Iraq Escalation Faltering

[bigtree]

Monday June 4, 2007 1:31 PM

AP Photo BAG108

By KIM GAMEL

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S.-led forces have control of fewer than one-third of Baghdad's neighborhoods despite thousands of extra troops nearly four months into a security crackdown, a newspaper reported Monday - an assessment that came as the U.S. casualty toll soared. But military officials said they have warned all along that the fight would not be easy.

The New York Times said an American assessment of the security plan through late May found that American and Iraqi forces were able to ``protect the population'' and ``maintain physical influence over'' only 146 of the 457 Baghdad neighborhoods.

Troops have either not begun operations aimed at rooting out insurgents or still face ``resistance'' in the remaining 311 neighborhoods, according to the report, which cited a one-page assessment along with summaries from brigade and battalion commanders in Baghdad.

{snip}

It appeared to be the first comprehensive analysis of the progress of the operation that began Feb. 14. Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is due to report in September on whether the current troop increase is working amid a fierce debate in Washington over whether President Bush should begin withdrawing American forces.

The Bush administration, which has ordered some 30,000 extra American troops to Baghdad and surrounding areas as part of the security crackdown, has warned that the buildup will result in more U.S. casualties as more American soldiers come into contact with enemy forces and concentrate on the streets of Baghdad and remote outposts.

The U.S. military announced Sunday that 14 American soldiers had been killed over a three-day period in a deadly start for June and raising to at least 3,493 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. May was the third bloodiest month since the war began, with 127 troop deaths reported.

more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6682256,00.html

[Blackhatjack]

1. And this is why Repubs and NeoCons are saying Sept is not enough time to see improvement....

... you just keep throwing away lives and money by 'moving the goalposts' and continuing the same approach.

We have people in charge who have no integrity and as long as rhetoric is effective they will continue to confuse the public to accomplish maintenance of the status quo - which keeps the money rolling to war contractors, pumping of unmetered oil, and continued movement toward privatization of Iraq's oil.

[peekaloo]

2. I'm almost willing to bet General Betrayus will resign before Sept. eom

[Toots]

3. The only answer is "tax cuts" and "more troops"

That seems to be the Republican fix all.

[sharp_stick]

4. Don't forget

we have to ban gay marriage and keep them damned Mexicans off our lawns. Only when all of this happens will be truly be free. :evilgrin: