HAS THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LOST HIS MIND?

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Monday said the Iraqi Army "appears to have performed well."

Is he kidding?

Even right wing FOX NEWS pundits say the Iraqi Army were routed by the Mahadi Army in the "Battle for Basra."

Gates apparently doesn't know that almost 100 Iraqi Army members surrendered rather than continue the fight in Basra.

Everyone who knows anything about Iraq is saying the resistance the Iraqi Army found in Basra was a major defeat for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Gates must have been "out to lunch" when all hell was breaking loose in Basra.

Editorial comment by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE

Gates says Iraqi army appears to have performed well

Mon Mar 31, 3:09 PM ET

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080331/pl_afp/denmarkusiraqunrestgates

Iraqi forces appear to have done "a pretty good job" in an offensive to regain control of Basra from Shiite gangs and militias, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

"We're obviously hopeful that he will achieve most of his objectives, and see calm return as well," Gates told reporters enroute here from Brussels, referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

His comments came as radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called off his fighters, signalling an end to six days of clashes in Basra, Baghdad and other cities that left 461 people dead.

"I think we've all known at some point that the situation in Basra was going to have to be dealt with. It is the economic lifeline of the country. To have it under control of gangs and militias over the long term is not acceptable," Gates said.

"So I think all of us in the government were pleased to see Prime Minister Maliki take this on, take the initiative and go down there himself with Iraqi forces and try to resolve the issue."
Asked how the Iraqi army performed, he said first hand information was limited because the Iraqis were directing the campaign.

But based on that, he said, "they seem to have done a pretty good job."
US plans to reduce the size of its 156,000-member force in Iraq in the coming months hinges on the performance of the Iraqi army and whether it is capable of filling the void left by departing US troops.

Gates said he had seen nothing to indicate that the violence in the south would prompt changes in Washington's plans to draw down US "surge" forces from Iraq by July.
So far, two of five combat brigades sent to Iraq last year to put a lid on spiralling sectarian violence have gone home. But some 156,000 US troops remain in Iraq.