Posted on 05/26/2005 9:11:06 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Iraq's government will pour tens of thousands of Iraqi troops into Baghdad in an unprecedented operation to seal off the city and hunt insurgents who have launched a fresh wave of violence, ministers said on Thursday.
Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi said 40,000 Iraqi troops would be deployed in Baghdad for Operation Thunder, the biggest Iraqi military operation since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Backed by the 10,000 U.S. troops in Baghdad, they will set up hundreds of checkpoints and block roads into the capital.
The dramatic rise in suicide bombings and ambushes by mostly Sunni Arab guerrillas has killed more than 600 Iraqis in the last four weeks and raised fears that Iraq could slide toward civil war if the Shi'ite-led government does not deliver on pledges of stability.
Dulaimi said the crackdown would expand to other parts of Iraq after starting in Baghdad. But he did not say where the extra troops would come from or what their level of training would be. Many Iraqi troops are undertrained and underequipped.
"These operations will aim to turn the government's role from defensive to offensive," Iraqi Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said at a news conference announcing the offensive.
Despite the announcement, attacks persisted nationwide, with at least 15 people killed in bomb blasts and shootings.
The crackdown is the first major security action undertaken by the new government and comes as U.S. forces conduct a security sweep in rebellious western Iraq.
"We shall not leave any place for terrorists or those who shelter them and incite terrorism in Iraq," Dulaimi said. "We will stand against all those who try to shed Iraqi blood ... We will implement the law with everything we've got."
He said troops would be drawn from interior and defense ministry forces and would begin operating in the capital, with the city divided into sections, a unit responsible for each.
"We will also impose a stringent blockade around Baghdad, like a bracelet around an arm, God willing, and God be with us in our crackdown on the terrorists' infrastructure. No one will be able to penetrate this blockade," Dulaimi said.
"You will witness unprecedented, strict security measures."
ANBAR OFFENSIVE
The move comes a day after U.S. forces launched Operation New Market, a security sweep in the town of Haditha, 200 km (125 miles) northwest of Baghdad, where 1,000 U.S. Marines and sailors, backed by Iraqi troops, are searching for militants.
New Market is the second major security operation in the area this month as U.S. and Iraqi forces step up their hunt for followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who heads al Qaeda's network in Iraq.
An Internet posting this week apparently from the al Qaeda organization in Iraq said Zarqawi, for whom Washington is offering a $25 million bounty, had been wounded in fighting, although it did not say when, where or how.
Other reports on the Web said he had been shot in the chest, but these could not be independently confirmed.
Jabor said he had confirmation that Zarqawi had been wounded. But Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari later said there was no firm news. "We don't yet have accurate information on this matter," Jaafari told reporters.
Earlier on Thursday, another posting was put on the Internet saying that the leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq had met and decided to appoint a deputy to Zarqawi until he recovered. However, hours later, another posting dismissed that report.
"We deny what was issued about the appointment of the so-called Abu Hafs or any other name," said the later posting.
The later statement, unlike the earlier one, was signed by Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi, who usually posts for al Qaeda in Iraq.
The new statement said the group had announced Zarqawi's wounding to show its news credibility and allay fears following reports that the leader had been killed.
"You will hear what will make you happy, faithful brothers, and the allies of Satan will hear what will spite them," it said, suggesting good news about Zarqawi's condition.
Despite the conflicting reports about the leadership of the most feared group in the country, insurgent attacks continued.
A suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle near an Iraqi police patrol in Shola, a poor district of the capital, killing three people and wounding six, police said.
In central Baghdad, Thamer Ghaidan, a director general at the industry ministry, was shot dead in a drive-by shooting.
In the south of the capital, gunmen shot dead Professor Moussa Salum, a deputy dean at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University, along with three bodyguards.
Two Shi'ite officials were also assassinated in the capital. One was a member of the Shi'ite Dawa party, headed by Jaafari, police said. The other, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was killed when gunmen opened fire on a restaurant he ran.
In Tal Afar, a restive town west of the northern city of Mosul, U.S. forces said they shot dead a child when they returned fire after coming under attack. They said the child had been used by militants as a human shield.
(Additional reporting by Mussab al-Khairalla and Omar Anwar in Baghdad, Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul and Faris al-Mehdawi in Baquba)
Can't buy that. It's not a credible analysis. It's possible to imagine a war with Syria at some point in the future, I suppose, but American troops in two Arab capitals at once, Baghdad and Damascus, would be stupidly excessive.
Besides Syria would NEVER leave Lebanon on their own accord, even if they were credibly threatened by invasion from Iraq. Syria essentially has no economy. Lebanon IS their economy. It provides the perks, payoffs, sinecures, and etc which are essential to reward and retain the supporters of any authoritarian government.
