The implications of this will not be found in the mainstream press.
In itself, it is an amazing and bad sign. It shows how far the resistance has gone and vulnerable we have become.
BAGHDAD, July 10 — Insurgents unleashed their most intense mortar attack to date on the Green Zone on Tuesday, killing 3 people and wounding 18, according to a statement from the American Embassy.
The attack set off a succession of explosions that could be heard on both sides of the Tigris River about 5:30 p.m. Multiple rounds landed inside the Green Zone, seat of the embassy and the Iraqi government. The attack came from northeast of the Green Zone, a predominantly Shiite area.
The three killed were an American soldier, an Iraqi citizen and a foreign citizen. Five of the wounded were American civilians, two were members of the American military and three were working for American contractors, according to the embassy statement.
31 mortar shells were shot inside the Green Zone. This is brazen and disturbing level of confidence that is inundating insurgents. Windows were blown out for blocks, security guards from Peru ( that’s where you tax dollars are going), Us Soldiers sealed off the area and whadya know? The insurgents who launched them were gone.
The Green Zone is the most fortified area in Baghdad, surrounded by walls and protected by multiple checkpoints operated by American troops and Iraqi security forces. It has always been vulnerable to mortar and rocket attacks, however, and has been attacked almost daily for weeks.
Imagine the day when we have to leave Iraq, and thusly the Green Zone. Because we WILL leave. Imagine that when the insurgents control the roads north and south into Al Anbar province. Imagine how hard it will become to leave what essentially has become a sand trap in the desert.
http://www.nytimes.com/...