Petraeus's Act of Desperation...

[Nbadan]

We've turned yet another corner in Iraq, in fact we've turnned so many corners, we're back to where we originally started...


BAGHDAD (AP) US officials in Iraq are calling the attack on a Shiite shrine in Samarra an ``act of desperation.''

A statement from Iraq commander General David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker also blames al-Qaida for trying to ``inflame sectarian strife among the people of Iraq.''

It isn't clear how the attackers evaded the shrine's guard force to detonate the blasts and bring down two slender golden minarets that flanked the dome's ruins at the mosque.

No casualties were reported in the attack.

Linky (http://www.wwl.com/pages/577254.php?contentType=4&contentId=606273)


Hmmmm..... as desparate as ...... arming the bad guys, adding 20,000 troops to the stew and actually selling the idea that it will accomplish something?

The "insurgents" are desparate to get us out of their country - the Bush administration is desparate to save face and since it doesn't cost them anything to keep risking the lives of others and depleting the treasury, they aren't going to stop until someone stops them.

[ChumpDumper]

Well, there's still that clock tower left standing if they get really desperate.

[Nbadan]

According to USA Today and Petraeus, Iraqi's are going to amusement parks and playing soccer in real grass stadiums....

Petraeus says security crackdown working
Updated 7h 32m ago
By César G. Soriano, USA TODAY


BAGHDAD — When Gen. David Petraeus drives through the streets of Iraq's capital, he sees "astonishing signs of normalcy" in half, perhaps two-thirds of Baghdad.

"I'm talking about professional soccer leagues with real grass field stadiums, several amusement parks — big ones, markets that are very vibrant," says Petraeus, commander of the roughly 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The scenes provide a sign that the new strategy in Iraq is working, although many problems remain, he told USA TODAY in an interview Wednesday.

USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-06-13-petraeus-security_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip)

USA Today, we make reality!

[Nbadan]

Here ya go, General:

06/14/07 Reuters: 25 bodies found in Baghdad on Wednesday
Twenty-five bodies were found shot and tortured around Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.

06/14/07 AFP: Sunni mosques attacked after Shiite shrine bombing
Two Sunni mosques were bombed in Iraq on Thursday in apparent reprisal for an attack on a revered Shiite shrine, sparking fears of fresh sectarian bloodletting despite appeals for calm.

06/13/07 WaPo: No Drop in Iraq Violence Seen Since Troop Buildup
Three months into the new U.S. military strategy that has sent tens of thousands of additional troops into Iraq, overall levels of violence in the country have not decreased, as attacks have shifted away from Baghdad and Anbar...

06/13/07 NYTimes: Iraqis Are Failing to Meet U.S. Benchmarks
Iraq’s political leaders have failed to reach agreements on nearly every law that the Americans have demanded as benchmarks, despite heavy pressure from Congress, the White House and top military commanders. With only three months until progress...

06/13/07 WaPo: General calls Iraqi forces inadequate
A senior U.S. military commander said yesterday that Iraq's army must expand its rolls by at least 20,000 more soldiers next year than Washington had anticipated, to help free U.S. troops from conducting daily patrols, checkpoints...

[ggoose25]

sweet. so a soccer field with grass means mission accomplished? :tu

[clambake]

If it's not reported by Fox, then it's not true. Wake me up when september ends.

[Nbadan]

This Is a Serious Blow'
Charles Gibson Interviews Gen. David Petraeus After the Samarra Mosque Attack
June 13, 2007


In an exclusive interview with ABC's Charles Gibson, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, called today's attack on a holy Shiite shrine in Baghdad a "serious blow" to the military effort in the region and the work of al Qaeda.

"But frankly, it is our hope that this can galvanize the Iraqi leaders to unite against this form of extremism," Petraeus said from Baghdad.

This was the second attack on the golden-domed Al-Askariya mosque, the burial place of two imams.

"Iraqi leaders have done what I think everyone would've hoped they would do in the wake of such a tragedy, such a horrific attack, and that is to condemn it universally, and again, call for calm in the wake of it," Petraeus said.

That calm may be difficult to secure -- when the mosque was hit in 2006, the incident triggered widespread sectarian violence. Petraeus said he and his forces are already working to avoid reprisals.

ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=3274466&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312)

Looks like the Shiia decided to go shopping and play soccer instead.

[xrayzebra]

Tell me dan, do you ever have an original thought?

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z273/xrayzebra/NothingtoSay.gif