Three U.S. soldiers among 12 dead in Iraq (Tal Afar)

[Roland99]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/04/12/iraq.main/index.html

Another car bomb detonated in a Tal Afar marketplace in Ninevah province, northwest of the capital, killing two civilians and wounding 10, Ninevah police said.

Uhhh...isn't Tal Afar the site of the recent massive air assault that showed the world how safe and secure Iraq is?

[xchrom]

1. just iraqis showing our soldiers how glad they are at

being liberated.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Cannon fodder reduced to statistics.

Except when the politicians need to shed crocodile tears over "our troops" and wave flags in preparation for the next war.

[TayTay]

3. Tal Afar was the subject of the George Packer story in

The New Yorker last week. This is very sad. That New Yorker story actually talked about the intense work about some really gifted soldiers on the ground in Tal Afar who were actually engaging in positive actions. This Admin never had the time to do anything right in their war. I am sad to hear this news for all concerned.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060410fa_fact2

[madame defarge]

5. Great minds think alike... we posted same stuff/same time. n/t

[TayTay]

8. Whoa! We did.

That was an amazing article. It's obvious that there are wonderful and caring people over there on the ground who have been doing innovative work to actually try and help the Iraqi people. That article referenced Colonel H. R. McMaster, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, who is actually taking the time to make sure his soldiers spend time with the Iraqis and get to know them. This was good work.

It is also, largely, not supported by Rumsfeld. How many times has Tal Afar been 'liberated' abandoned and then 're-liberated.' Sigh! How terribly sad. We never had a plan to support places like Tal Afar and now it's too late.

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. It was also the city Bush was touting in recent speeches. n/t

[madame defarge]

4. Also the subject of George Packer's article...

in the New Yorker RE: successful tactics the US military has used to "listen" to the locals and work with them...
http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/060410onco_covers_gallery

It's really an interesting article, but it sounds like all the good work has fallen apart now... This just sucks.

[Roland99]

6. Thanks for that article, folks!

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Tal Afar is the model city

It shows just what the US can do with the manpower and the know-how. Now US soldiers stroll through the city center, singing little ditties with the children, who flock to them, and call them Sargeant John and whatnot. It's a real ideal case of Bush's vision for the Middle East gone right - all the journalists say so. Tal Afar is like Plato's perfect city, a true Republic without blemish. Tal Afar is utopia achieved: they said so on 60 Minutes and in USA Today. Any red-blooded American family would have to be nuts not to move to Tal Afar immediately, and set up shop in its bustling metropolis. It is a paradise on Earth, Eden regained, a perfect society, practically heaven.

Except, of course, when the car bombs are going off.

[Supersedeas]

10. last throes