U.S. fighter jets pounded suspected insurgent positions Tuesday in the largest aerial bombardment against guerrilla positions in central Iraq since U.S. President George W. Bush declared the end of major combat in May, the U.S. military said.
In northern Iraq, guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb, wounding two soldiers, the military said. On Monday, a U.S. civilian contractor was killed in an insurgent attack near Baghdad, the military said without giving further details.
So maybe it's a function of war and the turmoil that surrounds its, maybe all those who write about War use the same phrase book to draw their descriptions from...looking further I see
In fighting throughout central Iraq, U.S. soldiers destroyed 12 safe houses, 14 mortar firing positions and four ambush sites, said Lt. Col. William MacDonald, spokesman for the 4th ID said. There were no reports of casualties.
Elsewhere, an Iraqi militant group called Muhammad's Army claimed responsibility Monday for the downing of a U.S. helicopter on Nov. 2 that killed 16 soldiers near Fallujah, located west of Baghdad.
The group warned that U.S. forces would face more attacks if they did not leave Iraq in 15 days. There was no way to independently verify the claims.
Hamlets, anyone?
Despite the administration's efforts to repair the country's infrastructure, Iraqis frequently complain about the slow pace of reconstruction seven months after the war that deposed Saddam's regime.
Coalition authorities have frequently pointed to the gradual restoration of power supplies in the aftermath of the war as a benchmark of their success in rebuilding Iraq.
But those efforts suffered a major setback when the grid supplying the capital from power plants in the north collapsed on Saturday.
As a result, much of Baghdad has been left with only brief, 10-15 minute periods of electricity during the last three days.
...
On Monday, the Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed the resignation of an Italian official of the U.S.-led coalition, who accused the occupation authorities of incompetence
"The provisional authority simply doesn't work," the Italian daily Corriere della Sera quoted Marco Calamai, a special counselor of the Coalition Provisional Authority, as saying. "It's neither fish nor fowl. Reconstruction projects that were promised and financed have had practically no results."
Imagine that, imcompetance from a functional arm of the 1600 Crew. I'm seeing more presidential pardons per last hour of the 1600 Crew than has ever been done before. They just need to make sure the shred the right papers or they'll all end up in jail together...what a sweet thought. That's where criminals are supposed to go...right? Ho Ho Ho
posted by: Seb on 11.18.03 at 04:14 PM [permalink]
'Bagdad Burning' doesn't understand what's going on and why the US is doing this.
That sort of indicates that this is another failure. If the Iraqis don't understand the reasoning, and don't see the connection between what the US is doing and what the 'terrorists' are doing, the US has definitely lost the 'minds' and will soon lose the 'hearts'.
This is Vietnam after the 'Agent Orange' kicked in big time. [For those who don't know: Agent Orange is a defoliant: it effectively turns a rain forest into a desert.]
posted by: Bryan on 11.19.03 at 09:17 PM [permalink]
