Military Confirms Surge in Airstrikes

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 24, 2005

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq have surged this fall, jumping to nearly five times the average monthly rate earlier in the year, according to U.S. military figures.

Until the end of August, U.S. warplanes were conducting about 25 strikes a month. The number rose to 62 in September, then to 122 in October and 120 in November.

Several U.S. officers involved in operations in Iraq attributed much of the increase to a series of ground offensives in western Anbar province. Those offensives, conducted by U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces, were aimed at clearing foreign fighters and other insurgents from the Euphrates River Valley and establishing Iraqi control over the Syrian border area.

But Air Force Maj. Gen. Allen G. Peck, deputy commander of the U.S. air operations center in the region, said the higher strike numbers also reflected more aggressive military operations in other parts of Iraq that were undertaken to improve security for last week's national elections.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/23/AR2005122301473.html


Isn't it a war crime for an occupying power to use airstrikes on civilian populations? This is not an approved method for maintaining law and order.

[PDJane]

1. Yes, it is.

The faster this bunch get to Neuremburg, the faster the US can work on repairing a damaged reputation.

[saigon68]

5. AF Colonel to his pilots

"Well troops"---- "let's get out there this Christmas and Blast a few of those fucking(insert racial epithet here) heads into bite sized chunks for the dogs"

[spinbaby]

2. Things are going better in Iraq

Oh yes they are:mad:

[pinniped]

3. Less troops, more airstrikes.

Rummy the Dummy's formula for success.

[DemonFighterLives]

4. Really brightens the Holidays

More Bloody Slogging!
This crap must end!
:banghead:

[Mr Rabble]

6. So Sy Hersh was right again?

Shocking...:sarcasm:

[Barrett808]

7. Yes, the "oil-spot" strategy: the desperate last throes of the occupation

Doomed to failure, as in past wars.

[mom cat]

8. Merry Christmas....not.