A GENERAL GIVES US A TIMEFRAME

Commander, Multinational Division Center and 3rd Infantry Division
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch
July 06, 2007

(EXCERPTS)

Our operating environment is the southern belt of Baghdad, both the Mahmudiyah and the Madain qadhas, and four of the southern provinces: Babil, Najaf, Karbala and, as of the 20th of June, Wasit province.

I see these aggressive offensive operations that deny the enemy the four sanctuaries we have taking us through July, August and into September. But by then, based on our calculations, we will have denied the enemy those sanctuaries and we can transition into the hold and retain phase in those sanctuaries.



You know, people ask me all the time why I have so much confidence. I've got great confidence because I got great soldiers. And they're here fighting because they want to fight terrorists here so they don't have to fight terrorists back home. That sounds like a bumper sticker, but that's what they believe. They believe that if they don't do what our forefathers did, our children and their children won't enjoy the freedoms that we enjoyed coming up.


[YES, THE SOLDIERS ARE STUPID AND IGNORANT]