Operation sweeping Baghdad prior to elections

ARNEWS ^ | Nov 17, 2005 | Spc. Dan Balda

[SandRat]

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 17, 2005) -- Iraqi and U.S. forces detained dozens of terror suspects during searches in south Baghdad as Operation Clean Sweep continued to clear neighborhoods of terrorist activity.

“Operation Clean Sweep was intended to clean out an area that was known to be used as a way for insurgents to come toward Baghdad from the south as well as an area that a lot of (vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices) and IEDs were coming from,” said Lt. Col. Everett Knapp, commander of 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment.

In anticipation of the Dec. 15 nationwide elections, the Soldiers of 1st Bn., 184th Inf., as well as Iraqi forces from the 4th Public Order Brigade and 1st Commando Brigade, raided about 350 homes and detained 49 suspected terrorists. Military officials said 10 of the suspects were forwarded to detention facilities.

Some of the 1/184 Soldiers set up the outer cordon of the mission while others shadowed their Iraqi counterparts during the operation in late October.

“The Iraqi Soldiers really took the lead (on this mission),” Knapp said. “They don’t need translators; they can tell who the good guys are and who doesn’t belong in a certain situation.”

During the Oct. 15 Constitutional Referendum vote, clearing the area of possible dangers to the democratic process was one of the reasons the U.S. Soldiers swept through the fields, clearing every building that stood in their path.

“We want the people to see the Iraqi Security Forces protecting them,” Knapp said. “This election has nothing to do with us. This whole operation is about making this area safe for the Iraqi people to see their own Soldiers protecting them.”

1st Lt. Jim Waters, of C Company, 1/184, said his Soldiers joined Iraqi Commandos during the operation.

“The message we’re trying to convey is that the Iraqi government and the Iraqi Security Forces are capable of securing the country,” Waters said. “The citizens of Iraq who are in cooperative support of the new government don’t have anything to fear from the power of the American military or the power of Iraq’s security forces.”

Knapp said he looks forward to continuing to work with the ISF in the future, adding, “These guys get better every single day. Their professionalism is outstanding.”

(Editor’s note: Spc. Dan Balda serves with 4th Brigade Combat Team PAO, 3rd Infantry Division.)

[SandRat]

Cleaning House in Iraq.

[yldstrk]

Sweep the filth up off the streets.

[steve8714]

Too many arrests
Too few kills
Police arrest
armies destroy

[E.G.C.]

BTTT