Another Together Forward

Remember Operation Forward Together, where we surged troops into Baghdad in order for "one last shot" at victory in the Battle of Baghdad? No, I'm not talking about the current escalation Bush is proposing, but it does sound strikingly similar, doesn't it?

Anyway, did you know that there were multiple operations with names very like Forward Together? I was following this story fairly closely, and I wasn't aware of this until just recently. There was the original Operation Together Forward, which began on June 14. By July 24, the White House had admitted it was a failure. Then there was Operation Forward Together. Then there was Operation Together Forward II. Very well done, DoD, naming the various versions something slightly different in order to minimize the public impact of the failures. This must be the excellent influence of our psyops division. But who knows - maybe this is standard practice on missions the planners think are likely to go poorly.

Incidentally, General Caldwell gave us the assessment on how these security initiatives panned out. Even with three iterations of the plan - "adapting to win" the best way we know how - Caldwell had this to say by October 19:

General Caldwell: Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence.

And the ISG weighed in thusly:

The results of Operation Together Forward II are disheartening. Violence in Baghdad—already at high levels—jumped more than 43 percent between the summer and October 2006. U.S. forces continue to suffer high casualties.

So, this is sure to work spectacularly, huh? This nth corner, I am sure, is the final corner we have to turn in the ([[(N+1)/2]]+1)-dimensional space that is the Iraq War. (There are so many geometry jokes to be made with those corner references)