Quote:
Originally Posted by djnemo65
It just seemed to me that you were suggesting that, with the notable exception of Baghdad, things are pretty much going according to plan, and I dont think thats the case.
|
I too have a lot of friends in the Army who are serving or have served in Iraq. My understanding is that the fighting is pretty much limited to the areas surrounding Baghdad and the Anbar province - essentially the Sunni triangle. You can tell that this is true by simply looking at the casualty reports and looking at where the soldiers were killed.
In the North, the Kurds have been and continue to run their own show. The Kurdish North is pretty much its own state and the Kurds are actually quite friendly to the U.S. It's no wonder that they are friendly towards us since the only thing that keeps them from getting annhilated by countries like Turkey is the United States.
As for the South, it too is pretty pacific. The Shiites are pretty much doing their own thing. That is not good for U.S. interests, but they're pretty happy. For decades the Shiites were "on the run" under Saddam and now they are running the show.
The problem areas are most in and around Baghdad. That shouldn't come as a big surprise considering it is the most ethnically heterogeneous part of the country - Shiites killing Sunnis, Sunnis killing Shiites, Americans killing terrorists, terrorists killing Americans, civilians getting caught in the crossfire.
I highly doubt the Baghdad security plan will work, but it's targeting the "trouble spot."