Spike in violence follows troop withdrawal

[sabra]

Source: USA Today

BAGHDAD — Militants have staged a deadly wave of attacks in Baghdad two weeks after the U.S. military began pulling out the first combat brigade from last year's troop buildup.

The uptick in violence has raised questions about whether recent progress on security in the capital could be reversed as more U.S. troops are scheduled to depart.

A BMW loaded with explosives detonated Thursday in a busy commercial district in Baghdad, killing 18 people. The bombing was reminiscent of attacks seen last year before President Bush ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq. The increase resulted in a decline in violence nationwide.

Twelve U.S. troops have died since Monday, including five who were killed while on foot patrol in the deadliest attack against U.S. soldiers in Baghdad in months.



Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-03-13-iraqnews_N.htm

[bushmeister0]

1. A false premise:

I like this bit:

"The recent spike in violence may feed debate in Washington over whether further troop reductions will leave the U.S. military without enough manpower to hold neighborhoods that had been cleared of militants."

Cleared of militants? They're Iraqis, where are they going to go? The only way to make sure they don't come back is to out live them. Let's just keep sending 19 year-old into Iraq for the next 40 or 50 years, and eventually those militants we've cleared out of their own neighborhoods will die of old age.

Judging by this story, the first thing we should be doing is putting more troops back in. The media has been pushing this line for a year now, that the surge reduced violence in Iraq. The indroduction of troops just happened to coincide with a number of other things going on at the same time; in particular, Jaish al-Mahdi deciding to take a six month vacation and the Baathist/secular Sunni insurgent groups being at the point of exhaustion after a full year of all out war against the Shiites and the Americans. Sure they were willing to take up Patraeus' offer of money and new weapons last year, but once they're retooled and rearmed, our great new buddies -- pardon me, "concerned citizens" -- are going to go right back to their old tricks again.

If we had begun the invasion by giving these guys money instead of firing them and locking them up at Abu Ghraib, maybe it would be a different story, but what makes anyone think these Sheiks and tribal elders are going to forget the 4th ID kicking down their doors and the indicrimate shellings of 03-04?

Pay back is hell. Putting more troops into the mix is just going to lead to more casualties and more violence. Our grace period is almost over, the quicker we get out the better.