Army general predicts rise in U.S. casualties in Iraq

From the Los Angeles Times via the Houston Chronicle:

A U.S. Army general on Sunday forecast a rise in deaths among American forces in the coming months, a prediction underscored by the announcement that a roadside bomb had killed six U.S. soldiers and a foreign journalist north of Baghdad. Five other American troops died elsewhere over the weekend.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, said casualties will climb as American troops dig into enemy territory as part of a stepped-up military operation ordered by President Bush in January.

Lynch, who oversees a swath of territory to the south and east of Baghdad, gave his bleak prediction on the heels of the deadliest month so far this year for American forces in Iraq.

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So no surprise here. Hawks predicted a rise in casualties as part of Bush's dumb-fuck "surge" plan; doves predicted the same thing. Heck, I predicted it too: putting meat into a meat grinder results in hamburger--it's common sense on which we can all agree. Where the disagreement lies is in whether or not the "surge" will accomplish anything. The White House has asserted repeatedly that the idea is to create a stable situation such that the Iraqi government and military can rise to the challenge, or stand up, or whatever the catch-phrase of the day is. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced that training Iraqi soldiers has been downgraded as a priority, and the sham Iraqi government we created doesn't appear to be getting its shit together.

Obviously, the "surge" can only result in loss of American life, and nothing else.

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