Article

2005-08-28 Iraq-Jordan

Insurgency concentrated in areas along Euphrates River

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Posted by Anonymoose 2005-08-28 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Thank you, Turkey, for kissing up to France.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-08-28 00:36|| 2005-08-28 00:36|| Front Page Top

#2 Insurgency concentrated in areas along Euphrates River

No shit, Sherlock. Time for mass enemy casualties.

Turkey should tell the French to get bent over EU membership. Its warping their politics, as most things French do.

Posted by Captain America 2005-08-28 03:13|| 2005-08-28 03:13|| Front Page Top

#3 What TW and CA said.

Three weeks of reporting embedded with American troops in Anbar's main centers of guerrilla resistance found that U.S. forces are failing to make headway, and some commanders fear that much of the military effort is wasted.

"It doesn't do much good to push them out of these areas only to let them go back to areas we've already cleared," said Lt. Col. Tim Mundy, who commands the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Marine Regiment. Mundy, 40, of Waynesville, N.C., whose battalion is based in Qaim, added: "We're successful at taking some of his equipment and killing some insurgents, but the effectiveness is limited because we can't stay ... we go back to camp and then we get reports that they've come back in."

This Knight Ritter reporter failed to address our military strategy in Iraq. >Bide time while the Iraqi Government developes, which includes the INF, police and border guards who get stronger every day. [not to mention what a great job our soldiers & Marines are doing under the circumstances]
And this little nugget: Three weeks of reporting embedded with American troops in Anbar's main centers of guerrilla resistance found that U.S. forces are failing to make headway.. says to me that three weeks of reporting didn't change the KR reporters biases.

Posted by Red Dog 2005-08-28 04:22|| 2005-08-28 04:22|| Front Page Top

#4 "Not enough troops" -- in a limited sense, but much more importantly .... "wrong tactics". Bring in more troops from Iraq or elsewhere, but make the region pay the price. Kill/preventively detain many more people, cut the roads, strangle the region generally -- don't garrison the shit-hole towns. The Marine/Army officers quoted are the experts, not me, but I don't think we want to "clear" and "hold" areas -- we want to kill/detain certain people, and intimdate the rest into not supporting them. The enemy center of gravity is not geographic, it's personnel. Until we've figure out which mix will work best, cordon off whole areas best you can. They can have their elections in the future, when calm prevails. For now, they can sleep in the bed they've made for themselves.

Posted by Verlaine in Iraq 2005-08-28 06:28|| 2005-08-28 06:28|| Front Page Top

#5 If they won't let them win the war morale is going to be low. It's like letting a team play basketball, but not letting them score. If you fought like a real war and called in the bombers, not f-16's with one bomb each, you could annihilate those fuckers. I'm talking daisy cutters here man, daisy cutters, moabs, hellfires, napalm, yeah, bring back napalm. This sounds just like veitnam, win all the battles, lose the war. The U.S has always sucked ass at fighting insurgentcies, because we are too pussy-ass to kill. Or at least the lying, spineless politicians are too pussy-ass to let them kill.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2005-08-28 11:50|| 2005-08-28 11:50|| Front Page Top

#6 I actually stopped right here!

Ramadi, the provincial capital, had a functioning downtown corridor two years ago, where parents walked with children and ate lunch at tables outside kabob shops. Today, the street is pocked with holes from bombs intended for U.S. convoys, storefronts are ripped by shrapnel, bullet holes tattoo walls, buildings have been blown to rubble by American missile strikes and insurgent mortar volleys, and roofs are caved in by U.S. bombing.

This ~~reporter~~ goon actually openly admits longing for the day of Saddam's rule. Of course, Ramadi appeared in better shape, b/c they were in bed w/ Sammy (as Sunnis). No mention of the condition of the cities in the far south (Shia) and north (Kurd), though. Nope, can't show that to the world. What an @sswipe!

Posted by BA 2005-08-28 16:15|| 2005-08-28 16:15|| Front Page Top

#7 Chill bigjim.
Get out copy of Fort Apache, Rio Grande or She Wore a Yellow Ribbon for a visceral feeling of what it was like fighting in real 'Indian country'. Much the same. If you want a good historical account, try Robert Utley's Frontier Regulars. People are so impatient. For a little perspective just read this.

Posted by Glavitle Slaque3075 2005-08-28 16:34|| 2005-08-28 16:34|| Front Page Top

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