Yes, May was the third worst month for U.S. soldier deaths (127) in Iraq since the start of the war (the worst since November 2004) and June is starting out just as badly.
Y'see, you put more of our soldiers (surge) into their civil war, you get more young American men and women killed. Not to mention Iraqi civilian slaughter (@ 2000 -- 29% over April).
So how do the Commanders in the field feel about the escalation (surge) so far (NY Times)?:
Three months after the start of the Baghdad security plan that has added thousands of American and Iraqi troops to the capital, they control fewer than one-third of the city’s neighborhoods, far short of the initial goal for the operation, according to some commanders and an internal military assessment...
...while military planners had expected to make greater gains by now, that has not been possible in large part because Iraqi police and army units, which were expected to handle basic security tasks, like manning checkpoints and conducting patrols, have not provided all the forces promised, and in some cases have performed poorly.That is forcing American commanders to conduct operations to remove insurgents from some areas multiple times...
...American commanders have also had to send troops outside the capital, to deal with a sharp rise in violence in Diyala Province and to search for American soldiers kidnapped south of the capital...
Is it a house of cards or too little too late?
Is this political death by a thousand cuts to El Presidente's greatest narcissism project?
Will enough Senators (67 needed) finally stop the madness?
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