McClatchy: U.S. casualties will rise in next 90 days, commander says

[babylonsister]

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17188499.htm

U.S. casualties will rise in next 90 days, commander says
By Leila Fadel
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military announced the deaths of 11 U.S. soldiers killed in combat along with an embedded journalist Sunday, and Iraqi officials said 163 civilians were killed or injured across the country.

But still more carnage is likely over the next three months as additional U.S. forces arrive in Baghdad under President Bush's troop "surge" because "we're taking the fight to the enemy," a top U.S. military commander warned.

Six of the American soldiers and a journalist working for a Russian publication were killed in Diyala Sunday when a roadside bomb struck the vehicle in which they were traveling, the U.S. military said in a statement. No other details were immediately available.

"There are going to be increased (U.S.) casualties during this surge because we're taking the fight to the enemy," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, 3rd Infantry Division commander who oversees four of the five surge brigades. "We're going to do everything we can do to preclude that from happening."

But he added: "This is indeed combat operations. This is indeed war. And it's against a lethal enemy."

Four of the five brigades expected in Iraq have arrived and the last brigade should be in Iraq by June 1, said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a spokesman for the military.

"It may get harder before it gets easier for the Iraqis," Caldwell said.

more...

[TwilightGardener]

1. I suppose they feel that if they say they EXPECT big casualties,

then we Americans can't get shocked and pissed--'cause, you know, they WARNED us. Assholes.

[liberal renegade]

2. No shit Sherlock!

[Monkeyman]

3. No Shit The Surge is working

:puke: :banghead:

[flyarm]

4. more bodies for * to use for cannon fodder for his greedy friends!

gosh i hate this..how many .."i am sorry for your loss letters" do we have to write??

what is it going to take before every MTF in our congress cuts pissy pants legs off on this war?????

what?/ how many of our kids have to die damn it??

how many??????

how many Iraqi's have to die?? when is it enough blood spillled for these mother fuckers?

I CAN NOT STAND IT ANY LONGER...

i just can't..

fly

[stillcool]

5. So..Now..they're taking the fight to the enemy..

What have they been doing the last four years...just fooling around?

[uppityperson]

6. They've been gathering the enemy in towards them.

Now that the enemy is all in 1 place, they can get rid of them. See? :sarcasm:

[stillcool]

13. ahhh....Kind of like...

Fallujah?

[global1]

14. Who Is The Enemy?.......nt

[Theduckno2]

15. That's what jumped out at me.

Sounds like another turning point to me.

I saw on the news where Vice President Dick "last throes" Cheney crawled out of his hidey hole to meet with the Queen in Virginia.

Think about it: The insurgency was in its "last throes" before we decided to take the fight to the enemy and now things are promised to get worse trying to secure Baghdad. Hmmmm. It gives me a headache. :crazy:

We have to start bringing our troops home.

[Forkboy]

7. Pretty soon the only soldiers available for Bush to use in photo ops..

..will be dead ones.

[Monkeyman]

8. I had to come back

Ok you know I work with the wounded and returning troops for their benefits. Now My Job Sucks but its about to get ten time worse. DOD at the point of when they get wounded do a great job. But when they come back its a total fuck up. VA exec . Got a huge raise when we would be fired if we did that job. There is only one way its to stop this dam war and treat these kids. Not Only their bodies but their minds. Guys this Country is in danger from some of these kids. The Last report on how some feel show that. Ok I let out a rant but had to

[BlooInBloo]

9. It means we're turning a corner! They're in they're last throes! Woohoo!

[tanyev]

10. Safest. Prediction. Ever.

If it's right, you can lament about how sad you are that you were right. If it's wrong, you can go out there and crow about how relieved you are that you were wrong.

[Skittles]

11. 34,900 f***ing times: HARDER BEFORE IT GETS EASIER:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22harder+before+it+gets+easier%22+iraq&btnG=Search

[Dhalgren]

12. "It may get harder before it gets easier for the Iraqis,"

The only question to ask is, "Which Iraqis?" These idiots in "Bush's Personal Army" can't quite get it through their thick skulls that the "enemy" are Iraqis, too. The idea that we are "securing" Iraq by killing Iraqis doesn't seem to cross these morans minds. This is such an obscenity that all attempts at "moderate" solutions are unacceptable. NO MORE FUNDS FOR THIS OCCUPATION! Speaker Pelosi, don't send up another funding bill. Just move on to dealing with the aftermath - and do it right!

[calteacherguy]

16. Unfortunately it is likely going to take a bloody summer to raise the political will to end it.

This is Bush's last card. They have said they expect results by September or October. Once the bloody summer is over with no improvement, they won't have the "it hasn't had a time to work" card to play anymore. The politics of the occupation will change radically at that point, just when the primary season really starts to heat up.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. Oh they'll play it all right. Or they'll have a new wrinkle, like orange uniforms for everyone.. we

need to give THAT 6-9 months to "give it a chance". By then Bush is out the door.

[Forkboy]

18. Too bad those casualties will be the men and women serving..

..and not the fuckers sending them there. :mad: