U.S. to Make New Push For U.N. Support in Iraq
U.S. officials hope approval of latest plans could spark new aid pledges.
And what IS the new plan?
'Sending a Message' With a Show of Force
Rural Iraqi Homes Destroyed in U.S. Offensive
By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 19, 2003; Page A21
TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 18 -- The house of Omar Khalil Ibrahim is a flattened jumble of broken bricks and roofing. Three of his neighbors' homes, still standing, are riddled with big holes made by tank shells that blasted through two or three walls. A dead cow lies rotting beside a broken shed.
The scene in central Iraq was the result of a U.S. military offensive aimed at taking the initiative away from anti-occupation guerrillas. It is using helicopter gunships, tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, as well as an occasional jet strike, unleashing 500-pound bombs and satellite-guided rockets.
One high-ranking commander described it as a "no-holds barred" operation. The targets are suspected hideaways, command centers and safe houses of the elusive guerrillas, U.S. officials said.
"We have to use these capabilities to take that fight to the enemy, and why not?" said Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, which patrols western Iraq. "That's why we use them. They are the right systems."
For all the heavy and sophisticated armaments, the targets in Hawijat al-Ali, a rural hamlet near Tikrit, are small-scale. The houses are single-story structures set within walled rose gardens.
"We were surprised by all the big shooting," said Kafi Khalaf, Ibrahim's wife. "They spent a lot to get rid of our houses."
I guess I'm just in an incredulous frame of mind this morning. I read stuff like:
"We want to pave the way for international acceptance for a new government and get a blessing for its legitimacy. We can't afford to set up a government for failure and let the international community later say it doesn't recognize it," a senior U.S. official said yesterday.
and say to myself, "Oh. You mean like the Chalabi inspired farce that you're trying to replace." I read stuff like:
An administration official added: "In the end, we will need a new resolution to bless our exit strategy. We could go into Iraq without the United Nations, but it'll be much harder to get out and leave behind a viable government if it doesn't have some form of U.N. approval."
and say to myself, "Whut? 'could go into Iraq'?" And we need a blessing to end the occupation, but didn't need one to begin it?
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