We wish the Iraqi forces and American forces Godspeed in this endeavor: Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda - Times Online

tomder55

Nice of Times on line to notice. Operaton Lion's Roar has been ongoing since May 10.
I can't really find much about it except that the operation is mostly a round up of AQ and weapons . The population appears more than willing to turn on them.
Here is a blog from US Army Reserve Craig Cox about the operation .
Up Country Iraq: The Sand Rules
The biggest thing I get from it is that Iraqi forces are stepping up ;and that American forces are increasingly being seen as the good guys. Iraqis, not Americans, are now at the tip of the spear..... evidence of a successful counterinsurgency. I wonder if Obama will notice.

excon

Hello George:

I dunno... OUR GUYS are ready to "stand up" after 9 weeks of boot camp. It took the Iraqi's 5 years, and they ain't standing up yet. Wassamatter?

excon

XxRoosterXx

That's exactly what I have been wondering for some time now excon.

tomder55

Compared to our fighting forces I guess they have a ways to go . Compared to the Iraqi forces under Saddam that retreated enmass in 1990 and disintegrated in 2003 they have progressed well considering that as a unified force they are still in their infancy.

Let's see ....in all of 1776 how many engagements did Washington win ?

George_1950

Stand up and do what? Actually, none of our troops are in the field in 9 weeks.

George_1950

Great point. How many did Washington win in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)? "Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, but control of the countryside (where 90% of the population lived) largely eluded them due to their relatively small land army...French involvement proved decisive, with a French naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a second British army at Yorktown in 1781." American Revolutionary War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BABRAM

Unfortunately they'll just reload using another country's stockpile of idiots. It's like Obama said to McCain, thanks to Dubya they are in Iraq.

George_1950

An update on Iraqis taking control: "Even as the two candidates argue over the wisdom of the war and keeping American troops there, security in Iraq has improved vastly, as has the confidence of Iraq's government and military and police, raising the prospect of additional reductions that were barely conceivable a year ago. While officials caution that the relative calm is fragile, violence and attacks on American-led forces have dropped to the lowest levels since early 2004." U.S. considers increasing pace of Iraq pullout - International Herald Tribune

excon

Hello again, George:

Yes, Bush is pulling out the troops - 5 years after he declared victory. However...... the following is from that same article:

"One factor in the consideration is the pressing need for additional American troops in Afghanistan, where the Taliban and other fighters have intensified their insurgency and inflicted a growing number of casualties on Afghans and American-led forces there."

It IS a shame that Bush got us soooo bogged down in the WRONG war that we couldn't/wouldn't/didn't win the RIGHT war. Our real enemies, Iran, Al Quaida and the Taliban are still there and stronger than ever.

The dufus in chief destroyed a country that didn't attack us, let the guy's go who DID attack us, destroyed our Constitution, and made us LESS safe in the process.... Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

excon