U.S. general: Insurgents planning 'all-out assault' on Baghdad

[bemildred]

BAGHDAD - Bombings and shootings soared by 40 percent in the Baghdad area in the past week, the U.S. command said Thursday. An American general said extremists were preparing "an all-out assault" on the capital in a decisive battle for the future of Iraq.

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric issued his strongest call yet for an end to Shiite-Sunni bloodletting, urging all Iraqis to wake up to the "danger threatening the future of the country" and stand "side-by-side against it."

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the chief military spokesman, said there had been an average of 34 attacks a day involving U.S. and Iraqi forces in and around the capital since Friday -- up sharply from the daily average of 24 registered between June 14 and July 13.

"The only way we're going to be successful in Baghdad is to get the weapons off the streets," Caldwell said. He said insurgents were streaming into the capital for "an all-out assault against the Baghdad area."

"Clearly the death squad elements, the terrorist elements, know that Baghdad is a must-win for them," he said. "Whoever wins the Baghdad area, whoever is able to bring peace and security to that area, is going to set the conditions to stabilize this country."

Star Tribune

[Drum]

1. So do something!

You're the goddamned US military for pete's sake...don't con us about how well-informed you are, just do something about it already.

[Robbien]

6. They have been there for three years and still control zilch

What makes you think anything is different today than it was yesterday?

[Drum]

9. Then they should sh__ the f___ up

and acknowledge that they're squatters, just keeping an eye on the oilfields and soon-to-be-permanant bases.

[saigon68]

37. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell is a typical military ass clown

Putting his time in

Until he retires on a 5 figure a month pension and signs up to do "Color Commentary" on Faux News

LOL

[leftchick]

40. and a job with a defense contractor

as most of them do. I wonder who krazy killer kimmitt will be working for?

[saigon68]

42. Good point

kimmitts father and brother-- both retired military

have their snouts in the defense trough BIG TIME

[still_one]

16. my very thought exactly

[grytpype]

2. Real good progress!

The insurgents are attacking the capital because they are JEALOUS of all the progress we are making and they want to stop it, see?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

25. well that and their obligatory hatred of freedom of course. . .

[TomInTib]

3. I have been waiting for just such a front.

They could so easily bottle up our forces within the Green Zone.

Game over

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Deja-vu all over again?

[Gloria]

Yeah, shit, call Kofi to make something happen!!!

[Monkeyman]

5. Last time they moved the troops into Bagdad they went all over the country

[Drum]

12. huh?

[tblue37]

17. I think he means that when the US troops

try to quell the insurgency by going out into the streets in force, the insurgents just scatter and then regroup.

[Drum]

19. gotcha, thanks nt

[populistdriven]

7. must, defend, bush's, half-billion dollar, embassy, to the last GI!

[SupplyConcerns]

31. $500 million embassy? Yeah, for the front porch...

I don't know why people are believing the figures for this embassy. $500 buys you one and a half baseball stadiums, not this immense compound.

[populistdriven]

47. oops - you are correct its closer to 1 billion

[babylonsister]

8. But...The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a poem and song by Gil Scott-Heron, which commented upon the political and social turmoil of late 1960s/early 1970s America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolution_Will_Not_Be_Televised

[BrotherBuzz]

23. The revolution will be no re-run brothers;

The revolution will be live.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Is General Caldwell talking about an Iraqi version of Tet Offensive?

If Baghdad is the new Saigon, which city will be Hue?

[bemildred]

15. I think the General is viewing the situation with alarm,

I don't think he had any intent to compare things with VietNam, that would get his ass in trouble. It appears to me that he "expressed himself in an unfortunate way".

[alcibiades_mystery]

36. Hue was taken and occupied by up to 14000 PAVN regulars

There is no force even coming close to that kind of training, supply, organization, discipline, or numbers capable of taking a city in Iraq. Get real.

[daleo]

11. Insurgents already control Baghdad

He must mean insurgents are planning to attack the Green Zone.

[aaronbees]

27. Bingo ... and ....

I wonder what's going to happen to that huge, new multi-million dollar embassy we seem to building right on schedule; that'll be the last holdout, it seems. Blechhh. :puke: :eyes:

[daleo]

28. I imagine the embassy has a nice big landing pad on the roof

Just in case. We all know the photo.

