Iraqi and US forces sit on an armoured tank in Baghdad
Posted on 02/05/2007 8:56:14 AM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD : Iraqi and US forces are preparing to launch a massive crackdown in Baghdad to end the sectarian carnage pushing Iraq toward civil war as at least another 30 people died in a surge of violence.
The sustained bloodshed came after nearly 200 people were killed over the weekend, mostly in the war-torn capital.
Iraqi forces on Monday stepped up security in some volatile districts on the eastern side of the Tigris river which runs through Baghdad, an AFP photographer reported.
Iraqi soldiers and National Guard police were deployed on Baghdad's main eastern highway leading to the Shiite bastion of Sadr City, a repeated insurgent target, he said.
Tanks and other armoured vehicles along with National Guard police were seen at various locations on the road to Sadr City and in districts such as Karrada.
New control points were set up in the districts of Karrada, Rusafa, Mustansiriyah, Adhamiyah and Sadr City, all to the east of the Tigris.
On some bridges, guard posts were protected by tanks and barbed wire as soldiers stopped and checked drivers, the photographer said.
Thirteen bridges cross the Tigris river in Baghdad, but several have been sealed off to traffic.
Access to Sadr City itself was controlled by a barrier manned by army soldiers and police commandos.
Sadr City is the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia accused by the US military of leading the killing of Sunni Arabs in the chronic sectarian conflict in the capital.
It was not clear however if the new measures were part of a long-awaited security crackdown.
A senior Iraqi official, on condition of anonymity, said the security plan would be launched "in the next few days" after "the necessary security preparations have been completed".
The US military also declined to be specific.
"We continue to do operations as part of the plan in support of the (Iraqi) prime minister's goals to secure Baghdad," said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver. "Operations have been going on."
Garver said US military troop movement was continuing as per the needs of the plan. "We are in the process of moving troops here as announced by our president," he told AFP.
On January 10, US President George W. Bush announced he would dispatch 21,500 troop reinforcements to Iraq, of which 17,500 are to be deployed in Baghdad as part of the new strategy.
One brigade of nearly 3,200 US troops has already arrived and is being deployed around the city.
A combat outpost dubbed "Casino" has been operating in the central Ghazaliyah district for around two weeks, the first of a string of such outposts to be jointly manned by Iraqi and US troops.
But Bush's plan is facing stiff opposition from opposition Democrats with a debate set on the floor of the Senate later Monday on a non-binding resolution rebuking the strategy.
Insurgents, meanwhile, launched brutal attacks killing at least 30 people in Iraq, with almost all of the violence in Baghdad.
A suicide bomber blew up his truck near a petrol station in southwest Baghdad's Al-Saidiyah district, killing at least 10 people and wounding 60 others, a security official said.
The truck loaded with wheat and a bomb exploded next to people lining up to buy petrol at the outlet, and a car bomb blew up near a children's hospital in Al-Sinaa, eastern Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 14.
Sixteen more were killed in other attacks.
Insurgents have carried out a sustained bombing campaign that killed 200 people over the weekend.
The worst bomb attack was on Saturday when 130 people were killed in a central Baghdad Shiite district when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive-packed truck in the Sadiriya market.
On Monday, the US and British militaries announced the deaths of three of their troops in Iraq, including a Briton.
Iraqi and US forces sit on an armoured tank in Baghdad
What would an un-armoured tank look like? :0)
Great picture.
And then some half retard will get taxied over the Syrian or Iranian border and dropped off at a hanger full of bomb loaded trucks. And then same said retard will roll up to the market square and whack a half hundred innocent Iraqis. And then the billions spent on this surge get burned up like so much kindling. Surge into Iran and Syria and toppled these medieval regimes.
And then some half retard will get taxied over the Syrian or Iranian border and dropped off at a hanger full of bomb loaded trucks. And then same said retard will roll up to the market square and whack a half hundred innocent Iraqis. And then the billions spent on this surge get burned up like so much kindling. Surge into Iran and Syria and toppled these medieval regimes.
Very subtle AFP...
deploy in east Baghdad
I hope we don't let the Mahdi's off the hook this time.
A howitzer mounted on a F350?
here we go
That does not appear to be happening. See: 2 Key Members of Mahdi Army Killed (possibly a 3rd, see my post #30 of the thread)
Thanks for the link!
They're warming up. It'll start pretty soon, and by Friday the media will be announcing that the 'surge' is a failure. It'll be useful when viewing those reports to remember that this is a long term project, designed to start slow and build.
The first thing the Army should do is get rid of all MSM embeds.
KUDOS!
From the Pukin' Buzzards. The "One-0-Worst".
GO EAGLES!
The MSM just got out of the Green Zone and found out we're using, "can you imagine, armoured tanks"!!! "What will those devious military types think of next"?
Assad says US dialogue with Syria is last chance to avoid civil war in Iraq
TEHRAN, Feb. 5--Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Monday Iran-Iraq ties are solid.
In a meeting with the head of Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the leader underlined that such relations are based on religious, cultural and historical interactions between the two nations as well as their long common border, IRNA reported.
Ayatollah Khamenei noted that Iran has always supported the territorial integrity, security, progress and development of Iraq.
The leader stressed that if the Iraqi nation and government continue to strengthen their cooperation and solidarity, there will be no pretexts for the presence of foreign forces in the country and they should withdraw. Regretting the continuing genocide of Iraq’s innocent people, including Shiites and Sunnis, Ayatollah Khamenei urged all Iraqi factions to support Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s government to combat insecurity.
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq as one of the main reasons for the country’s insecurity.
Lauding the role of religious leaders in Iraq on the threshold of the anniversary of the attacks on the holy shrine of Samarrah, Ayatollah Khamenei said such a bitter experience should not be forgotten.
“The US was the major culprit in the disastrous event, since such an offensive act was committed by terrorists in front of the US soldiers,“ he said.
For his part, Al-Hakim presented a report on the latest developments in Iraq and appreciated Iran’s assistance to Iraqis as well as its constructive role.
Elaborating on the measures taken by Maliki’s government for confronting insecurity, Hakimi said, “The Iraqi government attempts to present a plan, based on which it will take charge of the country’s security, establish stability and present various services and facilities to the Iraqi people to improve their living conditions.“
http://www.iran-daily.com/1385/2775/html/national.htm#s207756
Can I select the manner in which they are gotten rid of? :-)
Can I select the manner in which they are gotten rid of? :-)
You could, but it would be much kinder than the method I had in mind.
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