American Forces Abandon Positions In Al-Anbar
by Ian Mosley
In the light of such far more important issues as the presidential primaries, the sub-prime home mortgage breakdown and Britney Spears’ latest mental breakdown, the war in Iraq has almost completely vanished from the news.
The neocons have been using the let up in pressure and scrutiny to begin erecting a myth of “victory in Iraq.” Meanwhile, US forces are abandoning province after province to the sectarian Iraqi militias, thereby reducing casualties and boosting the inane neocon claim that “the surge is working.” Well, retreat sometimes does “work” in the sense of lowering casualties. Don’t expect Bush or any other neocon to admit they’ve been forced to do a retreat.
The Kuwaiti News Agency reports that “The American Army announced on Saturday that it was slashing the number of American troops serving in towns of Al-Anbar province west of the Iraqi capital. The American Army presence in Al-Anbar is being cut while the presence of the Iraqi police is increasing with missions in the provincial towns and along the region’s main roads, the army said in a statement.” (more…)