[Theduckno2]

13. Where is Mr. "I had other priorities."?

Last throes, what a load of cr*p.

BTW General, getting the weapons off the street may not be the best alternative. It would be better if we could get the insurgents to stop pointing them and then sqeezing the trigger.

[Oversea Visitor]

14. Bush going to stay till get booted out

Coming soon as sure as the sun rise. Maybe lots think cut and run make them looks like fools. But it sure beat getting booted out with a bloody nose.

[gordianot]

18. Iraq Tet? n/t

[tabasco]

20. Wait a minute! I thought Baghdad was like Houston!?!

That's what republicans keep telling me. It's just like all the big cities here in the US with the crime and all.

I'm sure they just need to start a neighborhood watch or something.

[Barrett808]

21. That would be the epitaph of "Forward Together"

With the joint US-Iraqi "crackdown" in Baghdad a miserable failure, what happens next?

[rodeodance]

22. the party is over.

[pokercat999]

34. The party has BEEN over for a while....now the

fat lady is singing or at least warming up her voice.

[wtmusic]

24. Within a year the Green Zone will be overrun nt

[IndianaGreen]

33. I hope Bush is visiting when it happens

I'll love to see the look on his face when he finds himself surrounded by freedom and democracy loving Iraqis wanting to shove their purple fingers up his behind.

[Judi Lynn]

35. Hope they get their chance to show him how free they really feel!

What a triumph in world history it was when they all got a chance to get their purple fingers, and dipsticks in the States inked their fingers purple, too. Ain't freedom grand?

[SlavesandBulldozers]

26. Does Rummy still do press briefings?

i killed my tv a while ago, and was wondering if Rummy still does his whole comic routine every week or so to report on all the progress made.

[chill_wind]

29. Heard reported today that 15,000 Iraqis killed

just this year so far. 5000 (1/3)of that number in just the most recent momths of May and June. (Since this was on CNN, you may want to double that number......)

[WatchWhatISay]

30. Insurgents planning 'all-out assault' on Baghdad. . . Shock and Awe?

How quickly they learn
And how willing we are to teach them

[lpbk2713]

32. Neither side will be content

until the whole region is nothing but dust and rubble.

[DoYouEverWonder]

38. But I thought that since we killed the Amazing Zarqawi

that Bagdad was suppose to become the land of milk and honey? What went wrong?

[leftchick]

39. this proves the US has to stay there

forever..... :(

<snip>

The crisis in Baghdad raises questions about the ability of Iraq's U.S.-trained police and army to cope with sectarian violence. That in turn casts doubt about the U.S. timetable for handing over security responsibility to the Iraqis in all 18 provinces by the end of next year.

[Jacobin]

41. Nah. Just a handfull of dead enders

We will have victory in just a few weeks...a few months at the longest....

Herr Rumsfeld

[saigon68]

43. A few remnants

LOL

sounds like they are talking about carpets

[ckramer]

44. sounds like there is an Insurgent inflation there in Iraq

The grow rate of insurgent is outgrowing the US killing of it. The killing of it generates more insurgents.

Be prepared to stay there forever in this killing business until the big boss is tired.

[OutNow]

45. Baghdad Green Zone is Arabic for Dien Bien Phu

It's amazing that the Bush administration still thinks that they are controlling events in Iraq. They don't control Iraq, they don't even control Baghdad. They still control the Green Zone. How much longer? I don't think the coming offensive is comparable to the Tet offensive in Vietnam. While it was horrific, the NLF was defeated in every city. Instead, I believe that the Iraqis are gearing up for their version of Dien Bien Phu. God help the U.S. troops. We have to get our soldiers out of there while we still can.

Bring the Troops Home Now

[Javaman]

46. "extremists were preparing "an all-out assault"

More bullshit from the bullshit artists.

Like someone said on here already, "the rebels already control Baghdad".

This is nothing more than someone trying justify yet another reason for more ethnic cleansing.

More money for more weapons.

More rhetoric for a failed occupation.

the U.S.Army protects its green zone nation. Outside of it's walls, the other nation exists. The nation of reality. there is nothing about these talking heads that tell us of that reality.