Posted on 09/04/2005 8:07:02 PM PDT by jmc1969
TALL AFAR, Iraq, Sept. 4 -- Under the cover of a moonless night, U.S. soldiers on Sunday strung nearly a mile of razor-sharp concertina wire across the northern edge of a neighborhood dominated by insurgents to prevent them from fleeing without a showdown.
Several small teams of five or six troops quickly uncoiled spools of wire and fastened it along the deserted sidewalk of a broad thoroughfare. The cordon was intended to prevent insurgents from blending in with the hundreds of people who fled the city during heavy clashes Sunday.
"The idea is to trap them in Sarai or force them toward our checkpoints to the south," said Col. H.R. McMaster, commander of the Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, referring to the neighborhood that U.S. forces believe has served as a launching point for many attacks in the city. "We don't want them to slip out."
More than 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers entered Tall Afar on Friday in a broad sweep for insurgents who have held sway in the northern city since a previous U.S. invasion, and subsequent withdrawal, last September. In three days of fighting, as many as 200 insurgents have been killed, McMaster said. Two U.S. and four Iraqi soldiers have been wounded, none seriously.
Elsewhere Sunday in Tall Afar, an Iraqi army unit freed 35 hostages held in a house south of downtown, according to Maj. Gen. Khorsheed Salim, commander of the army's 3rd Division, which is heavily involved in the operation.
Soldiers in the western part of the city found a laboratory rigged with explosives, McMaster said. The lab also contained a chemical that burned the troops' throats and eyes when they entered. The Army is investigating the type of substances.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Hehehe. Sounds good to me. Lets hope this works.
That's great news! Seems like a little G2 would go a long way. Must be they are using it.
hope the army troops were not infected with anything deadly
Yes Indeed, Thats what all of America wants!
Repeat after me: There are no WMDs in Iraq.
Maybe they will get lucky and catch Zarqawi there.
Oh, sorry, forgot that he is too chicken to actually fight and is probably hiding in Syria.
Good hunting boys...get some.
Correction: There is no WMD in the press.
I can't believe these numbers. I mean I do, but I don't... where do they keep coming from?
200 dead, for what? It's suicide!
I hope the Military calls its next, big, kick ass operation KATRINA.
Fence is up - time to let the dogs in ...
I wonder what chem weapons Zarqawi has been trying to cook up.
It could be blister agents, maybe trying for nerve agents.
Great news. Before the end of this year the terrorist insurgency in Iraq will be almost dead if not completely dead.
No street lights I suspect...Ought to be like picking perch out of a gill net...
Watch H.R. McMaster. He's the best the Army has. I served under him in Desert Storm. You can read more about him in Tom Clancy's Armored Cav.
No doubt the Left will say we "planted ' the chemical wapons...count on it! "
I can hear Clinton say," I thought we got that too with those missles I sent?" Kerry will say we should have sent our DEA over there.
And yeah, I wonder how well Al Sheehan's rolling pins would work on chemical weapons? "Freedom fighters" with WMD's....uh, oops, I forgot its the Religion of Peace and that makes it ok.
Congratulations to our noble troops! Hey ,Colin Powell, Bush DID "break it" and yeah, now we are FIXING it! I wonder if they called this mission the MISSION POTTERY BARN!
God Bless our brave troops.
Time to bring out the MOAB's!
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