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Posted on 07/13/2003 1:14:23 AM PDT by HAL9000
BALAD, Iraq (AP) -- American forces have launched a fourth major offensive against insurgents in central Iraq to blunt expected attacks against U.S. soldiers during upcoming holidays marking historical events of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, military officials said.U.S. military officials have received intelligence reports -- including letters addressed to community leaders urging attacks against Americans -- indicating that pro-Saddam and Islamist insurgents plan anti-U.S. actions. The strikes would be timed to the July 14, 1958 anniversary of the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy and the July 17, 1968 coup by Saddam's Baathist Party.
The Army's 4th Infantry Division launched operation "Ivy Serpent'' Saturday night with a series of raids on suspected pro-Saddam holdouts, instituting aggressive checkpoints and sweeps through illegal weapons markets in the Baqouba and Balad on the Tigris River, north of the capital.
"We're going offensive to disrupt potential attacks against us by Baathists and former Fedayeen elements,'' said Colonel David Hogg, a commander of the 4th Infantry's 2nd Brigade.
Since President Bush declared major combat operations had ended on May 1, at least 31 U.S. soldiers have been killed by hostile fire.
Most attacks have taken place in Baghdad and traditionally pro-Saddam Sunni Arab strongholds of central Iraq, known as the "Sunni Triangle.''
Warnings of attacks have mentioned uprisings in Hawijah, Baji, Kirkuk, Samarra and Balad. American forces said they believed the best defense was to launch a pre-holiday move against potential insurgents.
"The goal is to knock the Baath Party and the Wahhabi elements off balance,'' said Lt. Col. Nat Sassaman, a Balad-area battalion commander. Wahhabism is the fundamentalist type of Islam practiced in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Army officers say many of the attacks in the past were carried out by aimless young men paid about $153 by former regime security officials. The 4th Infantry's 3rd Brigade has begun offering $250 rewards for usable intelligence and $100 rewards for information leading to weapons caches.
America's elusive enemy in Iraq appears to have some level of organization. Using flares and small-arms fire, they have a developed a system to notify one another when the Americans are entering an area.
The three previous anti-insurgency operations -- Peninsula Strike, Desert Scorpion and Sidewinder -- yielded mixed results.
Hundreds of suspects were detained, but many were released for lack of evidence. Numerous large weapons caches were discovered, but the attacks against Americans continued.
Operations often have taken place in the dead of night with teams of scouts conducting reconnaissance, tanks establishing security cordons and quick-action infantrymen with night-vision goggles storming suspected locations. But the start of Ivy Serpent -- expected to last at least a few days -- coincided with a full moon taking away some of the advantage the Americans have in the dark, U.S. military officials said.
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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I dunno. Is there a lot of ivy in Iraq? They're cheating--I mean, there are serpents in the desert, but they're also using words like ivy from outside. They can go on for a long time like that.
Before you know it, they'll launch "Operation Desert Caribou" or "Operation Sand Moose"
There's a lot of cute naming potential in that.
If they keep planning BS like this, they'll keep dying. I wonder how long it will take before the "insurgents" realize that their efforts are all for not? We have got to remain relentless..
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