Posted on 08/06/2005 8:46:18 PM PDT by WJHII
Who’s Killing Our Boys By William John Hagan
Houston Home Journal Warner Robins, GA 08/10/2005
One third of the 1,402 American Soldiers killed by hostile fire have died as a result of “roadside bombs” or what the US military, euphemistically, refers to as Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). While, at the beginning of the American Occupation of Iraq, the term improvised appeared to describe these devices, this is no longer the case. In the past few months, it has become clear that these IEDs are no longer the makeshift bombs of the early insurgency, but sophisticated factory-manufactured weapons from a deadly source.
On July 24th, one of these new generation IEDs was used to kill four soldiers with the Georgia National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team. The bomb contained 600 pounds of explosives buried beneath a roadside in South Baghdad. An additional four soldiers were killed, six days later, by a similar 500 pound bomb that was buried under a Baghdad Street. According to Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, Commander of the Georgia Brigade, his men had discovered about a dozen other bombs in the area. It is clear that these attacks took place with obvious complicity of the residents of South Baghdad. In the densely populated confines of South Baghdad, it would be impossible to bury dozens of half ton explosives under public roads without locals witnessing the events. We’re taking about major road work. The transgressions of these internal assaults become compounded when one realizes that we are not just fighting an internal insurgency but a well-financed foreign campaign to keep Iraq in tatters.
The IEDs, now being used in Iraq, are being supplied by Iran. As recently as last week, a large shipment of IEDs were captured as they entered Iraq from Iran. In direct response, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave a glaring critique about Tehran’s “meddling” in Iraqi affairs.
There are two reasons why Iran wants to keep the Untied States bogged down in Iraq: A successful Iraqi insurgency increases the chance that the United States will be forced into a Vietnam-like withdrawal from Iraq. Such a scenario would leave the Iranian government in a good position to bring Iraq’s Shiite majority into its sphere of influence. More importantly, the success of the insurgency decreases the likelihood that the United States will have the manpower left to expand the War on Terror to Iran.
If the United States plans to leave a democratic Iraq in its wake; then, it is left with no choice but to deal militarily with the Iranian theocracy that is threatening mid-East stability. According to a May 15th article in the Washington Post, the military has a classified contingency plan, known as COMPLAN 8022-22. This strategy is designed to strike Iran in response to "imminent" threats, using both conventional and possibly nuclear weapons against Iranian targets, without involving ground forces in the initial stages. This operation would be similar in nature to President Clinton’s war against Serbia. A source with close ties to the NSA and the former Carter administration also confirmed for me that in June 2004 the United States began preparations for such an attack on Iran with war exercises that included the majority of the US Carrier Fleet and the 6th Maine Expeditionary Unit. Publicly, the operation was know as Summer Pulse’04, which the Navy described as preparation for “a national emergency or crisis”. It seems that Iran’s current meddling in Iraqi affairs may leave the Bush administration with no choice but to take military action against Iran. The Iran Government should be well advised to consider this before assisting in the murder of any future US troops in Iraq.
Letters to the editor can be e-mailed to: hhj@evansnewspapers.com
William John Hagan can be visited on the web at: http://williamjohnhagan.blogspot.com
"This is why we need to be treating Iraq as a War and not a building project."
Perfectly worded.
"BEEF UP THE IRAQI MILITARY NOW"
Downside: Half or so of the weapons we give to their military are used against their military or us.... or dropped when they hear the first shot.
And there's no way that we can invade Syria or Iran
We don't need to. Diplomacy with air strikes.
LOL!!
Oh they figured it out alright, its just that Bush doesn't have the political capital or leadership ability required to start another war in Iran.
IMO the administration’s policy is to ignore Iran hoping the situation doesn't get any worse, while trying to end the insurgency despite Iran's efforts.
Had we taken out Saddam in late 2001/early 2002 without stopping for nation building, Bush could have pulled off toppling Iran. The WOT has been dragged out for far too long and been hampered by too much PC. Poltical Correctness has sapped the will of the war's supporters and emboldened the appeasers.
I can't envision political circumstances that would allow for an attack on Iran without another 1,000+ dead American civilians.
I disagree. The polls are bs and we know it. The people who elected GW know that we have 2 options with the islamists. Civilize them or destroy them. The msm is pushing the peace crowd but it hasn't worked. Nobody paid attention to the protests and nobody pays attention to the commie America haters. If you listen to the polls, we have lost the war and Americans don't support it, but if you talk to Americans they want to pull the troops back and use the heavy artillery.
Too many are falling for that crap. It's not true and you know it so why spread the lie.
yup, there's a LOT we can thank Mr.Peanut for. All of it bad.
Here is a good one.
Well, it must not be too classified if it spread all over the media.
A source with close ties to the NSA and the former Carter administration also confirmed ...
Says it all. Guilt by association. Once a traitor always a traitor.
BEEF UP THE IRAQI MILITARY NOW, UNDER A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT.
Exactly what is it you THINK is going on over there? There are 170,000 trained military and police and more than half of the country is under Iraqi military control.
In the 13 months since sovereignty was given back to the Iraqis, they have had elections, drawn up a constitution with a referendum and another vote scheduled for December.
We have been in country for 28 months, not years. A great deal has been accomplished and things are improving and moving forward every day.
Agreed Justanobody,
But.
My concern is that these polls are the only ones that an Iraqi may ever hear about. I think they NEED to know that we aren't going to get picked apart and defeated by our own leftists.
I feel the situation is coming to a crossroads, and with Iran in the mix, I don't know how many cards GW has to play. He has pleasantly surprised me with most of his actions in the past (except immigration, so far) But he is taking a beating in the MSM.
I can only say, I hope youre right.
"Downside: American people have lost their nerve, will not support a widening of the Mideast battle lines (I hate this fact, but it's true according to polls and our illustrious MSM)"
"Too many are falling for that crap. It's not true and you know it so why spread the lie." (Eagles6)
Eagles,
Just like I said to Justanobody. I hope you're right. And I'm not trying to spread any lie. Belive me, I have intense arguments with leftists all the time (including some in my family) about the rightness of what we are trying to do in Iraq, but I just don't see any indications that a huge block of Americans are truly understanding the link between Iraq and Terrorism.
I write letters to editors frequently in an attempt to support this cause, and all get in response is negative diatrabes. Sometimes even sent to my home. (mystery about how a leftist rag doesn't post my home address, but some people get it anyway, even though I'm not published in the phone book)
I can only hope that we really do have the strength to see this through.
"Oh they figured it out alright, its just that Bush doesn't have the political capital or leadership ability required to start another war in Iran."
In my ignorance, I imagine that I would go directly to the American people with the real story, as Reagan did so often with great success.
Iran is doing this, Iran is doing that, and our soldiers are dying.
Of course, the whacko scumbags would insist that he was lying, but I'll bet enough people would believe him that he could generate the support he needed.
"It is clear that these attacks took place with obvious complicity of the residents of South Baghdad."
My question is, are they complicit, or are they terrorized into silence?
Do they have phones in their homes? How can they tip off the Americans without running the risk that the terrorists will find out about it?
Cell phones are all the rage there. Time to distribute phones to the masses? I dunno.
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