The US military on Thursday announced the deaths of six more US soldiers taking the toll to 122 for the month.
May’s casualties coincide with a “surge” in US reinforcements, which is due to peak next month. April and May together were the deadliest two months since the war began.
Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno conceded that the Baghdad security crackdown has not yet made sufficient inroads.
He said: “We’ve made small progress here. We have not made the progress that I think is necessary yet, but I hope over the summer that we will continue to make progress.
“There are some positive signs. Civilian deaths are down in Baghdad. Sectarian deaths are down” –
– and American deaths are up.
#21….TJGeezer….I was prepared to knock the article you linked when I saw the masthead. I figured it for a Ron Paul cheerleading piece(and it was, just not gushy), and a bash of everyone else(which it was, just not lies). But, from a Libertarian point of view, what he says about all of those he bio’d, is true.
I have a prediliction to Libertarian views on quite a few subjects, but not all. And it’s the non-Libertarian part of me that understands Ron Pauls faults. And while this author glosses over them, they are large ones. His anti-gay stance, and anti-immigation stance are just two. Also, I saw no mention here of Pauls anti-Medicare and anti- Social Security stances.
Those 4 are just to big to ignore, even for an honest anti-war, anti-tax, and anti-big goverment candidate.
Sorry, I got totally off topic.
As an anti-war person, I want us out of this war….all of them. But as I read more and talk to friends of different politcal persausions, I’m becoming more and more convinced that we have to leave Iraq, as stable as we possibly can. We owe to them, and to the rest of the Middle East, an unstable at best region that we have made even more unstable(if that’s even possible).
I have some hope that the so called *surge* may actually be having a good effect. Unfortunatly, it’s also causing a big jump in casualties for us, because we have moved into an active fighting role again, as we were in the beginning of the war. Sunni’s are actually using the extra presence of our troops to form alliances against the al quida in the 2 most unstable provinces. And the most encouraging sign that maybe, just maybe, the goverment can form working alliances with these groups, they are asking our troops to help them fight al quida, even giving us tips as to who is who they are and what they are doing. This was just unheard of even 7 months ago.
There is a glimmer of hope, not much more than a glimmer….but we need I think to give it a chance to become a ball of light at the end of the tunnel. Otherwise, I’m afraid that the bloodbath the Generals are predicting if we leave will come true( I was finally convinced of that when a leading British anti-war activist, said he also had come to the same conclusion).
American’s short attention span and vision of us as unbeatable(but only for a year or so) aside, we really do owe those innocents a chance for a life.
#15 “I do not get this we cannot afford to leave rhetoric. What goals are we trying to accomplish in Iraq?”
Ok, The reason why they want to make this woork has nothing to do with oil, nor terrorists, nor democracy, nor Iraq.
The reason they want to stay is that if Iraq is stable and on our side, then Iran is totally blocked off. Look at the map. Count how many nations in that region that border or are very near to Iran are our allies or we have tropps on the ground. Now think who has been sending stuff to make IEDs?
We must look back at the 2000 debate when Gore and Bush both agreed that the major security issue facing the US was rogue nations developing nuclear weapons. By these nations they meant North Korea and Iran. North Korea is bottled up and we have a strangle hold on them with Russia, China and South Korea. To do the same to Iran we need to box them in. Its basic Napoleonic strategy.
Cursor_
32,
I agree with you that we can’t just bail on Iraq, but we may disagree on how to do it.
I have a favorite saying that is very germane to the subject. It goes, “amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics”. Bush has been a case study of this concept from day one, and is showing no signs of changing course.
What if we actually took some of the very good advice coming from peopole who have been there and know the region? What if we worked with the locval Sheiks to build Iraq at the community level and stopped giving every development dollar to a bunch or war profiteers? What if we changed our strategy to one of engagement with the various factions instead of confrontation? We are going to have to talk to these people and develop a compromise some day because we can’t kill them all.
The problem with Bush is that he is so arrogant in his position he doesn’t even bother to understand the ramifications of a situatioin. He isn’t stupid, he’s inndifferent, which is far worse. At least a stupid person would eventually learn.
I spent 2 years on the East-West German bvorder while Reagan was deploying the Pershing II missile, and sabers were rattling like there was no tomorrow, yet we continued to deal with the Soviets instead of fighting a war neither of us would benefit from. Today we act with impunity and actually increase the threat of violence around the world.
33,
Wow. I can’t even begin to address all the ways that is wrong.
Smartalix, if you would stop listening to the biased anti-war media, you would realize that many of the tactics you suggest are exactly what’s happening in Iraq.