U.S. forces reassess Iraqis after Basra offensive

'Chaos no matter what we do'
On Capitol Hiill, a panel of leading military experts offered varying opinions on a post-surge exit strategy from Iraq, with all seemingly agreeing that the military faces an increasingly chaotic situation there.

Retired Gen. William Odom, a Vietnam veteran who's been sharply critical of the Iraq war, gave the most dire assessment, saying the surge "is prolonging instability." He bluntly predicted "chaos no matter what we do."

Odom even predicted Baghdad could wind up looking like Dien Bien Phu, where the French were defeated by guerrillas in Vietnam in the 1950s.

Odom said the U.S. should consider leaving immediately. "You get out of Iraq in boats and airplanes, and you drive down to the harbor to get into the boats and you don't have a much better choice than that."

The other witnesses were not as pessimistic, but acknowledged tough challenges for the U.S. strategy in Iraq.

Can U.S. troops train Iraqi force?
Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, an NBC News military analyst, said the Iraqi government "in a general sense is completely dysfunctional. "

He and retired Gen. Robert Scales said there aren't adequate numbers of troops to continue the war at its current pace. They argued the U.S. military should be focused on immediately training the Iraqi troops to take over the fight.

Scales warned that the battlefield gains of the surge may be lost if the U.S. fails in the training mission.

Odom, however, argued that without political consensus among Iraqis, "no matter how you train the troops they're not going to fight successfully."

McCaffrey said the U.S. military leadership had dramatically improved the prospects for success in Iraq, but added "the events of the last week underscore the chaotic nature inside the three major factions."

Problems in Basra
Shiite militias largely have held sway over Basra, the country's oil capital, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad and a major commercial center of 2 million people. Government efforts to assert control have been unsuccessful.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had personally overseen the attempt last week to drive out the militias, launching it with the promise of "a decisive and final battle." He returned to Baghdad Tuesday politically battered.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner conceded there were problems in Basra.

"Overall the majority of the Iraqi security forces performed their mission, though some were not up to the task," he said at a news conference in Baghdad.

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