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Troops Flood Diyala Province in Full Assult On Al Qaeda
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| Troops Flood Diyala Province in Full Assult On Al Qaeda
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| VacateTheWord |
U.S. Sends 10,000 Troops Into Diyala to Take on Al Qaeda in Iraq
BAGHDAD —
About 10,000 U.S. soldiers launched an offensive against Al Qaeda in Iraq northeast of Baghdad early Tuesday, killing at least 22 insurgents, the U.S. military said.
The raids, dubbed "Operation Arrowhead Ripper," took place in Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province, and involved air assaults under the cover of darkness, the military said in a statement. The operation was still in its opening stages, it said.
Ten thousand U.S. soldiers were accompanied by attack helicopters, Strykers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, the statement said.
The operation was part of new U.S. and Iraqi attacks on Baghdad's northern and southern flanks, aimed at clearing out Sunni insurgents, Al Qaeda fighters and Shiite militiamen who had fled the capital and Anbar during a four-month-old security operation, military officials said.
A top U.S. military official said Monday that American forces were taking advantage of the arrival of the final brigade of 30,000 additional U.S. troops to open the concerted attacks.
"We are going into the areas that have been sanctuaries of Al Qaeda and other extremists to take them on and weed them out, to help get the areas clear and to really take on Al Qaeda," the senior official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the operation. "Those are areas in the belts around Baghdad, some parts in Anbar province and specifically Diyala province."
Al Qaeda has proven to be an extremely agile foe for U.S. and Iraqi forces, as shown by its ability to transfer major operations to Baqouba from Anbar province, the sprawling desert region in western Iraq. There is no guarantee that driving the organization out of current sanctuaries would prevent it from migrating to other regions to continue the fight.
In recent months, the verdant orange and palm groves of Diyala have become one of the most fiercely contested regions in Iraq. The province is a tangle of Shiite and Sunni villages that has played into the hands of Al Qaeda and allied militants who have melted into the tense region and sought to inflame existing sectarian troubles.
Al Qaeda has conducted public executions in the Baqouba main square and otherwise sought to enforce an extreme Taliban-style Islamic code. The terror organization's actions in the province have caused some Sunni militants, Al Qaeda's natural allies, to turn their guns on the group with American assistance and blessing. Some militant Shiites are likewise joining government forces in a bid to oust the foreign fighters and Muslim extremists.
The death toll in sectarian violence Monday skyrocketed after a brief period of relative peace. At least 111 people were killed or found dead nationwide, with 33 bodies of torture victims showing up in Baghdad alone.
Well to the south, Iraqi officials reported as many as 36 people were killed in fierce overnight fighting that began as British and Iraqi forces conducted house-to-house searches in Amarah, a stronghold of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia.
The U.S. military issued a statement that said at least 20 people were killed in clashes with coalition forces. A spokeswoman for Britain's Ministry of Defense said British soldiers played a supporting role to Iraqi security forces during the raid and fighting in Amarah. She spoke on condition of anonymity, which is ministry policy.
On Tuesday, police said clashes between Mahdi Army fighters and Iraqi security forces continued into a second day in another southern Iraqi city, Nasiriyah, about 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
Eight people were killed there a day earlier, and more than 60 injured, mostly policemen, authorities said.
Nine mortar shells were launched early Tuesday at Iraqi police headquarters in the town, and three policemen were injured, a police officer there said on condition of anonymity out of security concerns. A vehicle was also destroyed in the shelling, he said.
Two civilians were wounded in another round of shelling in a residential area nearby, the officer said.
A curfew was imposed on Nasiriyah on Monday, and remained in effect a day later.
The operations on Baghdad's flanks were opened by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, which has taken over dangerous Al Qaeda-infested regions to the south. The division began its drive into the Salman Pak and Arab Jabour districts on the city's southeastern fringe over the weekend.
At the time, ground forces commander Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said U.S. troops were heading into those areas in force for the first time in three years.
The military said in a statement Monday that fighter jets dropped "four precision-guided bombs" in support of 1,200 U.S. soldiers from the 3rd Infantry as they started moving on Al Qaeda targets.
Multi-National Division-Baghdad, which has run the security operation in the capital since it began on Feb. 14, has increased pressure on districts to the northwest of the city to cut supply and reinforcement lines from Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, to the Baqouba region.
"We're focusing up in the northwest to apply force in an area that's been important to Al Qaeda and its associates as they move between Ramadi and Baqouba. That work, together with the developing efforts to provide local security through the (Sunni) tribes in Abu Ghraib and Amariyah, is putting pressure on Al Qaeda," said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, division spokesman.
