Another U.S. Military Operation, More Unrest

[Hissyspit]

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/26065

Another U.S. Military Operation, More Unrest
Submitted by Chip on Fri, 2007-08-24 22:38
Another U.S. Military Operation, More Unrest
By Ali al-Fadhily* | Inter Press Service

New U.S. military operations across Iraq appear to be worsening the situation.

On Aug. 13 about 16,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops began a massive new military operation north of Baghdad. According to the U.S. military, the goal of the operation, named Lightning Hammer, is to "target insurgents who have fled a crackdown in the restive city of Baquba."

The operation is part of a larger military offensive, Operation Phantom Strike, whose goal is "to disrupt al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shia extremist operations in Iraq." Both operations have included extensive use of air strikes. Many residents speak with bitterness about the operations and the language used to describe tem.

"This is not the first time that we have heard nice words about military operations that they say aim for our security and prosperity," 50-year-old teacher Kassim Hussein told IPS in Baghdad. "Yet every time it was more killing, sieges and poverty. It is a war that we did not have to fight, but we are the biggest losers every time it is ignited by the Americans."

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But many Iraqis recall U.S. military offensives in Fallujah (60 km west of Baghdad), al-Qa'im (400 km northwest of Baghdad), Haditha (240 km northwest of Baghdad) and other cities practically destroyed under the flag of fighting terror.

"I have no house now because of another phantom operation in my city," Hamid Salman, a retired government worker from Fallujah told IPS in Baghdad. "I have to live with my brother in his small house here in Baghdad, and tens of thousands of Fallujah people are suffering the same situation. That was all the American ghosts and furies did for us."

According to an Aug. 19 air power summary from the U.S. Air Force, a B-1 bomber destroyed three buildings in Baghdad, and F-16 fighter jets dropped guided munitions and fired cannon rounds in Baghdad and Iskandariyah (40 km south of Baghdad). A total of 68 air support missions were flown in Iraq that day alone.

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[ConsAreLiars]

1. Destroying the country "in order to save it"

for imperialist exploitation. An old story, tragically repeated.