If you want to be notified the next time I write something, sign up for FREE email alerts or subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

President Bush may be hailing Anbar as the surge’s great success but does this analysis hold up? Locals claim the US is sending in hit squads to take out insurgents - but they’re killing the wrong people.

“Everyone’s gone. We’re scared to stay here because of the random killings”, claims one man. Notes on every door say the residents fled because; “the Americans killed five people at night for no reason”. Surge tactics are to patrol this area on foot. But the few people the marines come across are afraid and suspicious. “These people are obviously scared out of their minds”, states one soldier. Rumours of the American hit squads are spreading panic. The marines acknowledge that Special Forces are flying in but they’re not told why. Instead, they do their best to try and win over a fearful population. Another day, another village, same story. “Two days ago, the Americans came and killed my brothers in their beds”, alleges one man. “Look, there are bits of their bones, teeth and brains”. “It wasn’t marines”, protests a soldier. “And if it’s something the military did, they had to do it for a reason”. The strain of long deployments in Iraq is clearly getting to these soldiers. Back at camp, they speak of their desire to return home. “My mum hasn’t seen us together in almost four years”, states one. “No amount of money is worth being here”.President Bush may be hailing Anbar as the surge’s great success but does this analysis hold up? Locals claim the US is sending in hit squads to take out insurgents - but they’re killing the wrong people.

“Everyone’s gone. We’re scared to stay here because of the random killings”, claims one man. Notes on every door say the residents fled because; “the Americans killed five people at night for no reason”. Surge tactics are to patrol this area on foot. But the few people the marines come across are afraid and suspicious. “These people are obviously scared out of their minds”, states one soldier. Rumours of the American hit squads are spreading panic. The marines acknowledge that Special Forces are flying in but they’re not told why. Instead, they do their best to try and win over a fearful population. Another day, another village, same story. “Two days ago, the Americans came and killed my brothers in their beds”, alleges one man. “Look, there are bits of their bones, teeth and brains”. “It wasn’t marines”, protests a soldier. “And if it’s something the military did, they had to do it for a reason”. The strain of long deployments in Iraq is clearly getting to these soldiers. Back at camp, they speak of their desire to return home. “My mum hasn’t seen us together in almost four years”, states one. “No amount of money is worth being here”.