Bush Lied About Iraqi Troops -- Imagine That

Thanks to Josh Marshall for putting these figures together:

El Presidente claimed in the first debate last Thursday that there are already 100,000 trained Iraqi troops on the job, and "there's going to be 125,000 trained by the end of the year" ... all by way of proving how successful his policies were turning out to be.

But Reuters reports today:

"...of the nearly 90,000 currently in the police force, only 8,169 have had the full eight-week academy training. Another 46,176 are listed as 'untrained,' and it will be July 2006 before the administration reaches its new goal of a 135,000-strong, fully trained police force.

"Six Army battalions have had 'initial training,' while 57 National Guard battalions, 896 soldiers in each, are still being recruited or 'awaiting equipment.' Just eight Guard battalions have reached 'initial [operating] capability,' and the Pentagon acknowledged the Guard's performance has been 'uneven.'

"Training has yet to begin for the 4,800-man civil intervention force, which will help counter a deadly insurgency. And none of the 18,000 border enforcement guards have received any centralised training to date, despite earlier claims they had, according to Democrats on the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee.

"They estimated that 22,700 Iraqi personnel have received enough basic training to make them 'minimally effective at their tasks,' in contrast to the 100,000 figure cited by Bush."