Some Sunni tribes, which had fought with or offered sanctuary to Al Qaeda in Anbar province, have risen up against the group and are now receiving arms and training from U.S. forces. American military officials are trying to spread that success to Al Qaeda areas now under attack.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week that the United States should stop arming Sunnis who may have been part of the insurgency, according to officials in his office. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. Al-Maliki repeated that position in a television interview in Baghdad on Monday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284233,00.html |
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| sternowitz |
| No one mentions the fact that there was no fucken Al Quaeda before we invaded this shit country. With the war mismanaged we created our own self fullfilling prophecy. Its horrible to think that some Americans will die in this raid when it didn't have to happen in the first place. |
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| otherone4life |
| what's a "full assult" ....do you spell check much? |
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| Ass Boil |
And after the violence stops, our troops leave Diyala, and the violence returns again, what will you say Vacunt?
You are being fooled by the biggest game of whack-a-mole ever played. And you are such a fucking idiot you will keep swinging and missing. |
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| Ass Boil |
U.S. Strategy on Sunnis Questioned
Loyalties at Issue in New Partnerships Against Al-Qaeda in Iraq
By Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, June 18, 2007; A11
BAGHDAD, July 17 -- Shiite and Kurdish officials expressed deep reservations on Sunday about the new U.S. military strategy of partnering with Sunni Arab groups to help defeat the militant organization al-Qaeda in Iraq.
"They are trusting terrorists," said Ali al-Adeeb, a prominent Shiite lawmaker who was among many to question the loyalty of the Sunni groups. "They are trusting people who have previously attacked American forces and innocent people. They are trusting people who are loyal to the regime of Saddam Hussein."
Throughout Iraq, a growing number of Sunni groups profess to have turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq because of its indiscriminate killing and repressive version of Islam. In some areas, these groups have provided information to Americans about al-Qaeda in Iraq members or deadly explosives used to target soldiers.
The collaboration has progressed furthest in the western province of Anbar, where U.S. military commanders enlisted the help of Sunni tribal leaders to funnel their kinsmen into the police force by the thousands. In other areas, Sunnis have not been fully incorporated into the security services and exist for the time being as local militias.
Some of these groups, believed to be affiliated with such organizations as the Islamic Army or the 1920 Revolution Brigades, have received weapons and ammunition, usually through the Iraqi military, as well as transportation, food, handcuffs and direct assistance from U.S. soldiers. In Baghdad's Amiriyah neighborhood, a local group of Sunnis who call themselves the Baghdad Patriots were driven around earlier this month in American and Iraqi vehicles and given approval by U.S. forces to arrest suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq members.
One of the main unanswered questions for American commanders leading these efforts has been to what degree the Iraqi government would support their plans to fashion local Sunnis into these neighborhood defense forces.
In an interview Friday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told Newsweek that some American field commanders "make mistakes since they do not know the facts about the people they deal with." Maliki went on to say that arming the tribes is appropriate in certain circumstances "but on the condition that we should be well aware of the tribe's background and sure that it is not connected with terror."
Other Shiite politicians are openly opposing the strategy.
"We cannot take weapons from certain insurgents and militias and then create other militias," said Abbas Bayati, a Turkmen Shiite lawmaker who is part of the majority bloc in parliament. "You need to open recruiting centers and provide training; now what is going on is giving weapons and money to the tribes and individuals."
Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish legislator, acknowledged the potential benefits of reducing the strength of al-Qaeda in Iraq but said of Sunni Arab groups: "They take arms, they take money, and in the future they will be a problem. Politically, they are still against the Americans and the Iraqi government."
One senior Iraqi government official described the American military policy of partnering with local Sunni groups as "nonsense."
"Every three months they have a new strategy. This is not only a distracting way to conduct policy, it is creating insecurity for all. I don't think these strategies have been thought through deeply. It is all about convenience," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"In reality, they are forcing the Iraqi government and the Shia and the Kurds to reconcile with the Saddamists," the official added. "This is similar to going to the South in 1865 and forcing the Confederates to reconcile immediately with the Northerners. And this is not going to happen."
American military commanders involved in the partnerships with Sunnis say they intend to quickly train and register them under the aegis of the Interior Ministry, which oversees the police force. In Anbar province, tribesmen have received training and become policemen, and receive salaries from the Interior Ministry, according to U.S. military officials. The officials have said that as long as the Sunni groups are watched closely and kept from mistreating people, the intelligence they provide about al-Qaeda in Iraq makes them valuable partners.
Mithal Alusi, a secular Sunni lawmaker, said he supported the U.S. military efforts because "al-Qaeda is danger No. 1 in Iraq."
"The prime minister has to understand this is not a one-man show," Alusi said. "We cannot trust the government to deal with al-Qaeda, to play this game alone. We are very thankful for the American process and the American point of view."
