As Kevin Drum noted, the Iraqi military faced off against the previously obscure “Soldiers of Heaven” in a fiece battle in Najaf over the weekend. It didn’t go well.
Iraqi forces were surprised and nearly overwhelmed by the ferocity of an obscure renegade militia in a weekend battle near the holy city of Najaf and needed far more help from American forces than previously disclosed, American and Iraqi officials said Monday.
….Only a month ago, in an elaborate handover ceremony, the American command transferred security authority over Najaf to the Iraqis.
….Among the troubling questions raised is how hundreds of armed men were able to set up such an elaborate encampment, which Iraqi officials said included tunnels, trenches and a series of blockades, only 10 miles northeast of Najaf. After the fight was over, Iraqi officials said they discovered at least two antiaircraft weapons as well as 40 heavy machine guns.
It was one bloody skirmish, but it may nevertheless be helpful in shedding light on the bigger picture. Indeed, there are a few ways to look at this. First was OTB’s Dave Schuler, who noted, “Aren’t large pitched battles like this characteristic of insurgencies that believe they are on the upswing? Not particularly good news.”
Second was Steve M., who emphasized a disconcerting question: how did a few hundred Iraqis set up an elaborate encampment of “tunnels, trenches, and antiaircraft weapons”?
And lastly, of course, there’s the president’s take on the same event.
The weekend’s battle was the first question raised by NPR’s Juan Williams when he sat down with the president yesterday.
MR. WILLIAMS: All right, Mr. President, the reports that 300 militants were killed, an American helicopter shot down yesterday in Najaf – that’s one of the deadliest battles of the war, what can you tell us?
PRESIDENT BUSH: You know, Juan, I haven’t been briefed by the Pentagon yet. One of the things I’ve learned is not to react to first reports off the battlefield. I will tell you, though, that this fight is an indication of what is taking place, and that is the Iraqis are beginning to take the lead, whether it be this fight that you’ve just reported on where the Iraqis went in with American help to do in some extremists that were trying to stop the advance of their democracy, or the report that there’s militant Shia had been captured or killed. In other words, one of the things that I expect to see is the Iraqis take the lead and show the American people that they’re willing to the hard work necessary to secure their democracy, and our job is to help them.
So my first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that the Iraqis are beginning to show me something.
The president’s first instinct to avoid comment was the right one, but he just couldn’t help himself. He wanted Americans to believe that the Iraqi army’s performance in Najaf was an encouraging sign.
The Iraqis are “beginning to take the lead”? No, they’re not, neither in Najaf nor in Baghdad. The Iraqis “are beginning to show [Bush] something”? Like what? Their inability to “take the lead”?
If the president had said progress is slow and that we need to patient, that’s an argument that can be judged on its merits. But Bush’s comments on NPR highlight just how little has changed over the last four years — bad news is good news, evidence that Bush is wrong becomes evidence that Bush is right.