Meanwhile in Mosul

Operation Whack-A-Mole™ takes the roadshow to Mosul, where scenes of violence erupted last week as the "cleansing of Fallujah" began. Insurgents attacked Police stations in the city, making off with weapons and body armor before torching the place. In response we have sent forces in to quell the insurgency.

The US military in Iraq says it has begun a big assault on insurgents in the northern city of Mosul.

Military spokesmen said more than 1,000 soldiers had been deployed and were sweeping the city from west to east.

The city descended into lawlessness as US forces carried out a major operation to take control of Falluja last week.

More than a thousand? I am presuming that this also means less than 2,000 troops, to root out the insurgency in Iraq's third largest city, population of 1.7 million (2002). Are you kidding me? Talk about bringing a knife to a gunfight.

According to the Associated Press news agency, a mortar attack in the centre of the city on Tuesday left three dead and 25 others wounded.

"We are in the process of securing all of the police stations and returning the police to these stations to [put] in place a strong police presence," said a US military spokeswoman.

"Some of those stations are in neighbourhoods in the western side of the city where there has been insurgent activity and presence. We are now moving through the neighbourhood."

Good luck with that. I am sure they have since moved on to another neighborhood. In other news, in a basement somewhere a member of the 101st fighting Keyboard's screams "Cry Hovoc and let slip the Nuke's of war".