Sadiq al-Rikabi, a political adviser to Maliki, said the government would like to absorb anyone who wants to decrease violence as long as they accept the political process and are recruited in a systematic way to ensure that they are not using their newly official status for nefarious purposes.
Meanwhile Sunday, a car bomb exploded west of Baiji in northern Iraq, targeting an Iraqi military convoy, said Capt. Raad al-Janabi of the Siniyah police. The blast killed four people, including two soldiers, and wounded 12 others, he said.
A suicide attacker blew himself up in a crowd near Fallujah, killing six people and injuring 14, according to Lt. Mohammad al-Dulaimi of the Fallujah police. Mohammed Ismael of Fallujah General Hospital said many of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll could rise.
The U.S. military said three American soldiers were killed on Saturday by explosions, two in Baghdad province and one in the northern province surrounding Kirkuk. Another soldier was wounded in the Baghdad attack.
Also over the weekend, U.S.-led forces killed 10 suspected insurgents and detained 20 others while finding bomb-making materials during a series of missions targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in Baghdad, Mosul, Anbar province and elsewhere, the U.S. military said.
In one operation targeting a suspected Libyan militant near Karmah, west of Baghdad, U.S. troops took fire from seven people in a building, then responded by killing six and wounding the other, the military said.
Special correspondents Dalya Hassan and K.I. Ibrahim in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...1700762_pf.html |
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| NC-Stern-Mark |
As long as they are there, they have to do Something!
They are finally doing what they should have done from day one, unfortunately, it may be too late. Arming the Sunni tribes is a reversal of of the damning, cursed mistake of disbanding the Iraqi army. Going after the Shiite Mahdi Army now makes no sense, it should have done many years ago. Al Sadr should've caught a bullet long ago.
One of the most troubling and indicative examples of the abysmal failure of the occupation was this passage:
"The operations on Baghdad's flanks were opened by the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, which has taken over dangerous Al Qaeda-infested regions to the south. The division began its drive into the Salman Pak and Arab Jabour districts on the city's southeastern fringe over the weekend.
At the time, ground forces commander Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno said U.S. troops were heading into those areas in force for the first time in three years."
Unfuckingbelievable the mismanagement of the occupation. As the senator from Oregon says, it may very well be criminal. |
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| otherone4life |
| bait and switch combined with wack-a-mole, that's basically what Iraq is. |
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| Stickman |
Quote: Originally posted by otherone4life
what's a "full assult" |
A particularly cruel insult about the ass. |
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| VacateTheWord |
Quote: Originally posted by otherone4life
what's a "full assult" ....do you spell check much? |
Sorry Mr. Grammar Police - assault.
Feel better now? |
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| VacateTheWord |
Quote: Originally posted by Ass Boil
And after the violence stops, our troops leave Diyala, and the violence returns again, what will you say Vacunt?
You are being fooled by the biggest game of whack-a-mole ever played. And you are such a fucking idiot you will keep swinging and missing. |
Well, in light of the fact that the new strategy is to clear and hold (read: stay) instead of clear and move on as were in the past, I don't have much to say. It wouldn't be possible to fan out into areas such as Diyala if it weren't for the reinforcements (read: surge) and the fact that the Iraqis themselves are taking the fight to Al Qaeda in Anbar Province. Oops, I forgot that good news is not very popular with far-left Liberals like yourself. Sorry about that. |
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| VacateTheWord |
Quote: Originally posted by sternowitz
No one mentions the fact that there was no fucken Al Quaeda before we invaded this shit country. With the war mismanaged we created our own self fullfilling prophecy. Its horrible to think that some Americans will die in this raid when it didn't have to happen in the first place. |
You're right - we should just pack up and leave. If there was one thing that we learned from the 1990s, its not to go on offense against terrorists.
:rolleyes: |
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| ChaseDC |
Quote: Originally posted by VacateTheWord
You're right - we should just pack up and leave. If there was one thing that we learned from the 1990s, its not to go on offense against terrorists.
:rolleyes: |
Or the 80's, or the 70's etc. Stop blaming one man. And you fell just short of regurgitating the "the follow us home" nauseating bullshit line.
Btw, clear and hold is just bullshit propaganda talking points that means stay the course. |
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| VacateTheWord |
Quote: Originally posted by ChaseDC
Or the 80's, or the 70's etc. Stop blaming one man. And you fell just short of regurgitating the "the follow us home" nauseating bullshit line.
Btw, clear and hold is just bullshit propaganda talking points that means stay the course. |
You are clueless, as you are completely unaware that we have troops stationed in neighborhoods now instead of heading out, fighting with some insurgents, and then heading back to a base. The strategy is different - you refuse to acknowledge that. Then again, that's all that comes from Liberals like yourself - duh, it's just stay the course.
And I'm not "blaming one man," but rather faulting a strategy (ignore it and hope it goes away) that didn't work. |
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