BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi military commander says a new U.S.-backed operation has begun in the volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.
Gen. Ali Ghaidan says the operation began Tuesday and is aimed at clearing al-Qaida in Iraq militants from what’s considered the last major insurgent stronghold near the capital.
The U.S. military in northern Iraq confirms that the offensive is under way.
The operation has been dubbed “Omens of Prosperity.” It is the latest in a series of efforts to control the largely rural area.
But U.S. and Iraqi commanders have said they’re more optimistic this one can work because more troops will be involved and Iraqi security forces are better prepared.
And why shouldn’t they be more optimistic? This time they’ve got Omens of Prosperity, so there’s every reason to believe that this offensive will prove far more successful than last week’s “Operation Portent of Doom.” Rather disappointing, that one.
But it does make me suspect that whatever computer program is generating these names, it’s deliberately making us sound as stupid as possible, then laughing behind our backs and bad-mouthing us to the Freecell game. Still, I’m looking forward to the beginning of August, when the military is scheduled to execute “Operation Favorable Entrails,” followed by a mopping-up action in Nineweh code-named “Operation Necromancer’s Delight.”
Don’t forget the Final Disappearing Act of November!
Left by heydave on July 29th, 2008