Embedded in this AP report concerning the recently kidnapped US service members, we learn that our forces are only capable of providing 32% of Bahgdad's neighborhoods with real security. So, for a plan in the "early stages", the metrics seem to indicate that we need three times more Army and Marine units in Bahgdad. And that's not accounting for the rest of the country which would certainly be further inflamed as the insurgency presses into the surrounding provinces.

Just so everybody knows, the Surge really is a Vietnamesque Escalation. The Congress is giving "Escalation a Chance" before peace gets a shot. And don't forget, Charley Rangel's conscription bill is still on the table.

...Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a military spokesman for Baghdad operations, confirmed a status report completed in May found that American and Iraqi forces were able to "protect the population" and "maintain physical influence over" only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods, while troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face "resistance" in the others.

The report appeared to be the first comprehensive analysis of the progress of the operation that began Feb. 14.

...But Bleichwehl stressed that the assessment, first reported by The New York Times, did not mean a lack of progress and said the setbacks were largely because of the need to return to some areas that had previously been cleared, as well as problems with the availability and reliability of Iraqi police.

"It's way too early to try and project what Baghdad will look like in September," he said in a telephone interview.

U.S. officials also pointed out that they have warned from the beginning that it would not be easy to pacify Baghdad and did not expect to see serious progress until autumn.

"We have stated all along that this was going to be harder before it gets easier," military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said. "It's going to be a tough fight over the summer, and the plan is just in its beginning stages."

[SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070604/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq]