General: N. Iraq has become more violent

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_northerniraq_071119/%2e">General: N. Iraq has become more violent

By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Nov 19, 2007 11:47:06 EST

Despite a decline in violence in Iraq, northern Iraq
has become more violent than other regions as al-
Qaida and other militants move there to avoid
coalition operations elsewhere, the region’s top U.S.
commander said Monday.

Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling said al-Qaida cells
still operate in all the key cities in the north.

“What you’re seeing is the enemy shifting,” he told
Pentagon reporters in a video conference from
outside Tikrit in northern Iraq.

Hertling said militants have been pushed east to his
area from Anbar by the so-called Awakening
movement, in which local tribes have allied with the
coalition against al-Qaida. Others have been pushed
north to his area from the Baghdad region, where
this year’s U.S. troop surge has made more
operations possible.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_northerniraq_071119/%2e

[sabra]

1. whack a mole n/t

[Teaser]

3. Once the surge ends...

I really do wonder what people will say as the "moles" go back to their former haunts.

I don't think the violence will ever be worse than it was through most of 2007 (due to the factors we've all discussed before), but it WILL go up. What's strange is that Bush timed the surge to start ending well before he leaves office. That's a lot of months of increased casualty reports.

So, one wonders, why did the adminstration time it such? Why didn't they wait a few more months before starting it?

[yardwork]

2. I guess we're going to have to invade it!

Wait.