Mass Offensive Launched South of Baghdad

[leftchick]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20041123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_new_offensive


~snip~
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Some 5,000 U.S. Marines, British troops and Iraqi commandos launched a new offensive Tuesday aimed at clearing a swath of insurgent hotbeds south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

~snip~
Insurgent violence has spiked in the areas south of the capital in the wake of the U.S-led assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah in "an apparent attempt to divert attention" away from Fallujah, the military said.


The cluster of dusty, small towns located south of the capital, has been a major area for insurgent activity. U.S. and Iraqi forces have come under repeated attacks by car bombs, rockets, and small arms fire in the area.


The region has become known as a "triangle of death" for many Shiite Muslims, Westerners and members of the Iraqi security services, many of whom have become the victims of Sunni Muslim insurgents and criminal gangs.

.... "Whack-A-Mole"!

[hatrack]

1. But . . . but . . . we broke the back of the insurgency?

How can this BE?? :eyes:

[Corgigal]

2. I guess 100 dead this month

just wasn't enough. I guess closer to 150.

Then they will turn around and keep the guys/gals who made it through these two campaign for 6/8 months longer. Right now I thought the odds were 1 in 6 that you could end up either death, or badly wounded. Since CBS said only 20 percent of the injured return back to Iraq. I guess they are working on 1 in 5.

Vietnam indeed.

[Florida_Geek]

3. I hate to say it but I think the 150 is minimum for this

month.

[madrchsod]

4. the land south of bagdad is contolled by

one of the most powerful tribes in iraq..remember this is a tribal war as much as a relgious war. no matter what we will still lose

[jhain]

5. " This is a momentous time for the US marines in Iraq."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=585070

(posting this again- did yesterday, too.
It is a good article.)

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit has moved on from Fallujah to a bloody and largely unreported operation south of Baghdad to hunt 'the beheader' Zarqawi. Kim Sengupta found the marines combative yet contemplative, and haunted by the images that shocked the world...

[TacticalPeek]

12. Thanks for that link.

The conduct and efficiency of this reporter with no name are excellent/excellent.

I'll wear my 24th MEU hat today.

[jhain]

14. reporter's name

at the top of the article, I believe:

"Kim Sengupta found the marines combative yet contemplative, and haunted by the images that shocked the world"

[maddezmom]

6. "an apparent attempt to divert attention"

guess it worked if they are massing troops :eyes:

[htuttle]

7. What is this 'clearing a swath' they speak of?

Is it like when you try to 'clear a swath' in a tub of water, only to have it fill right back up again?

[maddezmom]

8. "Operation Plymouth Rock": winning the hearts and minds of Sunni's

Terming it their first major post-Fallouja campaign to regain control of an insurgent-riddled area outside Baghdad, officials said they would continue a series of preplanned raids in towns and farming areas largely within a so-called "death triangle" of cities bordered by Latifiya, Mahmoudiya and Yousifiya. U.S. troops have also engaged in a series of counterattacks to quell resistance in Mosul, Baghdad and other towns in the wake of their offensive to regain control of the rebel stronghold of Fallouja.

"We are going to push the fight back out to the enemy while he's reeling," said Capt. Tad Douglas, 28, who led an elite reconnaissance platoon of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in the raids. "We've seen fighters from Fallouja filtering down here, and we're going to take the offensive while they're still licking their wounds."

The operation began in the predawn darkness less than a day after Iraqi security forces recovered 12 bodies in Latifiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, where kidnappings of highway travelers have been commonplace for months. Five of the bodies had been beheaded, and one was identified as that of an Iraqi national guardsman kidnapped from a nearby town several weeks ago.
~snip~

The largely Sunni Muslim towns and small cities in this rural region just a short drive south of Baghdad are home to an estimated 1 million people and were a stronghold of deposed President Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.


http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-assault23nov23,0,5326072.story?coll=ny-homepage-big-pix

[maddezmom]

9. forces are determined to capture or kill

~snip~

US marines and a so-called Iraqi SWAT team "swept through the south-central Iraqi town of Jabella today, kicking off a fresh campaign in northern Babil province," it said in a statement Tuesday.

~snip~

Iraqi and US forces were assisted by British troops brought north from Basra to "squeeze militants attempting to run the 'rat lines' between northern Babil and Baghdad and Al-Anbar provinces," the military statement said.

~snip~

It said that insurgent attacks intensified in northern Babil during the Fallujah operation "in an apparent effort to divert attention from the high-profile battle west of Baghdad."


"As the Iraqi people prepare to vote in nationwide elections in January, multinational forces are determined to capture or kill those who desire to destabilize the elections process," the statement said.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041123/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_us_raid&cid=1514&ncid=1480

[Malva Zebrina]

10. look at his face--a child yet

[maddezmom]

11. al Sadr's back and accusing the govt of violating terms of agreement in Au

Meanwhile, a top aide to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the government of violating terms of the August agreement that ended an uprising by al-Sadr's followers in Najaf.


Ali Smeisim, al-Sadr's top political adviser, made no explicit threats as he leveled his allegations at a Baghdad news conference. But his remarks raised the possibility of a new confrontation between the government and al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which rose up against the Americans and their Iraqi allies in April and August.


Smeisim said the government has broken a promise in the August agreement not to arrest members of al-Sadr's movement and to release most of them from detention.


"The government, however, started pursuing them and their numbers in prisons have doubled," Smeisim said. "Iraqi police arrested 160 al-Sadr loyalists in Najaf four days ago."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=1480

[maddezmom]

13. AFP link: Iraqi Security Forces hunting al Zarqawi WTF??

Another reason for the Fallujah operation was to capture Iraq (news - web sites)'s most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose Al-Qaeda-linked group was allegedly operating out of the city. But he is now believed to have escaped before the US-led assault began on November 8.


Iraqi security forces said Tuesday they were focusing their hunt for Zarqawi, who has a 25 million dollar US bounty on his head, on an area in north-central Iraq after receiving a tip-off.


Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for many of the most ferocious attacks in Iraq, including car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of hostages.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041123/wl_afp/iraq&cid=1512&ncid=1480
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just like with OBL, the US Military turns over the hunt for Iraq's #1 enemy to fledgling forces.