Posted on 06/17/2005 11:37:14 AM PDT by bnelson44
The US military has launched a major offensive involving some 1,000 troops to root out insurgents and foreign fighters in western Iraq. Heavy gun battles could be heard as Operation Spear got under way in the early hours in the restive province of Anbar on the border with Syria
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
"stope" = stop
(arrrrgh!)
We don't need to stop at the border, do we?
What we need are US troops in a major Syria operation.
God Bless you, my Brother in Arms! Thank you for your duty to our Country! May God keep and protect our Military men and Women always!
Our Brave Men and Women are stacking them up like cord wood right now! "Operation Spear"
82nd ABN 1/508th BN Bco
"fury from the sky"
Iraq News (Operation Spear) ping!
Operation Spear Begins; Iraqi Farmer Turns In Weapons Cache
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 17, 2005 – U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces today began Operation Spear, aimed at rooting out terrorists and foreign fighters and disrupting terror support systems in and around Karabilah, Iraq.
About 1,000 Marines and sailors from Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, and Iraqi security forces began the operation early this morning in northwestern Anbar province.
Elements from 1st Tank Battalion and 2nd and 4th Assault Amphibian Battalions are participating in the operation, along with coalition aircraft.
In other Iraq news, a local farmer reported, and later delivered, a large weapons cache to Task Force Baghdad soldiers June 16.
The Iraqi called officials from 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, and told them of the weapons cache. The farmer then transported the cache to an agreed-upon location and handed it over to the soldiers.
The cache included 400 hand grenades, 45 rocket-propelled grenades, two RPG launchers, and a box of ammunition.
The find is another example of the Iraqi people getting involved in a positive way in their own security, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steven Merkel, commander of 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment.
"In the past two weeks, we have seen the number of tips on enemy activity given to us from the local Iraqi people skyrocket," Merkel said. "Just as importantly, the information is timelier and more specific than the majority of what we received previously."
In other developments, Iraqi army and Task Force Baghdad soldiers took five terror suspects into custody during a late-night cordon-and-search operation June 15 in Baghdad.
The soldiers also seized bomb-making materials, including six blasting caps, a bag of ball bearings, two Iraqi army uniforms, an old Iraqi army ring, terrorist instructional books and CDs, and $900 in U.S. cash.
Three detainees were primary targets in the mission and are members of a known terrorist cell. The terror suspects are being held for additional questioning.
Elsewhere, Iraqi security forces arrested eight suspected car-bomb manufacturers and seized a nearly completed car bomb, bomb-making materials, and weapons during a cordon-and-search operation in Baghdad June 15. The operation was part of the opening phase of a major, sustained operation involving more than 1,500 Iraqi and U.S. forces -- dubbed Operation Overload.
The nearly-completed car bomb, consisting of eight 125 mm mortar rounds, a remote detonating system and a timer, was found after elements of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade Iraqi Intervention Force and D Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, received a tip from a local resident about a home where car bombs were being produced. Inside the house, Iraqi Special Commandos found more car bomb-making materials, including 10 mortar rounds, 50 pounds of high explosives, 3,000 feet of detonation cord, 20 blasting caps and 10 firing devices.
Earlier in the day, an Iraqi police patrol captured seven terror suspects during a cordon-and-search operation in the Shawra Wa Um Jidir district of northeastern Baghdad. The police also found one RPG launcher, 29 AK-47 assault rifles, four bolt-action rifles, four cases of ammunition, three boxes of mortar fuses and 15 insignia stamps from the former regime.
In north Baghdad, Iraqi army soldiers, acting on a tip from a local citizen, detained four more terror suspects and seized another partially constructed car bomb. The bomb consisted of 20 artillery rounds fused with detonation cord. The soldiers took the four suspects into custody for questioning and impounded the car.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2005/20050617_1754.html
Hmmmm, watch for "hot pursuit" into Syria. That would send a nice message!
"fury from the sky"
Really big fury!
God bless each and every one of our men in Iraq, and grant us at home the wisdom and resolve to cover their six when they are attacked on the floor of the Senate.
ping
Continued success in crushing the terror-scum. Awesome men!
Thanks for the PING, Wiz. Your work here is much appreciated!
i wondered a year ago where we would be 'a year from now' on it, too. one year happens fast. i think 700 US KIA in that span of time? what a friggin mess...nobody thought this long to subdue those bastards. Can it really be done (since we are surely not going to bomb them into the Stone Age)???
When I first heard of this this morning, it was announced as a new "major combat operation". That took me back well over a year, that's for sure.
Air War time
"God bless each and every one of our men in Iraq, and grant us at home the wisdom and resolve to cover their six when they are attacked on the floor of the Senate."
Absolutely. We need to attack the attackers.
I spend a lot of time e-mailing members of Congress
and riding them whenever they shoot off their mouths
about our guys. I think we all should.
Ping
This war has long needed expanding to Syria. There is no alternative to toppling Syria. It is one critical linchpin that will enable a far sooner departure of our troops.
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