Officers Look Back For Clues To Future

[cal04]

Last Security Plan For Baghdad Failed
When U.S. and Iraqi forces tried to secure his neighborhood of Dora in August, Ibrahim Abbas's 16-year-old son was kidnapped. In October, several months into the ambitious security plan, Sunni insurgents drove him and his family out of their house. Today, his son is still missing. And his house sits empty -- or so he thinks. Abbas, a teacher who now lives in another part of Baghdad, has yet to return to Dora.

"The problem is the American policy of protection. It's very wrong," he said, his face curling in frustration. "They should have engaged the people, to help protect their neighborhood. Nobody wants to leave his house empty."

As the Bush administration embarks on a major tactical shift, adding 21,500 U.S. troops in the hopes of calming sectarian tensions, the failure of the ongoing Baghdad security plan, Operation Together Forward, provides valuable lessons for the future. Yet it also raises questions about whether a temporary increase in U.S. troops can be effective in a war that is becoming more complex and unpredictable.

(snip)
"This will not be of any good for the Americans," said Haji Abu Dora, a senior figure in the Mahdi Army. "Bringing more troops will not help. We do not want to see more occupation. We want to end the occupation. We know maybe there will be more pressures on us, but we are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for our cause."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401141.html

[babylonsister]

1. RECOMMEND. nt

[heldmyw]

2. Did I understand this>

Is Ibrahim suggesting that our troops should have taken a side in the Sunni-Shiite conflict? A 'neighborhood watch' that would back one group of neighborhood over another?

It does sound like it in light of the fact that Shia is dominant in 80% of the population and their "pressures" and "sacrifice" for their "cause" will probably amount to "genocide".

Who writes this stuff?