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Tall Afar

Disagreeable

Well-known member
President Bush gave a speech using Tall Afar as a success story in Iraq. It should be peaceful, with a ratio of 1 soldier for every 50 residents! But when they decided to let reporters actually go to Tall Afar, it seems to not exactly be the success story President Bush claimed. Excerpts, link to full article below; my emphasis.

“At last, President Bush had news he could use from Iraq. He devoted an entire speech in Cleveland last week to the story of how the town of Tall Afar was wrested from Qaeda control and has become a model for defeating the enemy. Praise came not just from the administration; CBS's "60 Minutes" ran a glowing segment on what had been accomplished under Col. H. R. McMaster and his Third Armored Cavalry. McMaster, author of a celebrated book, "Dereliction of Duty," a critical look at how the U.S. military and its leaders got it wrong in Vietnam, made the rounds of the airwaves about how they're now getting it right in Iraq. Tall Afar, said the president, "is today a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."


“The rise of sectarian feelings, after the terrorist bombing of the Shia shrine in Samarra, has complicated matters in Tall Afar as well—though protests there remained peaceful, and there were no reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques, as elsewhere in Iraq. The president's speech suggested Tall Afar was on the verge of being handed back to the Iraqis, but no one on the ground now expects that to happen soon. "There will be American troops in and around Tall Afar at least for the better part of the coming year," said Col. MacFarland. That's good news to Mayor Najim Abdullah al Jubori, who said he was so proud to hear President Bush mention him and his letter that "I could have flown without wings." But to be honest, he went on to explain, the point of his letter was actually a plea to Casey to keep American troops here even longer—not proof of a strategy that will, sooner or later, allow Americans to pull out.”


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12016224/site/newsweek/
 
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