Good job, as always. Useless, too. 3,000 soldiers search dozens of thousands of households in Baghdad for well-hidden weapons caches and dubiously distinguishable guerrillas. And happily reporting none. After weeks of announcements and saber rattling. Americans, who don’t know the Iraqis’ verbal or body language; Shiite Iraqi soldiers, less than eager to search for Shiite guerrillas. Searching nicely and peacefully instead of provoking the enemy and luring him out with brutal assault on Shiite civilians. Targeting arbitrary neighborhoods while the insurgents comfortably – and temporarily – relocated to nearby villages.
A media-savvy war.
