On Scene: How "Operation Swarmer" Fizzled.

Source: Time

"Wag the dog," anyone?

Operation Swarmer is a joke...a publicity stunt put on to make an extremely unpopular war look good.

Job well done, fellas. You not only wasted resources, but the world knows via the "internets" that this staged exercise was just that--all smoke and mirrors.

On Scene: How Operation Swarmer Fizzled

Not a shot was fired, or a leader nabbed, in a major offensive that failed to live up to its advance billing.

Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer. Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven.

The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What's more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders.

I'm glad that in this highly-orchestrated exercise, you guys eradicated something--bread.

Before loading up into the helicopters for a return trip to Baghdad, Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman's freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they'd found all day.

What are we protecting in these empty fields that were invaded? Goats, perhaps?

Just another international embarrassment in a "fraudulent" Iraq War. Pack up the ship and bring our boys home.

Halliburton made unjustified billions. You control an oil-rich nation, being good imperialists. Manifest destiny is good for your bank accounts.

Mission accomplished?

Tags: [Operation Swarmer], [Operation all fizzled out], [wag the dog], [mission accomplished]