BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Some 1,500 more U.S. troops have arrived inThis can't be a good development on the road to democracy and peace can it?
Iraq to help with the war against Sunni Arab rebels, including al Qaeda Islamist militants, in the western desert province of Anbar, the military said on Tuesday.
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"Two battalion task forces of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division have moved into Iraq to assist in re-establishing the conditions necessary to enable effective local and provincial governance and providing additional security for the people of Al Anbar province," it said in a statement.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
I Forget: Is It As They Stand Up, We Do What?
What was it that the W, Rove and Co talking heads were saying about standing up and standing down? Or am I getting things mixed up with some kind of artificial time lines that I created in my own head?
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[A]m I getting things mixed up with some kind of artificial time lines that I created in my own head?
That's a prescient observation. The intention is to conflate what the public thinks it knows with what Uncle would like you to think you know, seemingly adding to your knowledge when in fact doing the opposite. Note the number of dimensionsless parameters in the military's statement.
''Two battalion task forces of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division have moved into Iraq to assist in re-establishing the conditions necessary to enable effective local and provincial governance and providing additional security for the people of Al Anbar province ...''
1. Define the 'conditions' that are being 're-established.' When were those conditions last provided and by whom?
2. Define 'effective' 'local' and 'provincial' 'governance'. When were those conditions last provided and by whom? Does effective mean sharia? or women's liberation? Does effective mean jobs or electricity, water and sewer, or more locally-grown food or 10-cent gasoline?
As for 'providing additional security' for the people, that's the prime responsibility of any invading force. When did Uncle last provide security? We never had enough troops in-country to provide security to the civilian population.
How big is Al Anbar province? How many people does it contain? How is 'security' measured? How good was the 'security' situation (murders/day?) when last good security existed. How bad is the security situation today? What constitutes success? Does it mean less Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence or fewer attacks on US forces?
3. Who is the 1st Armored Division 'assisting.' What are the locals doing to help themselves? How are they doing it? How are we going to help?
What the military's statement means is that things are going to hell in a handbasket and we're trying to salvage the situation by putting in more troops.
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