U.S. and Iraqi forces mulling new offensive on Falluja

[sabra]

Source: Azzaman

The city of Falluja has been placed under tight curfew as U.S. and Iraqi troops are said to be gearing for a new offensive.

Iraqi security forces have established checkpoints forbidding movement of people and traffic.

Pick-up trucks mounted with loudspeakers roam the city warning residents that Qaeda operatives have infiltrated Falluja once again.

...

Iraqi military sources, refusing to be named, said the government has made it clear to U.S. army commanders that it cannot do the job on its own without direct U.S. military intervention in the “imminent offensive”.

...

Washington has been selling the Province of Anbar as a major success story recently.

But the return of violence and the apparent loss of control of major areas in the province is seen here as a major blow to President Bush’s ‘surge strategy’ in Iraq.

Read more: http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news/2008-07-17/kurd.htm

---

Crickets from the MSM...

[hobbit709]

1. Is there anything left to destroy?

[WCGreen]

2. The Surge is stuttering

[Warren Stupidity]

3. How is that possible?

Oh right, we have been awash in a surge of bullshit for the last two years.

[boomerbust]

4. What happened

To the clear and hold strategy? Wasnt this done twice already

[Tempest]

5. According to McSame, we have already succeeded in Iraq

John McCain took one step closer to declaring victory in Iraq Thursday, telling Missouri residents and later reporters that the U.S. military has “succeeded.”

The presumptive GOP nominee usually couches his language and argues the troop surge is “succeeding,” but on Thursday he emphasized that strategic success has already been achieved.

...

“I am happy to stand in front of you to tell you that this strategy has succeeded. It has succeeded. It has succeeded,” McCain said first at a Kansas City, Mo., town hall meeting.

He then reiterated the line for reporters aboard his campaign bus.

“I repeat my statement that we have succeeded in Iraq — not we are succeeding — we have succeeded in Iraq,” he said. “The strategy has worked and we now have the Iraqi government and military in charge in the major cities in Iraq. Al Qaeda is on their heels and on the run,” McCain said.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3400959&mesg_id=3400959

[Arctic Dave]

6. Billions of dollars to make Iraq the worlds largest

prison state and AQ has re-infiltrated Falluja. Sounds like more vote suppression tactics to me.