It was expected that the surge would trigger a rise in American casualties. The campaign, after all, mobilized thousands of U.S. soldiers out of their large, well-protected _base_s and into the seething neighborhoods that they were now ordered to protect. They were to engage the enemy close-up, and of course more of them- Americans and the enemy-would die in the process. Bush made this equation clear from the outset. But it was not expected-and it can only be read as a sign of the surge's failure-that Iraqi civilian casualties would also rise. The point of the surge was to make the civilian population feel more secure. Yet a Pentagon report released Wednesday reveals that civilian casualties now exceed 100 a day, an all-time high. The insurgents, it turns out, have mounted their own surge, and it seems to be outpacing ours. In a harrowing article in Time magazine, Baghdad bureau chief Bobby Ghosh quotes Brigadier Gen. Joe Ramirez Jr., deputy commander of the U.S. Combined Arms Training Center, as saying, For every move we make, the enemy makes three. ... The enemy changes techniques, tactics, and procedures every two to three weeks. http://www.slate.com/id/2168400/nav/tap1/ and that, paul, is why we learn from military history that one should never reinforce failure. http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sports._base_ball.atlanta-braves.cof...

and that, paul, is why we learn from military history that one should never reinforce failure. It's a good thing Eisenhower didn't know it in December 1944. pzdr TRad

and that, paul, is why we learn from military history that one should never reinforce failure. It's a good thing Eisenhower didn't know it in December 1944. you better believe eisenhower knew it. i suspect eisenhower taught it at the army war college, or whatever they called it then. he may not have been our best strategic or operational thinker (that would be macarthur and patton, respectively), but he knew the basic lessons of clausewitz. in dec '44 he did not reinforce failure. he reinforced strong defensive positions that were in danger of being overrun by the last- ditch effort of a defeated foe. as soon as the enemy's advance ran out of fuel, literally, eisenhower contained it, enveloped it and defeated it in detail. as he told his biographer, the battle of the bulge was a good thing for the allies: if hitler had thrown all his effort into defending the sigfried line, our casualties would have been far higher.

it in detail. as he told his biographer, the battle of the bulge was a good thing for the allies: if hitler had thrown all his effort into defending the sigfried line, our casualties would have been far higher. And what he was supposed to say? That he was caught with his pants down?   That instead of cut and surround Germans (and shortetning the war) he let Monty to stand still? It wasn't his finest hour. But you have similar situation in Iraq. It's still winnable, all it takes is commitment.

it in detail. as he told his biographer, the battle of the bulge was a good thing for the allies: if hitler had thrown all his effort into defending the sigfried line, our casualties would have been far higher. And what he was supposed to say? That he was caught with his pants down?   That instead of cut and surround Germans (and shortetning the war) he let Monty to stand still? It wasn't his finest hour. But you have similar situation in Iraq. It's still winnable, all it takes is commitment. It's all about the Green Lantern for you, huh? s/

it in detail. as he told his biographer, the battle of the bulge was a good thing for the allies: if hitler had thrown all his effort into defending the sigfried line, our casualties would have been far higher. And what he was supposed to say? That he was caught with his pants down?   That instead of cut and surround Germans (and shortetning the war) he let Monty to stand still? It wasn't his finest hour. But you have similar situation in Iraq. It's still winnable, all it takes is commitment. It's all about the Green Lantern for you, huh? I've googled it but don't understand connotation. Sorry, I'm not into comics.