Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity

[Barrett808]

Source: Washington Post

Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq Grow in Lethality, Complexity
Bigger Bombs a Key Cause of May's High Death Toll

By Ann Scott Tyson and John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, June 3, 2007; Page A01

As U.S. troops push more deeply into Baghdad and its volatile outskirts, Iraqi insurgents are using increasingly sophisticated and lethal means of attack, including bigger roadside bombs that are resulting in greater numbers of American fatalities relative to the number of wounded.

Insurgents are deploying huge, deeply buried munitions set up to protect their territory and mounting complex ambushes that demonstrate their ability to respond rapidly to U.S. tactics. A new counterinsurgency strategy has resulted in decreased civilian deaths in Baghdad but has placed thousands of additional American troops at greater risk in small outposts in the capital and other parts of the country.

"It is very clear that the number of attacks against U.S. forces is up" and that they have grown more effective in Baghdad, especially in recent weeks, said Maj. Gen. James E. Simmons, deputy commander for operations in Iraq. At the same time, he said, attacks on Iraqi security forces have declined slightly, citing figures that compare the period of mid-February to mid-May to the preceding three months. "The attacks are being directed at us and not against other people," he said.

May, with 127 American fatalities, was the third-deadliest month for U.S. troops since the 2003 invasion. As in the conflict's two deadliest months for U.S. troops -- 137 died in November 2004 and 135 in April of that year -- the overarching cause of May's toll is the ongoing, large-scale U.S. military operations. Simmons called the high U.S. losses in May "a very painful and heart-wrenching experience."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201294.html?hpid=topnews

[rodeodance]

1. do tell!!

[badgervan]

7. Who To Believe?

... those eyewitnesses to the facts who are on the ground in Iraq, or the head PNACbrain himself, 'ol No Chin Kagan - who states the exact opposite in today's Washington Post?

[cliss]

2. It's just a matter of time now.

"Insurgents are deploying huge, deeply buried munitions set up to protect their territory and mounting complex ambushes that demonstrate their ability to respond rapidly to U.S. tactics. A new counterinsurgency strategy has placed thousands of additional American troops at greater risk in small outposts in the capital and other parts of the country."

Just HOW are we going to fight this? How will we overcome the fact that a country of 25 million people (it's less than that now) want us out?

We are 155,000 troops against 25 million (less, actually).
Iraq is
unwinnable
unwinnable
unwinnable
unwinnable
a quagmire
a quagmire
a quagmire
a quicksand which is sucking us in.

[saigon68]

3. "THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM" shouted Dick "5 deferments" Cheney

"They also died so I could make millions more". he whispered to his accountant

[David__77]

4. US loses with either strategy.

For so long, US forces largely remained pinned to their bases. I think it was in part motivated by political fear of casualties. "Let the Iraqis deal with the insurgents and militias." Of course, that just prevented the consolidation of a strong state.

Now, the US forces are coming out of those encampments to do the work they hoped the Iraqi government forces would do, and it exposes them to much greater risk over the long term, especially as insurgents evolve their military tactics in response.

[Rex]

5. For every action there is an equal, yet opposite reaction.

[karlrschneider]

6. Well hell, they've only had FOUR YEARS to practice...

:eyes: :grr:

[Endangered Specie]

8. The dumb ones get killed off...

the smart ones live to teach the others.

[karlrschneider]

9. How many "Number 2s" have we supposedly gotten?

:eyes:

[bamacrat]

10. The deadliest month is yet to come..

I have a feeling that this summer will yield the highest US death total since Vietnam. We will hit 5,000 before the end of the year unless we can get out, but it doesnt look as though that will ever happen.

[ohio2007]

11. Chlorine suicide truck bomb in Diyala province sickens 62 US troops

BAGHDAD -- A car bomb exploded about 200 yards from the entrance of a U.S. military base northeast of Baghdad today, unleashing a cloud of chlorine that sickened at least 62 personnel but caused no life-threatening injuries, the military said.

The use of chlorine canisters to turn an ordinary bomb into a chemical weapon has become a signature tactic of insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. But today's attack was believed to be the first time the tactic was used in Diyala province, north and east of the capital.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of seven more soldiers in the past two days. Last month was the third deadliest on record for U.S. forces in Iraq, with 127 personnel reported killed.

A thick smell of chorine hung over the U.S. base on the edge of the Diyala provincial capital, Baqubah, after today's attack. The soldiers affected sought treatment for dizziness and nausea, but none of the cases was believed to be life-threatening, said Maj. Raul Marquez, a military spokesman.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq4jun04,1,4149813.story?coll=la-headlines-world&track=crosspromo




http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9e_1180904606

[Doctor_J]

12. We can't win this war

and the stupid drunken deserter thinks it's going to be "like South Korea".

I really, really hate republicans.