In The News: Quick Strike Takes on Militants as Polls Show President's
Support Falling
The U.S military has launched Quick Strike, an anti- insurgency
operation centered in the Euphrates River Valley. With a force of about
1,000 American Marines and Iraqi troops will be partly focused in the
city of Haditha, where 14 Marines were killed by a roadside bomb on
Wednesday. Along with the forces on the ground, the U.S. is conducing
airstrikes intended to root out militants hwo have gone into hiding.
Brig. Gen. Donald Alston defended the new operations, saying that
American troops have made headway into slowing insurgent activities
through their recent counter-insurgent operations in the Anbar province.
Citing last week’s total of 13 car bombings, the lowest weekly total
since April, the General said “The numbers we see indicate (the
insurgents) can't generate the same tempo, and I think that's because
we've had some degree of effect in interdicting these forces."
Even as a new AP-Ipsos poll that shows support for the President’s
handling of the war in Iraq, President Bush announced that the U.S would
not be intimidated by recent insurgent activities and would not let any
threats deter the military from its goals. "We will stay the course, we
will complete the job in Iraq,” the President said Thursday. The newest
poll numbers show that only 38% of Americans support the President’s
handling of Iraq and his overall job approval rating has dipped to 42%.
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