New U.S. Offensive Could Backfire in Iraq
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Fierce guerrilla attacks in Iraq and  U.S. assaults on rebel bastions have unleashed a new wave of  bloodshed that threatens to discredit the interim government  and undermine prospects for fair elections in January.
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With the insurgency still a threat to Iraq's planned elections, the U.S. force is about to expand to its highest level of the war &#151; even higher than the initial invading force in March 2003.
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How deserters and insurgents are foiling plans to build a new Iraqi army
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The U.S. military's top general said Monday that the Joint Chiefs of Staff is weighing a range of possible new directions in Iraq, including, if President Bush deems it necessary, an even bigger troop buildup.
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The top U.S. commander in Iraq  warned Iran and others in comments published on Monday to think  twice before trying to take advantage of the U.S. military at a  time when it is fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
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WASHINGTON -- There is one matter on which US military commanders, many Iraqis, and some of the Bush administration's staunchest congressional critics agree: If the United States withdrew its forces from Baghdad's streets this fall, the murder and mayhem would increase.
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On his first day as defense secretary, Robert Gates warned Monday that failure in Iraq would be a "calamity" that would haunt the United States for years. Underscoring eroding security there, a Pentagon report said the number of insurgent and sectarian attacks had risen to the highest level in years.
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The new commander of U.S. troops in Iraq has warned that military force alone will not be enough to quell the country's violent insurgency.
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The security situation in Iraq is challenging and attacks could increase in coming months, a U.S. progress report said on Thursday as President George W. Bush faces rising pressure to shift course in the unpopular war.
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Senior military officers have warned that the new Iraq strategy could fail unless civilians step forward quickly to carry out plans for reconstruction and political development.
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The major  U.S. offensive launched last weekend against insurgents in and around Baghdad has significantly expanded the military's battleground in Iraq -- "a surge of operations," and no longer just of troops, as the second-ranking U.S. commander there said yesterday -- but it has renewed concerns...
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The new U.S. military commander in Iraq said on Saturday that American and Iraqi security forces had to stabilize the country in what he called a high-stakes battle, or it would be doomed to more violence.
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The U.S. military expects insurgents may try to carry out "spectacular" attacks that would inflict major casualties in a bid to disrupt Jan. 30 elections and intimidate Iraqis who might go to the polls, a top U.S. official said Friday.
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US military pressure against insurgents, coupled with Iraqi government efforts to negotiate, may be gaining traction.
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Ryan C. Crocker laid out a grim forecast of what could happen if American forces were pulled back or even withdrawn from Iraq.
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The US House of Representatives was set to condemn President George W. Bush's new strategy on Iraq, in a rare rebuke for the country's commander-in-chief ahead of a bitter debate on whether to continue funding the unpopular war.
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U.S. commanders in Iraq say the insurgents are on the run. The problem is that when the insurgents are chased from one place, such as Fallujah, they pop up elsewhere, to deadly effect.