Fascinating piece about Mosul in the Washington Post yesterday. There’s a big threat to the election in that city, which has been rocked by insurgents for quite a while now. So what has the military done to try and ensure the possibility of a fair vote? They’ve increased troop strength! Imagine that. Money quote:
Commanders have raised U.S. troop levels here by 50 percent since Jan. 1, from 8,000 to 12,000, doubling the number of battalions from three to six, according to officers involved in the buildup. The growing force includes light infantry battalions that conduct foot patrols in the heart of the city and the first tank companies seen in Mosul in over a year. The military has also called in 4,500 additional Iraqi troops, among them a freshly minted brigade known as the Iraqi Intervention Force. The buildup has dramatically altered the face of Iraq’s third-largest city, 220 miles north of Baghdad. Mosul has been convulsed by violence since Nov. 10, when insurgents launched an offensive in an apparent response to the U.S. assault on Fallujah. In a persistent show of force, F-16 fighter jets roar across the sky each day, Apache helicopters circle menacingly above the downtown traffic and 33-ton Bradley Fighting Vehicles patrol the city streets.
Has Rummy been informed? Someone better tell him order has broken out in Iraq. Well, stuff happens.
The Dish 