Gates arrives in Iraq on unannounced visit

[maddezmom]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Baghdad on Thursday, a day after car bombings killed 200 people in the worst violence in the city since U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a security crackdown in February.

It was Gates' third visit to Iraq and his first since U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to send an extra 30,000 troops mostly to Baghdad under a plan seen as the last-ditch hope to avert the country's slide into civil war.


Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19228494.htm

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Clock ticks on Baghdad crackdown
BAGHDAD, April 19 (Reuters) - Iraq's government may win the Battle of Baghdad but lose the war, by squandering the breathing space the U.S.-backed crackdown in the capital was meant to give it to reconcile the country's warring communities.

"All of it is determined by matching military progress with progress in reconciliation ... We have zero tangible progress in political reconciliation," said Anthony Cordesman, a prominent military analyst in Washington.

A wave of bombings blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda that killed nearly 200 people in Baghdad on Wednesday was a terrible reminder that time is fast running out for the government to stop the country plunging into all-out civil war.

Opinion polls also show Americans want out of the unpopular four-year-old conflict, and political pressure is mounting on President George W. Bush to set a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal. The Baghdad offensive is seen as his last throw.

"This is a battle of perceptions," said Cordesman. "If they don't make progress in six months, political patience in the United States is going to be critical."

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/YAT940085.htm

[meegbear]

1. I always find it amazing how we have these "surprise visits" ...

do other countries "pop by" to say hello? :shrug:

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

4. Unannounced Visits

Include having a hundred or more troops sweep the area between the airport and the Green Zone for insurgents, and tripling the number of MP's manning the checkpoints in and out of the area.

Unannounced, but there's an entire combat division working on it.

Shhhh...

[Kagemusha]

2. What progress do they envision that'd change the public's mind in 6 months?

I don't understand that. What kind of change would change the public's mind at this point? Insurgents magically ceasing to shoot at American forces? What good would the Iraq occupation be then? We'd have to find some other little country to crush and occupy so that terrorists follow us there so we can kill them. Anywhere but the US.

[Amonester]

5. The progre$$ will show up on the war-profiteering corporations' CEOs

bonusses paychecks (ready to be deposited off-shore in their respective tax shelters).

And they'll then also be ready to start another round of their stupid "in 6 months from now, everything will be rosy and peaceful there: trust us... and shut up!" :grr:

[chelsea0011]

3. And he's heading right to the market for a $5 rug?

:sarcasm: