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. [emphasis added]Tough break for the cheerleaders who were touting this thing two days ago....but hey, I believed the hype myself, so who am I to judge?
Having been denied the emotional satisfaction of another Fallujah, the Tinkerbell-based community does what they always do: they blame the 'MSM':
To say the very least, rational thinking Americans who care about the safety of our troops in Iraq, should feel nothing less than deep contempt for the left's constant leftward anti-military reporting. Time.com continues to do what the rest of the MSM have done this entire war - provide aid and support to the propaganda machine of the terrorists, resulting in increased danger and casualties to our forces.And they say it was a success after all:
This has to be one of the more, for lack of a better word, stupid things Time.com has ever posted. And the Left screaming over it is just plain crazy. When the Op launched it was made very clear this wasn't of a scale which required White House approval. It was never intended to be the big push for heaven's sakes. But looking at that inventory of captured items, does anyone really believe this wasn't a terrific raid?Here, from the Time article, is the inventory:
With the Interior Ministry's Samarra commando battalion, the soldiers had found some 300 individual pieces of weaponry like mortars, rockets and plastic explosives....The raids also uncovered high-powered cordless telephones used as detonators in homemade bombs, medical supplies and insurgent training manuals.I'm no expert, but '300 individual pieces of weaponry' (and training manuals! that'll really cripple 'em!) doesn't sound like all that much to me.
[That's all, folks]
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