Baghdad Central to Fight for Iraq, U.S. General Says ("success near")

[Barrett808]

Baghdad Central to Fight for Iraq, U.S. General Says
by Gerry Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

Iraqi security forces are increasingly taking the lead in operations as Baghdad becomes the focal point in the fight for Iraq, a senior U.S. military officer told reporters Monday.

Iraqi soldiers and police are at the forefront of operations "to make their capital safer, to set the stage for their capital to emerge as a center not of violence and strife, but some day for business and learning, for commerce and for culture," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell IV said at a Baghdad news briefing.

Insurgents have blanketed Baghdad with bombings, murders and kidnappings over the past week and a half as insurgents "seek to uproot democracy and derail the legitimate governance process," Caldwell, spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, told reporters.

"Baghdad is the center that everybody is fighting for," he said, pointing to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's assessment published Monday in the Wall Street Journal. Caldwell quoted Maliki as writing: "Security plans to quell the violence in Baghdad, the capital and most populous city, face serious challenges that must be overcome. Together, we can and will succeed."

That success, Caldwell said, appears near. Recent tips provided by Baghdad citizens to Iraqi soldiers and police have led to the capture or killing of insurgents and the foiling of bombing and kidnapping plots, he said.

(more)

http://www.dcmilitary.com/navy/journal/11_19/national_news/42714-1.html

[wryter2000]

1. Let me guess

We've turned a corner.

[pokercat999]

13. and they are in the "last throes", thank goodness I was

getting a bit war weary.

[The Icon Painter]

18. Turned a Corner ...

And the next six months are crucial.

[Just Me]

2. How many more months and years do we have to listen to this lie?

Tell me,...how many months and years and how many losses of life and how much more destruction and profiteering and sheer savagery will it take?

Tell me. Tell me.

[LynnTheDem]

15. Well, with Vietnam it was several more years...

...and this total FUBAR of a fuck-up looks to be somewhat longer than that.

[Boo Boo]

3. I guess the next stop in this progression would be

that the Green Zone is central to the fight for Baghdad (e.g. Iraq central to WOT, Baghdad central to Iraq, Green Zone central to Baghdad, embassy central to Green Zone... followed by sound of helicopter leaving).

[truth2power]

14. Save this post...

I really do think that's how it's going to play out. Whatta joke!! :silly:

[saigon68]

4. spokesman Caldwell, is a Filthy Fucking Liar and mental patient

Only the mentally ill followers of Ann Coulter, and Asylum and Booby hatch inmates, believe what these Murderers and War Criminals have to say.

This clown actually believes the lies he spouts

HE IS NO BETTER THAN BAGHDAD BOB IN FACT PERHAPS WORSE.

[Just Me]

5. Hi ya' saigon68!!!

Hope all's well with you. :hug:

[saigon68]

6. I'm OK the world however is hurting

Nice to see you :-) :-)

[daleo]

7. Before the U.S. invasion, Baghdad was a center of learning and culture

We peaceniks said this would be a disaster.

[xchrom]

8. ok -- and the insurgents won't learn to fight the iraqi army?

seems to me these insurgents are pretty good at figuring out how to kick just about anybody's ass.

hear that freep fucks -- these guys will kick your fuckin cowardly asses.

and they learned on your tax dollar.

[bemildred]

9. Yep, definitely gotta hang onto the capital of the country. nt

[gratuitous]

10. Yep, they'll roust 'em outta Baghdad

But like the little kid when Mom comes to inspect his room cleaning skills, "Don't open the closet!" Don't look at Fallujah, or Tikrit, or Anbar province, or over there, or too closely. In fact, just look right, exactly . . . here. No, not there, HERE! See? All pacified and in order. Nothing to worry about right here. {Boom in the distance} Yesiree bob! We got this area of Baghdad all nice and liberated. Uh oh. Uh, let's go over there.

[CoffeeCat]

11. They said this about Fallujah!

If only we can get the terrorists outta Fallujah! Then, it'll all be glittery sunshine and frolicking ponies!

These friggin bastages lie their asses off to quell the SHAMEFUL disaster they've created. When the heat it on they create a variation of their lie-based slogan, "We're making progress".

The good news is that fewer people believe this tripe. These lying morons appear more ridiculous with each lie.

Now they're asserting that if only Baghdad weren't so violent--that Iraq would be a veritable Club Med in the middle of the desert.

I'm so ashamed of my country.

Edited to add that they're probably gearing up for another white-phosphorous massacre again. They seem to be justifying and all-out assault on innocent people and a killing spree like we saw in Fallujah. We all know how effective that was.

[karlrschneider]

12. Do these morans have the first goddamn clue how fucking stupid

they actually and obviously are? I mean, it's nothing short of mind boggling. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


:grr:
:mad:

[PurityOfEssence]

16. "Prosperity's just around the coroner"

Yes, Iraq was a fine undertaking; ask any morgue operator.

Two cars in every crater and chickenhawk in every pot.

[samsingh]

17. of couse it's central

[mainer]

19. Success is Near and War is Peace

Why do I get the feeling we're living in "1984"?

[krkaufman]

20. Hope so. But all past evidence and experience say the opposite. n/t