In Iraq, 'Enemy Has Evolved'

[Seneca]

In Iraq, 'Enemy Has Evolved'

(CBS/AP) Nearly six months after the fall of Baghdad, U.S. troops are suffering an average of three to six deaths and 40 wounded every week, the commander of American forces in Iraq said Thursday.

"The enemy has evolved — a little bit more lethal, a little more complex, a little more sophisticated, and in some cases, a little bit more tenacious," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. "The evolution is about what we expected to see over time."

American forces are being attacked 15-20 times a day, counting roadside bombs, mostly in Baghdad and the surrounding Sunni strongholds to the west and north of the capital, Sanchez said.

Since May 1, when the U.S. declared the end of major combat, an estimated 90 soldiers have died in combat, according to an Associated Press tally. A total of 314 American service members have died since the war started March 20, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml

[SodoffBush]

1. The Bushies have given them a shitload of time to completely morph

General Shinseki tried to war Rumball that he was going to need more troops, but Rummy baby was too busy trying to privatize base support by artificially keeping the troop count low to care.

You wanted terrorists, you've got 'em, from your own petrie dish.

[bvar22]

2. Bring 'em on!!!!!

<from article>
"The evolution is about what we expected to see over time."
<end>

That sentence troubles me. They told us that we expected mass desertions and parades of grateful Iraqis throwing flowers. No one in the bush*/republican administration, or the Pentagon, stated that six months after shock and awe that we would (or even could) be facing a guerilla war gaining in momentum and sophistication!!!

Is this more revisionism added to the already festering mountain of LIES, or did I just forget that they warned us about this possibility??

[maxsolomon]

4. the administration lied to US, the military didn't

they didn't lie to themselves i hope.

[RIindependent]

3. I am very angry and sad that this is happening.

I can't imagine what it is like to be shot or blown up while walking or driving on patrol. Our fellow Americans have been put in a hell hole. We all know the reasons why so I won't go there. Whenever I read that another GI has died or been wounded and Iraqi civillians have also been killed in the ensueing fire fight, I grieve for our own and the innocent Iraqi's.
Amen.
RIindependent

[Seneca]

5. Welcome to DU, RI

Thanks for posting. We all grieve with you for sure.

[hail to the thief]

6. How do you spell quagmire? I-R-A-Q

This is so not good, we really are in an incredibly dicey situation over there. Thanks Herr's Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz.

[Seneca]

7. Welcome to DU, hail!

Wolfowitz is the real architect of this mess. Every day he is allowed to stay on, is a slap in the face to the soldiers and civilians in Iraq alike. A travesty of a man.

[damnraddem]

8. Not what Dubya or Rummy expected -- at least not ...

what they said they expected.

It's what sensible people expected -- as we warned the chickenhawks before they went in and made the mess. I'm not surprised if many military leaders knew it, too -- but they didn't, or couldn't, effectively voice such knowledge when it mattered.

[hail to the thief]

9. Others are to blame for this as well

Richard Perle ain't too sane either, he's a little to the right of Hitler. Man he is a militant Zionist and it must be burning his insides knowing that the Bush administration is gonna have to get on its knees to get what it NEEDS not wants from the United Nations.

[TahitiNut]

10. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=144595