On Mon, 11 May 2009, Doug Henwood wrote:
>> Bush's decision to launch a surge of forces in Iraq was less a military
>> event than a psychological one. Militarily, the quantity of forces to
>> be inserted -- some 30,000 on top of a force of 120,000 -- did not
>> change the basic metrics of war in a country of about 29 million.
>> Moreover, the insertion of additional troops was far from a surge; they
>> trickled in over many months. Psychologically, however, it was
>> stunning. Rather than commence withdrawals as so many expected, the
>> United States was actually increasing its forces.
>
> That, plus lots of bribe money.
We bribed them from the beginning. But before this point they took the bucks and then shot at us anyway.
Michael