THERE'S A LEFTIST BORN EVERY MINUTE (via Random Lawyer):

U.S. Steps Up Attacks on Iraq Insurgents (ALEXANDRA ZAVIS, 10/12/04, Associated Press)

U.S. forces stepped up operations Tuesday across a wide swath of the Sunni insurgent strongholds northwest of the capital, pounding targets in three urban centers from the air and supporting Iraqi troops in raids on mosques suspected of harboring insurgents.

U.S. warplanes struck twice in insurgent-held Fallujah, destroying a popular restaurant and a house which the U.S. command said were used by members of Iraq's most feared terrorist organization. At least five people were killed and two wounded, the city hospital said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces appear to have stepped up military activity in the region north and west of Baghdad, a Sunni militant stronghold, ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which saw an upsurge in rebel attacks last year. Ramadan, four weeks when Muslims fast and abstain from sex between dawn and dusk, begins about Oct. 15 with the sighting of a new moon.

If anybody out there's a college student, there's an amusing paper just waiting to be written on how many pundits, pols, and bloggers of the Left seized on yesterday's obviously false story in the LA Times and started shrieking about the politicization of the war.

MORE:
US, Iraqi Forces Raid Seven Mosques in Ramadi (VOA News, 12 Oct 2004)

U.S. and Iraqi forces have raided seven mosques believed to be providing support for insurgents in the restive western city of Ramadi.

The U.S. military says the operation is part of a joint effort to search for known terrorists and insurgents, as well as for illegal weapons.

Witnesses say soldiers arrested Sheikh Abdul Aleim Saadi, the region's top Sunni Muslim cleric.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 12, 2004 1:54 PM