n2nh
07-16-2007, 08:06 PM
Quote[/b] ]His mother feels most Americans have preferred not to know, until now. There has been no “shared sacrifice” with military families, she says. But as the death toll of soldiers has risen to more than 3,600, more and more Americans are decrying the lack of progress after so much blood has been spilt.
In theory the surge is a carefully laid plan to bring security to Baghdad and buy time for the Iraqi government to reach out to opponents. In practice, as one defence official out it: “The troops are paying with their lives for clearing streets in crummy neighbourhoods without any strategic context.”
In the past five months an extra 30,000 troops have arrived in Iraq, boosting total US forces to 160,000. Operation Phantom Thunder, launched in June, is rolling through the Baghdad “belts” in the hope of denying insurgents havens from where they can launch attacks and car bombings. “We couldn’t call it what it is – Operation Last Chance,” one senior military official admitted.
LINK (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2076032.ece)
In theory the surge is a carefully laid plan to bring security to Baghdad and buy time for the Iraqi government to reach out to opponents. In practice, as one defence official out it: “The troops are paying with their lives for clearing streets in crummy neighbourhoods without any strategic context.”
In the past five months an extra 30,000 troops have arrived in Iraq, boosting total US forces to 160,000. Operation Phantom Thunder, launched in June, is rolling through the Baghdad “belts” in the hope of denying insurgents havens from where they can launch attacks and car bombings. “We couldn’t call it what it is – Operation Last Chance,” one senior military official admitted.
LINK (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2076032.ece)