U.S. Forces Step up Iraq Air Strikes

AMERICAN forces are dramatically stepping up air attacks on insurgents in Iraq as they prepare to start the withdrawal of ground troops in the spring.

The number of airstrikes in 2005, running at a monthly average of 25 until August, surged to 120 in November and an expected 150 in December, according to official military figures.

The tempo looks set to increase this year as the Americans pull back from urban combat, leaving street fighting increasingly to Iraqi forces supported by US air power.

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(I'm soooo confused. If one reads this story (which is out of the London press BTW), and then reads the next story out of the U.S. press -- how does dropping more bombs (LOTS more bombs) fit with the idea of cutting back on funding for reconstruction? We're flattening the country while decreasing the funding to repair the damage we're doing? Just how is this helping the war on terrorisim? How is this building democracy in the middle east? Seems to me that this action does neither and only exacerbates tension between the muslim world and the U.S. eaprez )