The media focussed its attention on Iraq way back when the US KIA total surpassed the 1000 mark. Yesterday, it topped
1100 KIA and there was hardly a mention.
As you have likely read, there is a major offensive underway in Falluja and there are serious issues with the US Military being either under-equipt to the point that entire platoons will refuse missions, or in desperate need of reinforcements.
Is this any way to "win" a war?
What is the nature of this war, anyway? When are we going to wake up and refer to what is happening on the ground as a "civil war?" The "insurgents" are attacking Iraqis as much as they are attacking US Military targets. Is the US military a pawn being used to fight this civil war for the Bush puppet government?
I say it is. This is a civil war, folks. High death toll among the civilian population, brutality and the kind of empassioned rebellion that cannot be easily pacified with our 130,000 troops.
Some news excerpts about Iraq, in case you are too focussed on polls, MC and the DRAFT:
The AP (via The Guardian) reports:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces battled insurgents around the rebel stronghold of Fallujah on Sunday, and militants ambushed and killed nine Iraqi policemen returning from training in Jordan. Many Iraqi Christians skipped Mass following bombings at churches in the capital.
Fierce clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents broke out on a highway east of Fallujah and in the southern part of the city, witnesses said. The road, which leads to Baghdad, has been completely blocked. Residents reported fresh aerial and artillery attacks as explosions boomed across the city.
Meanwhile, police said Sunday that nine Iraqi policemen returning from training in Jordan were ambushed and killed on their way home to Karbala. The bus they were traveling in was attacked Saturday in Latifiyah, a town of frequent insurgent attacks 25 miles south of Baghdad, said Karbala police spokesman Abdul-Rahman Mishawi. The attackers escaped.
Insurgents have repeatedly attacked Iraqi security forces in an attempt to destabilize and hamper reconstruction. Hundreds of police have been killed by mortars, roadside bombs, and car bombers in recent months.
[my emphasis]
AP via The Guardian
LONDON (AP) - The United States has asked Britain to redeploy hundreds of troops from southern Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Sunday amid reports the troops will move to the Baghdad area to back up Americans planning a major offensive against insurgents in Fallujah.
Defense Minister Geoff Hoon will confirm the American request Monday before the House of Commons and say Britain has not made a decision, a ministry spokesman said.
Several British newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corp. have reported that London is considering sending 600 soldiers from the Black Watch regiment in relatively peaceful Basra to bolster U.S. operations in mostly Sunni areas west of Baghdad.
Media reports say the United States wants the British soldiers to replace units of the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines in Iskandariyah, about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
According to the reports, the regiment would free up American troops to participate in an expected all-out offensive on Fallujah, a city 40 miles west of the capital that is considered the toughest stronghold of insurgents.