military gave them level one status and now downgraded them.

BTW the definition of Level One is ( you may even like this like )

http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/10/training_the_ir_1.php

'Units are completely independent; Units do not require air, armor,
artillery, logistical support (supplies).'

"Mark"  wrote in message news:4400ffc4{at}w3....
>I caught, some weeks or a month ago, either Pace or Rumsfeld commenting on
>that "Level One" capability and they said that at any given time many
>(perhaps most, but I don't recall) of *our* own battallions are not at that
>level and adding that it's simply not a worthwhile statistic to indicate
>how things are going.
>
> And as I already said, they don't have many aircraft of their own and
> without sufficient air cover they cannot, by definition, be
"Level One"
> but that doesn't mean that they're not capable, as your original link
> indicated.
>
> Anyway, no big deal, it's not like I'm mad at you or anything, I was just
> surprised at what you chose to highlight out of a generally positive
> article.
>
> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
news:4400fbe0{at}w3....
>> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:4400f9f1{at}w3....
>>> Why did you think that relatively minor afterthought was the important
>>> news
>>> in the story? >> you were presenting the gist of the story, not an outlier that very,
>>> very shakily supported your POV>
>>>
>>> "Rich Gauszka"  wrote in message
>>> news:4400f66f{at}w3....
>>>>
>>>> >>
>>>> Why? - I gave you the full link.  Why do you think the
'lone' battalion
>>>> was downgraded? The key word is downgraded ( from a status it
>>>> previously
>>>> had )
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> I don't think 'downgraded' is a relatively minor item as it was
>> supposedly at level one.  Or was that assessment purely for  PR?
>> http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/24/iraq.security/
>>
>> The battalion, according to the Pentagon, was downgraded from
"level one"
>> to "level two" after a recent quarterly assessment of
its capabilities.
>>
>> "Level one" means the battalion is able to fight on its
own; "level two"
>> means it requires support from U.S. troops; and "level
three" means it
>> must fight alongside U.S. troops.
>>
>> Though officials would not cite a specific reason for downgrading the
>> unit, its readiness level has dropped in the wake of a new commander and
>> numerous changes in the combat and support units, officials said.
>>
>> .....
>>
>> According to the congressionally mandated Iraq security report released
>> Friday, there are 53 Iraqi battalions at level two status, up from 36 in
>> October. There are 45 battalions at level three, according to the report.
>>
>>
>
>

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