About That Huge Air Attack? Never Mind.
The US military announced Thursday that it had launched the "largest air assault since the U-led invasion" in 2003 As it turns out, however, it was little more than a photo op According to Time magazine, "there were no airstrikes no leading insurgents were nabbed there were no shots fired at all," and U forces met no resistance Can anyone say Potemkin assault? UPDATE: The L Times is now reporting that the operation has yielded 48 arrests, including at least one major insurgent ringleader, along with seizures of weapons and training manuals.Truthdig says
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The U.S. military announced Thursday that it had launched the “largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion” in 2003. As it turns out, however, it was little more than a photo op. According to Time magazine, “there were no airstrikes… no leading insurgents were nabbed… there were no shots fired at all,” and U.S. forces met no resistance.
Can anyone say Potemkin assault?
UPDATE: The L.A. Times is now reporting that the operation has yielded 48 arrests, including at least one major insurgent ringleader, along with seizures of weapons and training manuals.
Time
:
… But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, 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.
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