The latest American offensive in Iraq

The Times is reporting that "[t]housands of American and Iraqi troops laid siege on Saturday to [the town of Husayba] near the Syrian border in one of the largest military assaults since American-led forces stormed the guerrilla stronghold of Falluja last year". More:

American commanders say Husayba has become a bastion for cells of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that claims credit for many of the deadliest suicide bombings of the war.

Husayba is one of the first and most vital stops for foreign jihadists who enter Iraq through a series of desert towns along the Euphrates River corridor...

Needless to say, despite my recent criticism of the conduct of the war, I hope this latest effort works. Iraq would be better off without the insurgency, much of which is made up of foreign jihadists, and the sooner the security situation in Iraq stabilizes the sooner American forces can come home and the sooner Iraq can transition to something resembling a liberal democracy.

Isn't that what we all want?

(Still, given the history of Bush Administration spin, there is reason to be skeptical.)