Monday’s widely read and quoted L.A. Times piece Major Assaults on Hold Until After U.S. Vote, is now part of the Kerry campaign Kerry team accuses Bush officials of holding off Iraq action until election.
The problem? Not quite accurate.
U.S. Steps Up Attacks on Iraq Insurgents
From the nature of the joint operations, it’s highly likely that the raids and attacks on militant positions had been in the works for several weeks.
Update: Reader Scott Stark points to an odd item in the third story.
A 12:01 a.m. blast flattened the Haj Hussein restaurant in Fallujah as well as nearby shops, residents said. The restaurant was closed, but two night guards were killed, said Dr. Ahmed Thaer of Fallujah General Hospital.
The U.S. military command in Baghdad did not mention the restaurant but said the target was used as a meeting place for the Tawhid and Jihad terror network, led by Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.He wonders what kind of restaurant would need two night guards? Perhaps it’s the kind that has more than just food and dishes to protect.
Update 2: FINALLY!!! According to Charles Johnson, mosques appear not to be off-limits anymore.
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I would imagine that in Baghdad any successful business would need night guards. Would we assume that in the U.S. a restaurant that had night guards was up to no good? No.
I’m not going to question the military’s intelligence information, especially since they seem to have gotten the Iraqi National Guard onto its feet. But the presence of two guards is not reason for suspicion.
Given the level of violence in Baghdad perhaps there is a logical explanation – like the owner(s) didn’t want the restaurant vandalized and/or looted at night? Just a thought.
I would be gratified if it is true that we are no longer restraining military commanders with rerspect to mosques.
My problem is that the story is quoted from Xinhua, a news service that is likely to report that US forces have just invaded Canada.
It is probably true but a second and third source would be confirmation.
I would imagine that if every business needed night guards the unemployment rate in Baghdad would be much lower!
My main point is that many times we see where Iraqi citizens (or those acting like Iraqi citizens) claim an innocent target was hit, but if we hit a restaurant at night that had night guards, I’m more inclined to believe our side. It’s similar to the “desecrating mosque” argument while insurgents are in the process of desecrating mosques.
Reports of secondary explosions at the restaurant tend to make me doubt the innocence of the owners. And locks, plus maybe a big, mean dog, are lots cheaper than armed guards.
I’m just sayin’….
Getting a bunch of strikes in before Ramadan perhaps?
It’s a good thing mosques aren’t off-limits anymore. As we saw last week in the Israel-Palestine conflict, at least some Palestinian terrorists are shamelessly storing/hiding weapons in mosques. Now, I don’t think that just any mosque should be attacked. Only those that are known to be little more than armories for terrorists should be. (And yes, if this were, say, militant Christians out in Montana using a church to hide weapons, I’d support targetting the church, too.)
Two points: 1) If you had a restaurant in Iraq, you just might want a guard at night right now. Still, totally irrelevant to the fact that it is a war zone, people die – and it probably was a good hit. 2) I wouldn’t be surprised if the administration didn’t leak word a day or two ago that actions would be delayed. In a CNN world, it’s now part of the psy-ops to get resistance to drop its guard. If the Dems siezed upon it, mistakenly – that’s either a fortunate double win – or Karl Rove kicks ass at home AND abroad! lol
On the other hand, should the pace of the attacks on the insurgents continue to accelerate, look for the Kerry campaign to accuse the Bush administration of something sinister in that as well.
I’m glad we’re attacking their mosques. They don’t seem to mind blowing up our buildings.
Have you ever noticed how similar John Kerry looks to Osama Bin Laden?
Speaking of mosques: here
I’ll bet LAT woke up feeling like they’d been Roved. After a purely partisan piece asserting that the US was holding off operations until after the elctions, what’s their follow-up going to be? Guess it’s time to run another UBL has been held for months, just waiting the perfect timing on announcing his capture.
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