October 19, 2006 /

So Will Bush Listen To His Commanders On The Ground?

That is what he keeps saying. Now it is time to put up or shut-up: The American-led crackdown in Baghdad has not succeeded in reducing a “disheartening” level of violence across the capital and a new approach is needed, a military spokesman said today. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the senior spokesman for the […]

That is what he keeps saying. Now it is time to put up or shut-up:

The American-led crackdown in Baghdad has not succeeded in reducing a “disheartening” level of violence across the capital and a new approach is needed, a military spokesman said today.

Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, the senior spokesman for the American military in Iraq, said that the strategy of concentrating on a limited number of highly troubled neighborhoods had not slowed sectarian violence in the city as a whole.

General Caldwell said that attacks in the Baghdad area went up 22 percent during the first three weeks of Ramadan in comparison with the three weeks before.

The crackdown, which began in August, “has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations in sustaining a reduction in the level of violence,” General Caldwell said, adding that American commanders were consulting with the Iraqi government on a change in plans.

How will Bush and Rumsfeld respond to this? I got a feeling it will be the typical “in one ear and out the other”. They have proven time and time again that they only listen to the “troops on the ground” when the troops are saying exactly what they want to hear.

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