(Iraqi News Source) Baghdad security plan falters amid signs of upsurge in violence

[sabra]

http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news/2007-02-22/kurd.htm

Baghdad security plan falters amid signs of upsurge in violence

The Baghdad security plan in which tens of thousands of Iraqi and U.S. troops are taking part is faltering, officials said.

The officials, refusing to be named, said while violence has relatively receded in certain quarters in the capital, insurgents and terrorists have increased attacks in other parts and in areas outlying Baghdad.

The insurgents have apparently shifted their focus on towns and villages south and north of Baghdad where pitched battles are reported amid a substantial rise in U.S. casualties and losses, they said.

Car and suicide bombings in Baghdad have continued unabated. The horrific sight of scores corpses dumped daily on streets, which came to a halt for only a few days, is een as a heavy blow to the plan.

...

But with the troops so concentrated in Baghdad, rebels and insurgents have intensified their operations in other strongholds and are reported to have even spread their influence to areas so far outside their direct hegemony.

more from CBS:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/23/iraq/main2507079.shtml

North Of Baghdad, War Getting Worse
More Attacks, Less Troops In Diyala Province As Military Focuses On Baghdad Crackdown


<snip>

Buritz is part of Baqouba, an ethnically mixed city 35 miles north of Baghdad. It's one of several villages U.S. and Iraqi troops are in the process of clearing. American commanders believe securing these communities is crucial to the goal of handing over control of the Diyala province to Iraqi security forces in the coming months.

But the operations have grown deadlier, complicated by what may be an influx of Sunni and Shiite fighters flushed out of Baghdad by the stepped-up security operations there.

One U.S. battalion has lost 17 men here since October, accounting for more casualties in four months than an entire U.S. brigade lost the year before.

"It's a very complex environment," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jay George, deputy commander, 3rd Brigade. And there are fewer U.S. troops here to operate in it — last year two American brigades were in the area, now there is one.

"It's definitely not a friendly area to either Iraqi Security Forces or Coalition forces," said Army First Lt. Ryan Boeka, leading a foot patrol through Buritz earlier in the week. "A lot of people from the Baath party are in here, and there are some other groups that push in from other areas."

[bemildred]

1. Whack-a-mole.

Gee, who could have predicted this?

[UpInArms]

2. it's like squeezing a balloon

when you put pressure on one spot, it poofs out somewhere else.

read Fiasco, it will confirm all of our worst fears and suspicions.

:(

[Felinity]

9. Ever try to get the air bubbles out of a water bed?

Highly classified, encrypted message to Gates:

There
are
way
more
of
them
than
there
are
of
us.
Need
ubiquitousness
training
for
all
troops.
Or,
get
us
the
fuck
out
of
there.

[AzDar]

3. Deadeye Dick sez: "Hey, kids...more violence means success, and

the officials in this story are just validating the al-Quaeda strategy!"
Nothing to see here.

[tanyev]

4. Surge met with upsurge.

Gee, nobody could have predicted that. Except maybe Sir Isaac Newton.

[acmavm]

5. And the news is????

[PA Democrat]

6. I heard an interview of a US military commander in Iraq, and

he was saying it would take "months" before the violence would subside under the surge. Are they trying to buy more time, or they truly believe this?

[sabra]

7. Newsweek analysis: "surge" plan = US in Iraq for the long haul

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=268394&mesg_id=268394

[rodeodance]

8. buying time with our $$ and troop deaths