Road to Baghdad a highway of hazards

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6709113/

Dangerous, necessary route

Some people call this road, the only way from the airport to Baghdad's Green Zone, the most dangerous highway in Iraq. Lately it has become a magnet for enormous, fiery explosions. People boast that they've traveled it, are relieved when they make it from one end to the other. To the Army, it's just Route Irish.

"There he is, there he is," Gonzalez said, turning the turret again. "He's coming up on the right side. He's ahead of the rest of the traffic. Okay. He's pulling off at the exit. There he goes."


Every minute on this roadway is tense. From the beginning of November through last week, there were nearly 20 car bombs here targeting U.S. convoys and government officials, leading the U.S. Embassy to warn its staff not to travel the road.

Army officers and soldiers with the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment are charged with protecting Route Irish, and they say the road isn't nearly as bad as it is portrayed. They acknowledge that the attacks have created a significant perception problem, scaring people away from the route and causing the U.S. military to dramatically increase its number of patrols.

at least that is the spin Bush will put on elections. I think the reason he's insisting they be held next month is because he plans to withdraw our troops as soon as the elections are held. If he continues to insist we stay and continues to hold soldiers hostage via stop loss, he will destroy our military. If he orders a draft, he'll face massive protests in this country.

Iraq and the US military are no different. In one of the articles I read this morning there was a quote from a US officer in Iraq saying "The US will be in Iraq for several years more". Lovely, years and years of death and destruction to look forward to!