"The government declined to give a reason for the curfew and did not say whether it was linked to the detention. Authorities had never before banned walking in Baghdad, and the order may indicate fears that Sunni radicals might respond violently."
Unprecedented since the beginning of the war. We have surged troops into Baghdad over the past month as part of "Together Forward" and even then we have seen the most violent two weeks in Baghdad and most unstable security situation there since the war began.
And just yesterday we produced yet another delusional PR assessment of the situation saying something to the effect that al Qaeda in Iraq has been seriously crippled back in June with the death of Zarqawi.
The picture of a senior American military official trying to spin al Qaeda as being on the ropes at the end of the two most violent weeks in Baghdad's modern history, as American forces and Iraqi units have been surged into Baghdad to battle for the fate of Iraq, after a week where it was announced that plans were being made to seal off Baghdad in every direction by building a "virutal moat" of trenches and checkpoints, and on the day a massive attack against the Green Zone was being uncovered that was so serious that for the first time a last-minute curfew was suddenly announced that covers not only vehicles, but also all pedestrian traffic, threatening people who leave their homes with being shot on sight . . .
There is only one way to describe such a spin on the situation.
Delusional.
Very few people appreciate how bad this could get.
Thanks for the info. You paint a pretty bleak picture.
It is possible that the "Tet Offensive" of Iraq is about to occur. If so, I would expect it to be timed to peak around the "Night of Power" towards the end of Ramadan.
That would mean the next four weeks is when the war in Iraq will be won or lost. It is also possible that various other hot spots around the world will erupt at the same time. A coordinated combination of events is quite possible, even probable. The bad guys DO talk to each other, and they are quite capable of planning.
But no matter how badly things go in Iraq (and/or the rest of the world) in the next four weeks, the worst thing we can do is cut and run. Remember, we WON the battles of Tet. But because of TET the U.S. media/liberals/democrats lost heart, and the war was lost.
Military victory in Iraq is not assured. But we would not have to lose militarily in Iraq. All it would take is for the Democrats to take power in the next election. That election hangs by a thread. If we fail in Iraq, militarily or because of the loss of political will, the consequences will be devasting for the whole world.
Failure in Iraq will quickly lead to the worst war the world has ever seen. On one side will be a primitive barbarian ideology/religion armed with weapons and know-how they got from their opponents. On the other side will be a soft and decadent civilization that is barely willing to defend itself.