What happened to the plan to secure Baghdad?
Remember back in July when President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced a bold new plan for victory in Iraq? Their idea was to move additional U.S. troops to Baghdad in an attempt to pacify the capital. “Conditions change inside a country,” Bush said in July. “And the question is: Are we going ...
Remember back in July when President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced a bold new plan for victory in Iraq? Their idea was to move additional U.S. troops to Baghdad in an attempt to pacify the capital. "Conditions change inside a country," Bush said in July. "And the question is: Are we going to be facile enough to change with [them]? Will we be nimble enough? Will we be able to deal with the circumstances on the ground?"
“The answer,” Bush said then, “is yes.” He couldn’t have been more wrong. Since mid-summer, attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad have increased by 43 percent.
Yesterday, addressing the rising level of violence, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had this to say:
Certainly, seeing the violence on television is a temptation for people to wonder: How will it end?”
Well, Don, it’s your job to answer that question. What’s the plan now, Mr. Secretary?
UPDATE (6:01pm): Today a military spokesman said the plan to secure Baghdad has failed and a new focus may be needed.
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