The Marines defend a US-appointed government...

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/July/focusoniraq_July159.xml§ion=focusoniraq

US Marines propping up ailing local government in western Iraq

RAMADI, Iraq - Peering over piles of sandbags in this ravaged city, US Marines sometimes see more gunmen on the streets than municipal employees going to work. The provincial governor regularly arrives at his office with armed guards in tow.

After three years of war in Ramadi, the US military has yet to move from combat to stabilization operations in most of this Sunni Arab city of 400,000 people, the capital of Anbar province.

Here full-fledged combat still rages. Efforts to build a local government have faltered.

In just four months, one Marine has fired 27 rockets. Another estimates he has fired 5,000 rounds from a .50-caliber machine gun. One marksman has 20 confirmed kills. His superiors believe he has probably killed another 40 but they are not sure. snip

“The number one thing I’m looking to do is kill the enemy,” said Capt. Andrew Del Gaudio, 30, of New York, commander of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment. “I do that knowing that when I do that I allow the Iraqi government to function.”

The Marines defend a US-appointed government that has struggled to build its credibility. Since the toppling of their longtime patron Saddam Hussein, Sunnis have fallen out of power and the once-repressed Shiites have ascended.

[ixion]

1. “The number one thing I’m looking to do is kill..."

anything that moves. :-(

This is the new 'Murikan motto.

Everyday I weep for our once great Republic. :cry:

[bowens43]

2. “The number one thing I’m looking to do is kill the enemy,”

Despicable.

[NNN0LHI]

3. Boy we are really helping these people aren't we? n/t