The withdrawal from Lebanon presents an existential threat to the Syrian government nearly as great in the long run as a war with Iraq and the Americans, and gives them fewer (not more) options in dealing with such a war if it does occur. After all the fielding of a few divisions more or less won't make any difference in facing the American military; but financial resources, the ability to stir up trouble elsewhere in the region, and the ready availability of proxy warriors like Hezbollah, might.
Intel wants to see who starts moving...that way, they'll know which areas to target. Huh?
Rounding up and killing bad guys ~ Bump!
"Intel wants to see who starts moving...that way, they'll know which areas to target."
There are a lot of reasons to want the bad guys to move out of Bagdad.
No better training than on the job.
I could've sworn I saw a news article somewhere a few days ago about Syrian troops working with the US on the border issue. But it would be very nice if you were right.
Syria Cuts Military Cooperation With U.S.
Las Vegas SUN (AP) ^ | 05/24/05 | ALBERT AJI
Posted on 05/24/2005 6:51:52 PM PDT by Marine_Uncle
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - Syria has stopped security and military cooperation with the United States in recent months after Washington failed to respond to repeated overtures from Damascus, Syria's ambassador said Tuesday.
"There has been no cooperation between Syria and the United States on security and military matters simply because all attempts of cooperation between us and them have not led to a political result," Imad Mustafa told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Washington.
He said Syria had not cooperated with the United States "for months."
"The United States will not be satisfied with Syria unless Syria follows a policy that suits the American political orientation and Israeli interests," Mustafa said, echoing widely held beliefs in the Arab world that the United States is biased toward Israel.
He said the United States wants to "redraw the political map of the region in a way that suits American and Israeli interests."
The United States accuses Syria of facilitating the Iraqi insurgency across its borders, claiming Syria is not doing enough to stop the flow of foreign fighters and funds into Iraq.
Syria denies the accusations, saying it is doing everything it can to control the long, porous border with Iraq.
The troops would get the admiration of their peers which means a lot, their CO would probably buy them a bunch of beers and JD, and if they were smart enough to take pictures...a thousand dollars from a British Tabloid.
I digress with the last one.
It was forseeable right after the elections that the first major action of the new government would be a massive assault against the terrorists and murderers, a savage and concentrated cleanup of the trash.
This is NOT going to be a civil war (typical anti-American MSM handwringing), but it is going to be a necessarily brutal and bloody assault on "the evil ones."
Good riddance. About time. Let's roll.
Expect a crescendo of MSM and NGO hysteria about "human rights", which of course they've not levied against the Syrian and Saudi Islamist psychos or the remnants of the murderous Baathist regime now taking refuge in Syria.
SWEEP!
PSYOPS! You play all the cards you have.
Besides, see if the rats stir.
DING DING DING!
Well, the MSM can either scream about the continued car bombings or get behind the program for a sweep. One or t'other.
We're not at war with Syria... yet. And actually I think the plan is simply to kill their leadership, rather than to go to war. Assad must know he has a bright red bullseye on his forehead.
The Syrian "diplomatic walkout" over "insulting allegations" came only two weeks after Operation Matador over by the Syrian border. 285 terrorists were killed (many Syrian and Saudi mercenaries), and several hundred more were captured. I have no doubt they spilled the beans about Syrian government complicity in the horrid terrorism against the innocent citizens of Iraq, not to mention American soldiers. Assad is now on the hot seat, big time.
I predicted months ago (right after the elections) that the first major activity of the new Iraqi government would be a brutal and thorough assault against the psycho Islamist mercenaries in Iraq, most of whom are from Syria and Saudi.
It looks like that's about to happen.
Expect hysterical pronouncements from NGOs and the MSM. It's going to be bloody.... and successful.
Assad must be terrified and looking for his own spider hole.
Operation Matador, just a few weeks ago.
285 terrorists killed, IIRC, and several hundred captured. Many Syrians and Saudis.
Now imagine what happens when you start interrogating several hundred captured Syrian and Saudi mercenaries, and you're entering all that data into your investigative database. A picture begins to emerge: names, associations, money, leadership, etc.
That's the reason for the "diplomatic walkout". The Syrians have been caught red-handed through probably dozens of corroborating statements, as well as a detailed picture of precisely who's involved in financing and supporting the psychotic and murderous assault against innocent Iraqis.
Immediately after the "walkout" and the "false allegations", I would guess that the Syrians started calling their Bahrain bankers and looking for hidey holes for the inevitable day of reckoning.
Because many Syrian Baathist officials are now Dead Men Walking.
Many Iraqi troops are undertrained and underequipped.
Upon reading that sentence I looked back at the heading and noted, "Yes, it is Reuters."
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ROTFLMPO and "na-na na na-nah"... when I read the paragraph just above that one, I did exactly the same thing...
"The dramatic rise in suicide bombings and ambushes by mostly Sunni Arab guerrillas has killed more than 600 Iraqis in the last four weeks and raised fears that Iraq could slide toward civil war if the Shi'ite-led government does not deliver on pledges of stability."
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