Something about silk and sow's ears

Just four days after I commented that it's been "over two years since the invasion and they haven't even secured the damn capitol," it was announced that

Iraq's government will pour tens of thousands of Iraqi troops into Baghdad in an unprecedented operation to seal off the city and hunt insurgents who have launched a fresh wave of violence, ministers said Thursday.

Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi said 40,000 Iraqi troops would be deployed in Baghdad for Operation Thunder, the biggest Iraqi military operation since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Backed by the 10,000 U.S. troops in Baghdad, they will set up hundreds of checkpoints and block roads into the capital. ...

"We will also impose a stringent blockade around Baghdad, like a bracelet around an arm, God willing, and God be with us in our crackdown on the terrorists' infrastructure. No one will be able to penetrate this blockade," Dulaimi said.

He also promised "unprecedented, strict security measures."

At the same press conference, Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said "These operations will aim to turn the government's role from defensive to offensive."

Right. This is like one of those old cliche Westerns with natives attacking a wagon train. Only in this case, when the wagons pull into a circle, the natives are supposed to go "Oh, no, what ever will we do now? They're going into an offensive role!"