One year after transferring political control, U.S. troops unable to quell

WASHINGTON — In the year since U.S. occupation forces in Iraq handed over political control of the country to Iraqis, nearly 900 American troops have been killed and 7,800 others have been wounded battling an increasingly lethal insurgency.

That's the grim reality facing the country as President Bush journeys Tuesday to address the nation from Ft. Bragg, a North Carolina base that's home to the Army's special operations forces and the 82nd Airborne Division, both of which have seen extensive combat in Iraq.

With polls showing six in ten Americans opposing the war, Bush hopes to rally the country for what promises to be continued bloodshed in a conflict that has taken the lives of 1,734 U.S. troops since fighting began in March, 2003.

In a prime time speech the White House has asked the television networks to carry live, Bush will make the case that, behind the mounting human toll, important political gains are being made, laying the groundwork for an eventual U.S. withdrawal.

When that might come, Bush won't say, although Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari predicted in London on Monday that two more years would be "more than enough" time for Iraqi security forces to take over the job from American troops.

more:http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/06/28_IRAQ_ANNIVERSARY.html

Me.

:D
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

yay! what a great pep rally. I'm sure everyone is excited about continued bloodshed. I feel rallied already.

...babble incoherently about "political gains being made" in Iraq, and "laying the groundwork for an eventual U.S. withdrawal". Even the most die-hard Republicans are starting to ask questions about the legality of the invasion/occupation of Iraq, in addition to the growing human/economic cost.

IMHO, this is going to be seen as just another recent political "stumble".

Pentagon Stresses Political Action in Iraq

Tuesday June 28, 2005 1:16 PM


AP Photo DCHG103

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top U.S. military officials are increasingly emphasizing political solutions rather than military ones to Iraq's insurgency, a shift acknowledging the difficulty they and the Iraqi government face in stopping the violence.

Gen. George Casey, the U.S. commander of the multinational coalition in Iraq, told reporters on Monday that the worst-case estimate of the size of the Iraqi insurgency is less than one-10th of 1 percent of the country's population - that is, a top end of 26,000 people supporting the insurgency.

The insurgents are responsible for 450 to 500 attacks a week around the country, Casey said during a Pentagon press conference. It's a pace on the level with much of last year, although officials reject any notion the fight has become a quagmire.

The violence has done away with much of the euphoria that arose after the Jan. 30 elections. While attacks ebbed for a time, they have since increased. That has military leaders now offering sober assessments of the insurgency, even as the Bush administration this week marks a year of Iraqi sovereignty by trying to highlight progress there.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5103932,00.html

That was October 4th, 2003.

The good ol' days.

http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20031003/5558603s.htm