Good Point

A combined force of 800 U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces launched simultaneous raids yesterday near Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of the capital.

"We're expecting a bit of an increase in activity in Ramadan. So we're just trying to clean the area out as a preventive measure," said Capt. Marshall Jackson, spokesman for the Army's 1st Infantry Division, responsible for the Baqouba region.

Yeah, see, they're fine with the current level of "activity"; which is why there haven't been any attempts before now to "clean the area out", or to "remind the town that we have teeth and claws and we will use them", or to "pacify" certain cities, or conduct "precision strikes", or any suchlike. But, a "bit of an increase" in "activity", well, we can't have that.

Posted by Eddie Tews at October 14, 2004 05:22 PM