SURGE LOSING HEARTS & MINDS

Given all the evidence of our extremely heavy hand in Iraq, this isn't very surprising.

Iraq's Maliki lashes out at critics
Iraq's prime minister dismisses as 'ugly interference'
Western officials' calls for him to step down.
By Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 27, 2007

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki lashed out Sunday at U.S. and French politicians who have called on him to step down and accused U.S. forces of committing "big mistakes" in killing and detaining civilians in the hunt for insurgents.

In his statements, Maliki also warned U.S. military commanders that they needed to take more care to avert civilian casualties. Citing raids last week in Shula and Sadr City, Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, Maliki said there was unacceptable disregard for residents. "There were big mistakes committed in these operations. The terrorist himself should be targeted, not his family," Maliki said. "When they want to detain one person, they should not kill 10 others."

Iraqi police and hospital officials who responded to the Shula raid Friday reported that as many as 21 civilians were killed when U.S. forces in helicopters fired on the neighborhood as they pursued Shiite militiamen. The Mahdi Army militiamen, loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr, are accused of carrying out executions of Sunnis and planting bombs targeting U.S. forces. On Sunday, U.S. airborne troops attacked a pharmaceutical plant in Samarra that was raided by coalition forces more than a week ago. Police said two women and five children were killed in the attack that was intended to take out insurgents. Reuters news agency quoted a U.S. official as saying that 18 insurgents had been killed in the city.