Iraq Surge Failing

Despair stalks Baghdad as plan falters

By Andrew North BBC News, Baghdad

The US surge involves intelligence-led raids to track down militants

Trying to get into the centre of Baghdad earlier this week offered one view of how far away the Americans and Iraqi authorities are from gaining control here.

We were at the airport. Just before we were due to leave, the entrance car park was hit by a car bomb.

US troops and private security forces who guard the perimeter locked the whole area down for the next four hours. No traffic was allowed in or out.

While we waited with scores of other vehicles, mortars were fired at the airport. Fortunately for us they landed on the other side of the runway, plumes of smoke shooting into the air.

You won't have heard about any of this because at the same time a series of other far more serious attacks was taking place.

One was at the Sadriya market in the city centre, where a massive car bomb killed more than 140 people.

The Sunni extremist surge seems to be having more effect than the American one.

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Dems and Bush's "Surge"

From MSNBC Newsweek World News:

You Cannot Solve This Problem Militarily according to Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, second in command in Iraq, about the challenges going forward...

The Democrats, however, may be pressed into immediate action. Republican insiders think the Dems, once faced with funding votes, won't dare to vote "no," and that even the idea of attaching conditions to further spending could fail if conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats balk.

They'll face particularly urgent calls if the president proposes a surge in the number of American troops in Iraq as part of the "Way Forward" plan. Announcing his presidential candidacy, former Sen. John Edwards—a reluctant war supporter turned foe—branded escalation a "huge mistake." Pelosi & Co. agree—and, soon, they can show just how much they are willing to risk to prove it.

Read the full article here.

theteach :)

According to Mark Kukis reporting from Baghdad for Time .com American plans for a "surge" in military strength may be too late for the Iraqi capital, where Shi'ite militias are advancing steadily. You can read the article here.

There's an affecting audio report by Kukis from Baghdad that begins: "The pace of sectarian violence in the city continues to increase. Each day brings reports of dozens more people who've been murdered."

If you're not convinced we shouldn't send any more of our men to Iraq please listen to Kukis's report.

Mark Kukis is the author of My Heart Became Attached: The Strange Journey of John Walker Lindh. Lindh is the infamous American who joined the Taliban and was captured in Afghanistan during 2001 and who was tried and imprisoned for 20 years.

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