US ground forces commander vows to crush insurgents (Sanchez)

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The commander of US-led coalition ground troops in Iraq vowed to crush militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr as well as rebels in the Sunni Fallujah bastion west of Baghdad.

Assessing the security situation in Iraq a year after coalition forces toppled Saddam Hussein, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said Thursday that his forces would not be deterred in their goal to pacify the country ahead of the return of Iraqi sovereignty scheduled for June 30.

"We will retake the city of Kut imminently" from Sadr's Mehdi army militia, Sanchez told a press conference in Baghdad.

A day after routing Ukrainian coalition troops from a position just inside Kut, militiamen from the Mehdi Army claimed to have extended their influence over the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps and the Iraqi police.

"Coalition and Iraqi security forces are conducting deliberate, precise and robust combat operations to separate, isolate and destroy the enemy wherever we find him on the battlefield," Sanchez said.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040408/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_sanchez&cid=1514&ncid=1480

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. why does this sound like

Bomber Harris back in 1920?

[saigon68]

13. A Photo of Our Heroic Leader

He's the little Nerd Nutcase that used to walk around with a shoulder holster and a large pistol protruding from same.

The rig was so tight he looked like a muppet. He would wear this costume to all the news conferences.

He looked like the Resistance Forces were right outside his door, with the intention of boiling him in oil.

[mediaman007]

20. Who the hell is he talking to?

I don't think anyone in the World believes we can "crush the resistance." He doesn't seem to get it. At what price to we make the Iraqis pay for their own "freedom."

If this is representative of our actions in Iraq, we certainly aren't there to give them freedom. They can have only the freedom that America defines.

Keep this guy away from the media. He might be a great fighter, but his world is really skewed.

[otohara]

2. Kill Them All

because if this keeps up, all Iraqi's will be insurgents, loyal to their country

[saigon68]

15. The Sanchez touch of Collateral Damage

Wounded nine-year-old Iraqi girl Ahlam Sa'ad, who was shot in the neck, is carried by medical staff at a small clinic in the embattled town of Falluja April 8, 2004. U.S.-led troops battled Sunni and Shi'ite rebels on Thursday and 11 foreigners were reported kidnapped as Iraq (news - web sites) descended into bloody chaos not seen since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s fall a year ago. Heavy fighting raged in the Sunni town of Falluja, west of Baghdad, in the Shi'ite shrine city of Kerbala and in Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of the capital, witnesses said. Up to 300 Iraqis have been killed and at least 400 hurt in the Sunni town in the four days since U.S. Marines began a crackdown on guerrillas, hospital director Rafi Hayad said. The Marines launched 'Operation Iron Resolve' after last week's killing and mutilation of four U.S. private security guards showed the depth of anti-American feeling in Falluja. REUTERS/Akram

[snooper2]

3. What a Dirty Sanchez

couldn't resist...

[BiggJawn]

9. Been calling him that for months.

"Dirty" Sanchez.
It fits.
Right along with "Hot Karl" Rove.

[saigon68]

17. Dirty Sanchez---That works

More of Sanchez work




An Iraqi man cries over the body of his slain 14-year-old daughter Suad Abdullah at a small clinic in the embattled town of Falluja April 8, 2004. More than 1,400 U.S. Marines have been sent in to quell insurgency in Ramadi and Falluja, two large Sunni Muslim towns west of Baghdad that have been the focal point of the anti-occupation guerrilla war for the past year. REUTERS/Akram Saleh

[bemildred]

4. More proof that fear makes you stupid. nt

[Fenris]

5. Wouldn't that be genocide?

[teryang]

6. As long as there are Americans in the Iraq

...the country will not be "pacified." This is what our side doesn't understand. We have unleashed something that cannot be finished. It's called nationalism. More important than "freedom" historically is the right to national self determination. (This is what Vietnam was all about.) This uprising was a result of the Coalition Authority's determination to form a government and turn over sovereignty while indefinitely postponing elections. The interim government is one of our own creation while we sell the country off to the highest bidders. It has no legitimacy without elections.

We can win every tactical engagement but we will be unable to "pacify" Iraq. McCain says that the insurgency in Iraq is not supported by a superpower. In McCain's mind, N.Vietnam couldn't have defeated us without a superpower. In this he is wrong. There will always be other powers to counter our expansionism by force.

This is asymetric warfare. One has to consider the resources of the Islamic world. Fighters, weapons, money and other support will come surreptitiously from neighboring countries and Arab countries throughout the Arab world. This is a traditional Islamic response. One thing we have to acknowledge is that our undeclared enemies have great financial resources at their disposal. The bulk of the "thugs" as we describe them are leveraged by presence in their own country which costs nothing. They are already there. They know the terrain, language, culture and people and can readily observe our operational patterns because our occupation authority is riddled with sympathizers and our forces stick out like a sore thumb. We are as in Vietnam at the end of a very remote supply chain and know next to nothing about the country we occupied. Events prove that. It is amazing how little Americans learn about a country before they consider themselves knowledgeable. Thus far, the enemy has the numerical and demographic advantage, with the greater supply of young fighters available. The borders cannot be secured without more soldiers. According to Gen. McCaffrey, "there are no more troops to send." This was evident to most, as it was the root of the entire debate about numerical requirements from the outset. When you give all your defense dollars to aerospace contractors, there is no money for fully equipped combat personnel. Some of the national guard are fighting with Vietnam era gear.

