On Track To Victory
Entering the sixth year of occupation of Iraq, the United States harrumphs its successes and its expectations for the future. In an address to Americans, President Bush urged his public to have faith. So much has been accomplished. So much more is yet to be accomplished. The death toll of American soldiers on the road to that accomplishment has finally reached 4000. And counting.The last months of 2007 saw a huge improvement in the situation in Iraq, thanks to the U.S. "troop surge". Thanks also to the Sunni tribal chiefs who saw fit to turn against al-Qaeda in Iraq for their indiscriminate murder of Sunni as well as Shia Muslims. The Mahdi militia of Muqtada al Sadr has been quiescent by order. The sectarian horror of violent killing between Sunni and Shia in their cleansing frenzy had abated.
So, on the cusp of year 6, violence of a more troublesome nature has begun, once again, to rear its bloodstained head. Too soon, perhaps, the celebration of "only" 500 Iraqis a month being murdered as opposed to the more customary 4000 each month. Too soon, too, to entice the millions of displaced Iraqis to return home; those who sought refuge abroad, and those who live tenuously within the country, unable to return to homes occupied by others.
Baghdad's protected "Green Zone" has come under heavy and repeated rocket and mortar attacks. Where the U.S. Embassy compound is located. Where the Iraqi government holds court. Where favoured and wealthy Iraqi citizens are domiciled in relative safety and comfort. These attacks were but a parcel within the greater increase of violence in the capital city.
In Mosul, a suicide truck bomber killed 15 Iraqi soldiers, wounding 45 people on an army base. The sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia, once abated with the reality of ethnic cleansing of neighbourhoods fulfilled, has been re-ignited. Gunmen in 3 vehicles opened fire on pedestrians in a mixed district, killing 7, wounding 16. Katyusha rockets hitting two Baghdad neighbourhoods killed 5 people.
In the Green Zone, sirens warned people to take cover, among the government ministries and diplomatic missions. The U.S. military claims to have killed 12 insurgents in a raid: "six of the terrorists killed had shaved their bodies, which is consistent with final preparation for suicide operations" said a spokesperson.
People are just dying to kill themselves. And a whole lot of others in the process.
Labels: Middle East, Terrorism, World Crises
posted by Pieface @ Monday, March 24, 2008
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