In a desperate attempt to show the Iraqis that they will be safe if they vote in the forced elections at the end of the month, the US announced today that they are going to deploy 35,000
targets soldiers in the city for the grand occasion.
Story here
35,000 troops. And that's just in Baghdad! I'm not seeing anything in the article about the rest of the country. I guess the other 18 million Iraqis are sh*t out of luck.
Some snips:
"The U.S. military announced Wednesday that more than 35,000 American troops will be deployed on the streets of Baghdad on January 30, the date of Iraq's first democratic elections.
"We will be out in force," said Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli of the U.S. Army's Task Force Baghdad."
...
"Chiarelli also had a message for insurgents who would attempt to disrupt elections.
"We will find you, we will watch where you move, we will listen to you speaking to each other, we will fight and we will defeat you," he warned.
"You cannot sleep, eat, move or meet without the clear understanding that you may be killed or captured at any moment. Cease your operations now and you will be choosing to live."
Sounds a little too much like "Bring 'em on!" to me.