But conventional resistance which is occurring now is not even necessary to exact great costs upon us. Covert warfare, sabatoge, mines and booby traps, with the occassional ambushes and assassinations will be enough in the long run. The enemy could vanish back into the population and have its leaders arrested or killed and nothing will change.

[bemildred]

7. "This is what our side doesn't understand."

You have to wonder. They all look pretty sick these days.
Maybe they are just fending off their own political and
professional demise as long as they can ...

[teryang]

8. Rummy and Rice

...are as perky as ever. The generals exhibit resolve and tough talk. This is their role. I haven't been persuaded by anything they have said because they are attempting to fix humpty dumpty.

After you commit murder and mayhem without just cause, there is no fix.

[bemildred]

10. "After you commit murder and mayhem without just cause, there is no fix."

That is true, there is no side exit now. I don't know if that
is the same as "fending off ... demise as long as possible", but
it seems like the same ballpark.

In any case, the main question in my mind at this point is whether
the oligarchy will feel they can leave it to the election, or will
find that they need to get them out of the way sooner. Right now, I
think it is still the former.

[teryang]

14. "Fending off their demise"

Fending off their demise is absolutely right. I think they regard it as a "burn rate" which is sustainable indefinitely in terms of the conflict. Since they regard the resources of the American people as their own and virtually infinite. This is what Vietnam planners thought.

I'm sure they will go on to profit, even if the next election were to be lost. Wars come and go, but the wealthy profiteers go on and on.

Win, lose or draw, war is profitable, for them. The defense "service" contracting business which is virtually the only industry hiring at professional pay levels today (outside of health care) is another constituency for keeping the war going.

[bemildred]

16. Correct on all counts.

I have had a number of inquiries WRT work in defense. Times
are not as good as back in the 80s, but there are jobs to be had
if you have the background. But I think I'm done with that crap.
It was depressing to be around in the best of times, the bullshit
level was very deep. I always mostly liked the troops and worker
bees, but the Officers and managers had a very high asshole
percentage.

The one thing I find optimistic here is the rapidity with which
this particular "splendid little war" is disintegrating.

[saigon68]

11. Dummy and Rummy= War Criminals

[theHandpuppet]

24. What a great post

This deserves to published in newspapers around the country. Thank you.

[Just Me]

27. Yes, our own arrogance stands in the way of reason.

But, it's not just a denial about "technical" power. We also deny that there are other cultures which are as valued by peoples as we ourselves value our own (well,...at least some of us). Significantly, we deny that the Islam faith tends to unite its followers by its core pursuit of social justice.

What most angers me is that this leadership is doing precisely the opposite of what is necessary to bring peace. Instead of providing any proof that it is acting in the best interests of the Iraqi people by involving them in the process of uniting the country and caring for those most vulnerable, they are behaving as oppressors,...they are creating further social injustice which incites the followers of Islam.

[hatrack]

12. President Diem Vows To Crush Insurgents

General Harkens Vows To Crush Insurgents

President Kennedy Vows To Crush Insurgents

Secretary McNamara Vows To Crush Insurgents

Ambassador Lodge Vows To Crush Insurgents

Vice President Ky Vows To Crush Insurgents

President Thieu Vows To Crush Insurgents

President Johnson Vows To Crush Insurgents

General Westmoreland Vows To Crush Insurgents

General Weyand Vows To Crush Insurgents

President Nixon Vows To Crush Insurgents

[teryang]

18. Good one

"Deja vu all over again"

I got a good laugh out of your post.

[hatrack]

21. Thank you, Teryang!! ;-)

Occasionally, being a history geek comes in handy!

[David__77]

23. Indeed, they are already consigned to ignimony.

They will share a common fate of defeat and earned hatred.

[thebigidea]

19. I love the smell of FREEDOM in the morning

http://www.terminalproduct.com/capnpatriot.mp3

[JohnOneillsMemory]

22. From 4 dead mercenaries to 400+ dead Iraqis and 30+dead GIs...right.

[Jose Diablo]

25. Somebody with some sanity at the top level of the Pentagon

needs to yank this cowboy back stateside. These types of people are not the types we want representing and leading our troops.

We shouldn't even be in Iraq, and now this cowboy is acting like some kind of king shit running his mouth. Crap, what a circus. Why does shit seem to float to the top of all organizations?

[The_Casual_Observer]

26. I don't think the military is any position

to make promises like this. I noticed that Kut is going to be secured
"imminently" - what does THAT mean? Sooner than soon but less soon than immediately?

How many times in the next 100 years are going to "retake" these places. Until now, our beloved God blessed stormtroopers were content to hide out in the various Ft. Bushes and take a few losses when they were forced to go out someplace in a convoy. All of a sudden they have to "retake" all the towns. Very inconvenient, dangerous and futile, since, even if they "retake" a town, much like taking your finger out of a glass of water, it will return just as it was before you were there.