"Operation Forward Together": Deeper Into the Quagmire

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June 19, 2006
"Operation Forward Together": Deeper Into the Quagmire

By Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000406.php#more

Monday 19 June 2006

On Tuesday, June 13th, while Mr. Bush spent a brave five hours in the "green zone" of Baghdad with puppet Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, at least 36 people were killed across Iraq amidst a wave of bombings . . .

The very next day, not coincidentally, Maliki instituted the biggest security crackdown in the capital city since the US invaded Iraq, dubbed "Operation Forward Together . . .

Just after "The Operation" began, a car bomb detonated, killing one person while wounding five others. Major General Mahdi al-Gharrawi who commands "public order forces" under the deadly umbrella of the controversial Interior Ministry, made a statement for which George Orwell would have been proud: "Baghdad is divided according to geographical area, and we know the al-Qaeda leaders in each area," he told reporters. "We are expecting clashes will erupt in the predominantly Sunni areas." So Sunnis in Iraq, according to Gharrawi, are tied to al-Qaeda.

Lest we forget, the Iraqi "army" ran a similar draconian security crackdown in Baghdad in May 2005 called "Operation Lightning." That one, too, was tens of thousands of Iraqi "police" and "soldiers" backed by American troops and air support. That operation, rather than quell violence in the capital, effectively alienated the Sunni populations in the city due to rampant death squad activities, mass detentions and heavy-handed tactics. Civilians across Baghdad complained about the mass detentions, random violence and torture meted out by the death squads during that "operation." And we see how well that operation managed to improve security in Baghdad over the last year.

So here we go again - only this time with even more troops, raiding even more homes, manning more checkpoints, and of course more death squads operating - with backup support from American soldiers, and of course their air strikes . . .


MUST READ: http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/hard_news/archives/newscommentary/000406.php#more

[dflprincess]

1. Knee deep in the big muddy

and the fool keeps dragging us on.

[WeWuzRobbed]

2. Let's get out of there...

We can't win and everyone knows it. We need to turn tail and get the heck out of there. Osama Bin Laden is the only real terrorist in the world and if we can ever catch him - terrorism we'll be over!

Our biggest problem is global warming and the Bush Administration is not doing a damn thing about it! At least Al Gore made a movie about it - that's more than you can say Bush has done!

[newyawker99]

3. Hi WeWuzRobbed!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast: