Once again the New York Times gets the story wrong, and additionally leaks yet another classified report.

“The political and security situation in western Iraq is grim and will continue to deteriorate unless the region receives a major infusion of aid and a division is sent to reinforce the American troops operating there, according to the senior Marine intelligence officer in Iraq.

The assessment, prepared last month by Col. Peter Devlin at the Marine headquarters in Anbar Province, has been sent to senior military officials in Iraq and at the Pentagon.

While the American military is focused on trying to secure Baghdad and prevent the sectarian strife there from escalating into a civil war, the assessment points to the difficulties in Anbar, a vast Sunni-dominated area of western Iraq where the insurgency is particularly strong. The province includes such restive towns as Ramadi, Haditha and Hit.

Marine commanders have been mounting a campaign to secure the province in the face of a virulent insurgency. But they have had to cope with seriously short-handed Iraqi Army units and a Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad that has tended to view the area as a low priority for government spending and programs.

Elements of the assessment were reported Monday in The Washington Post. Military officials familiar with the document disclosed additional material and provided several quotations from the assessment”

This reporting is half assed and agenda oriented as is usual from the NY Times. However, this email I recieved from MG Richard Zilmer via CENTCOM clarifies what the NY Times and other MSM won’t say.

“Recent media reports fail to accurately capture the entirety and complexity of the current situation in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.¬† The classified assessment, which has been referred to in these reports, was intended to focus on the causes of the insurgency.¬† It was not intended to address the positive effects Coalition and Iraqi forces have achieved on the security environment over the past years.
 
That said, there is an active insurgency in Anbar.  The enemy we face has no concern for the welfare of the Iraqi people, nor any peaceful vision for their future.  We believe the Iraqi people want something more and are willing to fight and die for it.
 
We are making steady progress in the accomplishment of our primary mission to train and develop the Iraqi Security Forces to defeat the insurgency.  This is due in large measure to the successful recruiting and training of thousands of Iraqi Police and improvements in the overall capabilities of the Iraqi Army.

This has resulted in the transfer of increasing responsibilities to the ISF for fighting the insurgency.  Finally, the progress we have made has been due to the dedicated and heroic actions of both US and Iraqi forces.
 
Despite these consistent advances in the security environment, we have found making the same progress politically and economically, throughout all of Anbar, to be much more challenging.  In areas where the presence of Iraqi Security Forces is combined with an effective local civil government, we have seen progress made.  Not just in the area of security, but in economic development and the establishment of social order and public services.  These are the conditions which must be set that will result in the support of the local people, and ultimately cause the defeat of this terrorist backed insurgency.
 
For lasting progress to take place, comparably effective advances must be made in the development of governmental and economic institutions at the local, provincial and national levels.¬† Only then, will the people of Al Anbar be able to realize their goal of long-term security, prosperity and confidence in their government.”

In other words NY Times, “Get your story straight or shut the hell up!