Prometheus 6

"The Surge" is a brand name, not a description. If we were to use a descriptive label is tould have been "The Intensification" or "The Second Wave."

Did we not say "The Surge" was a permanent increase in forces on the ground? Did we not say it was a ruse to entangle us evenmore deeply in this generation's Vietnam? Did we? Huh? Huh? Speak up! 

Is 'success' of U.S. surge in Iraq about to unravel?
Leila Fadel and Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: March 24, 2008 09:07:40 PM

BAGHDAD — A cease-fire critical to the improved security situation in Iraq appeared to unravel Monday when a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr began shutting down neighborhoods in west Baghdad and issuing demands of the central government.

Simultaneously, in the strategic southern port city of Basra, where Sadr's Mahdi militia is in control, the Iraqi government launched a crackdown in the face of warnings by Sadr's followers that they'll fight government forces if any Sadrists are detained. By 1 a.m. Arab satellite news channels reported clashes between the Mahdi Army and police in Basra.