Iraqi, US forces overrun insurgent base.

[RaleighNCDUer]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/23/iraq.main/index.html

This is an indication of how well things are going? Well enough that the insurgents are not hiding in bombed out cellars, plotting over guttering candles in their twos and threes, as they've been depicted.

Rather, they are gathered on large base comprising of 100+ insurgents. No matter how you cut it, that is a considerable force. The article mentions the 30 boats, to be used on the nearby lake. And that many fighters would require probably a couple dozen vehicles. This is not a camp that could be overlooked by the locals. If the insurgents are confident enough to gather that big a force in one place, things must be much worse than the MSM and the government are telling us.

[Bob3]

1. I'd take all this with a grain of salt.

They've announced big battles like this before and the stories have not held up over time. There is no reason for the insurgents to be gathered in that large a group. They aren't going to drive the US out of IRAQ by attacking US units in a conventional manner so why do this? It doesn't make sense. Guerrilla's don't have huge bases.

What this could be is that US forces hit one of the local militias/gangs that have sprung up in the wake of the breakdown of Iraq and have presented it as attack against the insurgents.

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. What? CNN stretching the truth? Nahhh. n/t