Gunfire in a Tacoma Mall, gun battle in Iraq
At least six people have been wounded at a shooting in a Tacoma, Washington mall today.
They've locked down the mall, but it doesn't seem like they've caught the shooter yet. I heard on CNN, although it's not in the article, that there are up to three hostages. That would explain why the situation is still ongoing three hours later.
Compared to an American mall, I suppose reports of a gun battle in Iraq aren't that surprising. But it struck me for two reasons. One, it says that a roadside bomb went off, killing one Marine, and then the Marines and the Iraqi troops were fired upon and returned fire. This means that the insurgents knew where and about when the convoy would be going by. And two, it struck me for what U.S. forces are calling their current operations.
The operation is part of a series of "disruption operations" in Ramadi and aimed at stabilizing the area in time for December 15 elections, the military said.
Disruption operations. I get why they'd be called that, they want to disrupt the capability of the insurgency to conduct attacks, particularly around the elections. But disruption... doesn't that sound like the kind of thing you do to the group that's in charge, that's running things? As a student disrupts a class, or protesters disrupt a speech. That term makes it sound like the insurgents are the dominant power in the area, and the U.S. is trying to throw a monkey wrench in their operations. Until now, most of the news on Iraq I've seen has that rhetoric the other way, with insurgents trying to disrupt things for U.S. military and the Iraqi government. Maybe I'm being too English-majorish, reading too much into this, but I wonder how close it is to the truth.
They also seem to be naming their ops after professional sports teams - first Panthers, now Bruins. I have no idea what that signifies.
The number of U.S. forces killed in Iraq now stands at 2,092.
They've locked down the mall, but it doesn't seem like they've caught the shooter yet. I heard on CNN, although it's not in the article, that there are up to three hostages. That would explain why the situation is still ongoing three hours later.
Compared to an American mall, I suppose reports of a gun battle in Iraq aren't that surprising. But it struck me for two reasons. One, it says that a roadside bomb went off, killing one Marine, and then the Marines and the Iraqi troops were fired upon and returned fire. This means that the insurgents knew where and about when the convoy would be going by. And two, it struck me for what U.S. forces are calling their current operations.
The operation is part of a series of "disruption operations" in Ramadi and aimed at stabilizing the area in time for December 15 elections, the military said.
Disruption operations. I get why they'd be called that, they want to disrupt the capability of the insurgency to conduct attacks, particularly around the elections. But disruption... doesn't that sound like the kind of thing you do to the group that's in charge, that's running things? As a student disrupts a class, or protesters disrupt a speech. That term makes it sound like the insurgents are the dominant power in the area, and the U.S. is trying to throw a monkey wrench in their operations. Until now, most of the news on Iraq I've seen has that rhetoric the other way, with insurgents trying to disrupt things for U.S. military and the Iraqi government. Maybe I'm being too English-majorish, reading too much into this, but I wonder how close it is to the truth.
They also seem to be naming their ops after professional sports teams - first Panthers, now Bruins. I have no idea what that signifies.
The number of U.S. forces killed in Iraq now stands at 2,092.