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| Iraq | |
| Baghdad security to improve by end-Sept-US general | |
| 2006-08-08 | |
| BAGHDAD - The top US general in Iraq said on Monday that US and Iraqi forces would drive death squads and militants out of Baghdad, in another attempt to restore security to the capital by the end of September. “There is a comprehensive plan ... to change the situation significantly prior to Ramadan,” General George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, told a news conference following a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. Over 3,700 US troops from the 172nd Stryker Brigade began arriving in Baghdad on Sunday to help stem rising sectarian violence, which has threatened to push Iraq to civil war. The beefed up forces are an admission that Operation Forward together, a security crackdown in the capital driven by what the Iraqi government has said is about 50,000 Iraqi forces, had failed to ease violence. “What you will see are Iraqi security forces, supported by the coalition, clearing out areas where there are terrorists and death squads, and then establishing the security presence to protect the people,” Casey said. “It’s clear to everyone that the people in Iraq are tired of terrorism and want peace and security. That peace and security will come when all Iraqis reject violence and accept peace.” The United States boosted its soldiers in the capital, in a blow to Washington’s hopes that it can start bringing its troops home, after Iraqi forces failed to curb increasingly savage sectarian attacks or confront armed militias blamed for fanning tension. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has sworn to disarm these groups, but must proceed with care because some are connected to members of his newly formed government of national unity.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #5 It is an interesting tactic the Islamists are using in Iraq. They kill as many Muslims as they can in order to wear down the will of the coalition to continue the efforts to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq. They say "leave - or we'll brutally kill our own innocent people." We don't leave, so the Islamists intentionally blow up innocent Iraqis day after day. The international media and the Arab world then attribute the deaths to the infidel US and coalition occupation, but strangely there are few photographs of the carnage wrought by Islamist bombs. Then switch screens to Lebanon. There the Islamists launch rockets under cover of women and children in an attempt to kill Israeli civilians. As they launch the rockets, they anticipate there will be defensive retaliation at the site by Israel. Within minutes, Israel indeed retaliates with a pinpoint bomb at the site of the rocket launch, but the terrorists have gone leaving behind the civilian shields who have become innocent casualties. Then amid reams of photos of mangled bodies and wailing friends, relatives and parents, the international media and the Arab world again attribute the deaths to the infidels Israelis. How dumb are we? |
| Posted by: Hank 2006-08-08 16:48 |
| #4 April showers to end by September. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-08-08 08:50 |
| #3 Does this mean they are going to roast Tater? He (and Iran) are behind a lot of this. Arrange for him to have an 'accident'. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2006-08-08 08:48 |
| #2 Seems like the press is still in the "impending civil war" mode. Was it 12 or 18 months ago the bad guys torched a gasoline truck and killed dozens? (Over a hundred?) Remember when bombers killed dozens in a single blast? Kinda quiet, now, is it not? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-08-08 06:04 |
| #1 Maliki might be playing to the taters, but a serious enema is in order and will be administered. The 172nd is in surgical mode. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-08-08 00:41 |