US pours soldiers into ‘lawless’ Baghdad

Source: times



June 18, 2007
US pours soldiers into ‘lawless’ Baghdad
Richard Beeston in Baghdad

Heavily reinforced American troops launched their most ambitious offensive in Baghdad since the invasion of Iraq four years ago when they began an operation at the weekend to seize back control of the lawless capital.

As the city came back to life after a four-day curfew, US commanders said that the “surge” reinforcements of about 30,000 additional troops were now in place alongside thousands of extra Iraqi soldiers and police.

The five extra US combat brigades were ordered to Iraq by President Bush this year in what is widely seen as the last chance for his Administration to salvage something from the disastrous aftermath of the invasion. Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno, the commander of US military operations in Iraq, did not conceal the scale of the mission. He estimated that “40 per cent is really very safe on a routine basis”, but that 30 per cent was lacking control and a further 30 per cent experienced a “high level of violence”.

While American troops are much more visible on the streets of Baghdad, the sprawling city is now riddled with Shia Muslim militias, Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda fighters. Al-Qaeda was blamed for last week’s bombing of the al-Askariya shrine in Samarra, a Shia holy site that was targeted in order to inflame sectarian violence between Islam’s two dominant sects....

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1945637.ece

:puke:

more from the article:

" General David Petraeus, the overall commander of US forces in Iraq, said that the US offensive would put American troops in the heart of al-Qaeda strongholds in Baghdad, many of them areas where US forces have rarely entered in the past.

The US military said yesterday that it had recorded some initial success with the killing of ten Iraqi militants and the arrest of a dozen more in a series of raids in the capital.

Violence against Iraqis continued, however. The body of Filaih Wadai Mijthad, the managing editor of al-Sabah daily newspaper, was found dumped in eastern Baghdad.

He had been shot several times and became the latest of nearly 200 journalists killed in Iraq over the past four years.

Military experts believe that the task of subduing Baghdad could take years to complete and that the US force is still probably too small to succeed. "

Strongholds? Al-Qaeda had exactly 0 strongholds in Baghdad prior to the invasion and occupation, now they have more than 1.

There are no words adequate to describe incompetence of this magnitude. :cry:

it's the one city where the Iraqi Parliament meets, and that means in order to get that damn gas law passed, the U.S. has to put a lid on Baghdad. As long as Baghdad is in turmoil, there will be very little action in the Parliament. Every week some new bozo from the administration or the military meets with al-Maliki and threatens him to get moving on the "benchmarks," which means the Oil Law, aka the Hydrocarbon Act. (From the same minds that brought you, No Child Left Behind, the Clear Skies Initiative and the Death Tax comes...the Hydrocarbon Act. Sounds nice and innocuous, no?)

Every day it becomes more and more obvious that this war is about the oil. But where is the MSM on this? MIA. Thank heavens for Dennis Kucinich. I hope he doesn't end up taking one for the team.

No MORE blood for Oil!

the sprawling city is now riddled with Shia Muslim militias, Sunni insurgents and al-Qaeda fighters.

Holy crap! The capital of Iraq is positively crawling with Iraqis! Call in US troops immediately!

Iraq 'removals' are on the order of 400/day. Plans are in the works for a final solution to the Iraqi infestation of the region. None of this will interfere with barbeque season or this fall's NFL lineup on HDTV. America is safe!

Freedom is on the march

for over four years - it should be just peachy keen by now - shouldn't it?

I guess what was really needed all along was more guns, grenades and killing of people.

What about all the Theme Parks and REAL GRASS Soccer Stadiums, and functioning schools, and vibrant City life rife with Democracy?

:eyes:

Wake Up America.

Life outside of Kelly Clarkson's career troubles would positively shock you.

Well, you can't know if you don't try. If that doesn't work, try ten million. It would be irresponsible to cut and run.

(So sayeth the neo-cons)

Bush&Cronies purposefully got a raging insurgency going in Iraq, and they want to keep it raging out of control so the oil companies reap obscene profits for as long as possible.

"Why we Fight"

the mission to continue to "ethic cleanse" the Middle East?