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Born at the Crest of the Empire

Friday, June 23, 2006

Open street fighting outside the Green Zone

Remember, this in the middle of the joint US-Iraqi "security crackdown" in Baghdad that pulled in troops from all around the country.
The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew Friday after insurgents set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered everyone off the streets of the capital. U.S. and Iraqi forces also fought gunmen in the volatile Dora neighborhood in south Baghdad.

AP Version:
Iraq's government clamped a state of emergency on Baghdad and ordered everyone off the streets Friday after U.S. and Iraqi forces battled insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades and rifles near the heavily fortified Green Zone.

The military also announced the deaths of five more U.S. troops in a particularly violent week for American forces that included the discovery of the brutalized bodies of two soldiers. Twelve U.S. servicemembers have died or been found dead this week.

7 Comments:

  • I'm psyched! The course is going so damn good, I say we stay on it!

    Or at least we can press our hands against our ears and taunt "Nah, nah, nah... I'm not listening!" when those nasty Democrats offer idea after idea on how to secure American lives and stabilize Iraq....

    By Blogger -epm, at 4:17 PM  

  • "Stay the course."

    "Aren't we too close to land, sir?"

    "Stay the course."

    "Don't I hear scraping from the bottom of the hull, sir?"

    "Stay the course...."

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 4:26 PM  

  • I've often wanted to respond to the stay-the-coursers, "You know who else stayed the course? Custer."

    "Stay the course" is the action plan of the weak-minded, uninformed and arrogant. "Stay the course" is an advertisement of predictability to our enemies and makes our servicemen easier targets, and our objects more difficult to achieve.

    Can you imagine the money wrench it would throw into the insurgents plans if we were to re-deploy? If we actually altered our course? Can you image the fire that would light under the ass of the Iraqi politicians if they longer had American fighting men as both shield and excuse?

    By Blogger -epm, at 4:38 PM  

  • Can't resist linking to Pete Seeger's Waist Deep in the Big Muddy here.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:39 PM  

  • EPM, I agree completely.

    That's one of the reasons I'm a strong proponent of a hard timetable withdrawal(even if it's a longer timetable than I'd like.) It would seriously undermine the insurgency's support and would force the Iraqi government to get strong quick. Or it could be their heads.

    And Abi. That's pretty cool.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 5:19 PM  

  • "Can you imagine the money wrench..."

    That should be "monkey wrench"...

    By Blogger -epm, at 10:25 PM  

  • I figured. Don't worry.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 11:17 AM  

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