American Troops Playing Whack-A-Mole In Iraq

It seems that American troops are playing whack-a-mole in Iraq. With forces already spread far too thin trying to improve the situation in Baghdad, the general commanding forces in Diyala Province needs more troops.

The U.S. military commander in charge of northern Iraqi operations today said more troops are needed to stem rising insurgent violence in Diyala province. "I do not have enough soldiers right now in Diyala province to get that security situation moving," said Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, commander of the 25th Infantry Division.

It would appear that whatever negligible improvements are being made in Badhdad may just indicate that the insurgents have moved to areas that aren't as secure.

Roughly half of the U.S. deaths occurred in Baghdad, the remainder in the volatile Anbar and Diyala provinces. Diyala has seen an increase in violence since the security plan got underway, much of which officials attribute to "squirters," or insurgents leaving Baghdad on the heels of the crackdown.

The problem remains that the Bush/Rumsfeld plan for doing this adventure with too few troops and without an effective strategy is a total failure. The only way to make this work is increase the troop levels and stay for 1-2 more years.

Politically that's a non-starter. Bush has had years to get this done and the American people are finished with this chapter in the history books that should be titled "Between Iraq And A Hard Place: How Bush Wasted His Presidency".

What we need is a leader that could convince America that 75,000 more troops and 1-2 more years are needed to secure Iraq and neutralize Iran. Unfortunately, all we have is George W. Bush and all his political capital is spent and his credibility on Iraq is gone.

Jim Martin