More Monsters
US Troops have captured a bomb making factory. In it were quantities of chemicals. It is believed the terrorists were planning still more chemical attacks on civilians.
BAGHDAD, Iraq – U.S. troops raided a car bomb factory west of Baghdad with five buildings full of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals the military believes were to be used in bombs, a spokesman said Thursday, a day after insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the chlorine attack Wednesday — the second such "dirty" chemical attack in two days — signaled a change in insurgent tactics, and the military was fighting back with targeted raids.
"What we are seeing is a change in the tactics, but their strategy has not changed. And that's to create high-profile attacks to instill fear and division amongst the Iraqi people," he told CNN. "It's a real crude attempt to raise the terror level by taking and mixing ordinary chemicals with explosive devices, trying to instill that fear within the Iraqi people."
But he suggested the strategy was backfiring by turning public opinion against the insurgents, saying the number of tips provided by Iraqis had doubled in the last six months.
That last sentence I highlighted is important. It also says there is a real chance that the so-called surge has a realistic chance at success. We cannot pull our troops out and leave a genocide in their wake.
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Blue Star Chronicles — February 22, 2007 @ 9:27 pm
By mxh, February 22, 2007 @ 7:15 pm
At this point, you can’t seriously believe that an assertion of “increasing number of tips” is a real metric of success. Just for fun, try Googling “Iraq ‘increasing number of tips’” and see all the hits you get. That line goes all the way back to 2003.
Ditto for claims that the Iraqis are “turning against the insurgents.” Try Googling that phrase and see how many times the military has said that as well.
It’s about as meaningful as being told that we just killed so-and-so’s top lieutenant. Generals toss out vague claims of “we’re winning” at about the same rate that coaches say that they’re taking it “one game at a time.” Sorry, but reading anything real into it Gen. Caldwell’s statement is just digging for a pony.