Time.com has a great story up describing just exactly what was accomplished by operation Swarmer. Billed by many news outlets as "the largest use of airpower since the start of the war" - it was really nothing more than political cover for embattled President Bush. Here are a few choice clips:
Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven.
(snip)
...the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders.
(snip)
Before loading up into the helicopters for a return trip to Baghdad, Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman’s freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day. There is nothing better than freshly baked bread, but there has got to be a less expensive way for our troops to get it.
Who comes up with the names for these operations anyway?
ReplyDelete"Swarmers" are what they call the flying termites that look for dead wood to live in and start a new colony. They are so fragile that if they hit anything, their wings fall off, and about 90 percent of them die without accomplishing their mission! (I know this because I had to have my house treated for termites last year!)
Some other more appropriate names for the operation?
How about "Operation Lotto" or "Operation March Madness?"
Just heard that Operation Swarm was only a photo op. The president said he had nothing to do with it. He is only Commander-in Chief when it is convenient for him and he wants to take credit.
ReplyDeleteHe wants us to overlook the violence and try to see the good in Iraq.
Maybe all dead soldiers brought home from Iraq should be honored by a day of mourning in the Rotunda of the Capital.
Perhaps then all could see the good of their dying and overlook the
futility of it all. Maybe then the president would see the deaths his being a War President has caused.