Iraq: Blair brings shame on everyone who voted for him
db: First up read below Major Gen. Lynch and a Reuters story titled 'US says W. Iraq operations to run until election' then click on the link below it that will take you to a transcript of Bush's speech this morning at the National Endowment for Democracy.
These are the people our PM - Tony Blair - follows. They have not a clue. Neither does he. Blair brings shame on the UK, and yet we voted for him THREE times. Shame on us.
reuters: A series of U.S. military strikes in western Iraq will continue at least until December to try to stop insurgents entering from Syria before a general election, the top U.S. army spokesman in Iraq said on Thursday.
"We're going to fight our way to the referendum, and we're going to fight our way to the election," Major General Rick Lynch told a news conference, referring to an October 15 referendum on a new Iraqi constitution and the December parliamentary vote.
U.S. forces launched a wave of assaults in Iraq's Euphrates valley in late September, with new operations getting under way in October.
Washington and Baghdad see the stretch of the Euphrates valley running from the Syrian border to the town of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, as the main entry route for arms and insurgents before they spread across the country.
Iraq is entering a busy political period, with the referendum on the contentious new constitution due to be followed swiftly by the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein on October 19, and the parliamentary election in December.
Lynch said he expected an increase in violence as the referendum approaches. A bomb attack on a mosque in the southern town of Hilla killed at least 25 people on Wednesday.
Iraq's government is dominated by southern Shi'ites and northern Kurds, who believe they have most to gain if the constitution is adopted, and broadly support it.
But the charter is fiercely opposed by many Sunni Arabs, who make up just 20 percent of the population but dominated Iraq under Saddam and for decades before him.
Sunnis are leading the insurgency against the government and its U.S. backers, and Lynch said there were now 4,800 U.S. forces and 4,200 Iraqi troops taking part in the Euphrates valley operations to target them.
IRON FIST, RIVER GATE
The two biggest assaults are Operation Iron Fist, concentrated around the town of Si'ida some 12 km (seven miles) from the Syrian border, and Operation River Gate, in the central Euphrates valley.
"Operations continue and operations will continue through to the election," Lynch said, adding that they had three main aims:
"That we deny terrorists and foreign fighters the Euphrates river valley as an avenue of approach into Iraq; that we deny any safe havens to the insurgency along the Euphrates river valley; and we ... allow the Iraqi government to re-establish control over their border with Syria."
Syria denies that its border is an easy entry point for insurgents heading to Baghdad and other cities, but Washington has warned that it is running out of patience with Damascus.
Lynch said one strategy of Operation River Gate was to destroy some of the bridges over the Euphrates, reducing the number of possible crossing points and keeping the remaining ones under the control of U.S. or Iraqi forces.
He showed pictures of three bridges with their central sections missing, saying they were at the towns of Dulab, Barwana and Haditha. He added that the central spans had been destroyed by precision bombing.
"There were 12 bridges from the Syrian border to Ramadi. Were is the operative term," he said.
"There are now four. Those four that remain are under the control of the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces." Link
Transcript: Bush Discusses War on Terrorism
These are the people our PM - Tony Blair - follows. They have not a clue. Neither does he. Blair brings shame on the UK, and yet we voted for him THREE times. Shame on us.
reuters: A series of U.S. military strikes in western Iraq will continue at least until December to try to stop insurgents entering from Syria before a general election, the top U.S. army spokesman in Iraq said on Thursday.
"We're going to fight our way to the referendum, and we're going to fight our way to the election," Major General Rick Lynch told a news conference, referring to an October 15 referendum on a new Iraqi constitution and the December parliamentary vote.
U.S. forces launched a wave of assaults in Iraq's Euphrates valley in late September, with new operations getting under way in October.
Washington and Baghdad see the stretch of the Euphrates valley running from the Syrian border to the town of Ramadi, 110 km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, as the main entry route for arms and insurgents before they spread across the country.
Iraq is entering a busy political period, with the referendum on the contentious new constitution due to be followed swiftly by the trial of ousted leader Saddam Hussein on October 19, and the parliamentary election in December.
Lynch said he expected an increase in violence as the referendum approaches. A bomb attack on a mosque in the southern town of Hilla killed at least 25 people on Wednesday.
Iraq's government is dominated by southern Shi'ites and northern Kurds, who believe they have most to gain if the constitution is adopted, and broadly support it.
But the charter is fiercely opposed by many Sunni Arabs, who make up just 20 percent of the population but dominated Iraq under Saddam and for decades before him.
Sunnis are leading the insurgency against the government and its U.S. backers, and Lynch said there were now 4,800 U.S. forces and 4,200 Iraqi troops taking part in the Euphrates valley operations to target them.
IRON FIST, RIVER GATE
The two biggest assaults are Operation Iron Fist, concentrated around the town of Si'ida some 12 km (seven miles) from the Syrian border, and Operation River Gate, in the central Euphrates valley.
"Operations continue and operations will continue through to the election," Lynch said, adding that they had three main aims:
"That we deny terrorists and foreign fighters the Euphrates river valley as an avenue of approach into Iraq; that we deny any safe havens to the insurgency along the Euphrates river valley; and we ... allow the Iraqi government to re-establish control over their border with Syria."
Syria denies that its border is an easy entry point for insurgents heading to Baghdad and other cities, but Washington has warned that it is running out of patience with Damascus.
Lynch said one strategy of Operation River Gate was to destroy some of the bridges over the Euphrates, reducing the number of possible crossing points and keeping the remaining ones under the control of U.S. or Iraqi forces.
He showed pictures of three bridges with their central sections missing, saying they were at the towns of Dulab, Barwana and Haditha. He added that the central spans had been destroyed by precision bombing.
"There were 12 bridges from the Syrian border to Ramadi. Were is the operative term," he said.
"There are now four. Those four that remain are under the control of the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces." Link
Transcript: Bush Discusses War on Terrorism
posted by exoplanet at 9:40 PM
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