AP: Gen. Says Baghdad Security a Priority

[Eugene]

Associated Press
Gen. Says Baghdad Security a Priority
By ROBERT BURNS , 09.15.2006, 11:00 AM

U.S. troops were shifted from Iraq's al-Anbar province, where the insurgency
is still strong, to Baghdad because quelling sectarian violence in the capital
is a higher priority, a senior U.S. commander said Friday.

"The main effort is Baghdad, and we must ensure that we weight the main effort,"
said Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, using military terminology for drawing on available
troops elsewhere in order to bolster the military effort in Baghdad.

-snip-

In addition to extending the combat tour of the Army's 172nd Stryker Brigade and
sending it from northern Iraq to Baghdad, a smaller unit was moved this summer
from near Rawah, in al-Anbar province, to the capital. The 172nd was replaced
by another Stryker brigade in the north, but the unit in Rawah was not.

Chiarelli said Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is "totally
focused on ensuring that we keep what we need in Baghdad to do the job that we
need to have done." He added that he believes that efforts to stabilize al-Anbar,
which stretches west from Baghdad to the Syrian and Jordanian borders, are "moving
in the right direction."

-snip-

Full article: http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/09/15/ap3020259.html

Baghdad is improving even if you have to enronize the body count.
And now al-Anbar Province is "heading in the right direction."

Suuure. :eyes: