Operation Swarmer Ends With All Objectives Met

American Forces Press Service ^

[SandRat]

WASHINGTON, March 23, 2006 – Operation Swarmer, a combined operation involving Iraqi soldiers and police commandos and coalition forces wrapped up yesterday without any casualties and all of the tactical objectives met, Multinational Force Iraq officials announced today.

The mission began with the helicopter transport of about 1,500 Iraqi and coalition soldiers and Iraqi police commandos into a 10-by-10-square-mile area northeast of Samarra on March 16. The initial insertion aircraft and subsequent air security provided by the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade moved the force, made up of units from Iraq's 1st Commando Brigade, 1st Brigade, 4th Army Division, and the U.S. 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

The combined force moved through the area using intelligence and planning provided primarily by the Iraqi security forces, officials said. The operation, they added, resulted in 104 suspected insurgents being detained and questioned and 24 weapons caches discovered.

The caches included:

• Six shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles;
• More than 350 mortar rounds and three mortar systems;
• 26 artillery rounds;
• A variety of bomb-making materials and other military items;
• More than 120 rockets;
• More than 3,200 rounds of small-arms ammunition;
• 86 rocket-propelled grenades and 28 launchers;
• Six land mines;
• 12 hand grenades and 40 rifle grenades; and
• 34 rifles and machine guns of various types.

All units have safely returned to their garrison locations and forward operating bases preparing for future operations, officials said.

In other news from Iraq, elements of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, found five weapons cache sites west of Baghdad yesterday. The caches contained 17 pressure plate initiators, 18 106 mm heat rounds, 400 blasting caps, 20 radios with timers, 40 artillery rounds of various sizes and a large amount of .50-caliber rounds.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)

[JennysCool]

After all their hysteria over Swarmer, I doubt you'll find this little nugget of news ANYWHERE in the MSM.

Thanks for the Post. Sounds like our soldiers, and the Iraqis, aquitted themselves well.

[the invisib1e hand]

Another American victory unnoticed by the "news" agencies of the plebes.

oh well, screw 'em. And Go, FR!

[JennysCool]

Think this might deserve breaking? I haven't read it ANYWHERE else, and I don't think our mainstream media is going to report it unless we drag them kicking and screaming to the cameras, mikes and word processors!

[Man50D]

Wait a minute. Wait a gosh darn minute! It is impossible for our military to have any success! Just ask the media and socialists like Cindy Sheehan. ;)

[Rte66]

Hooray!! *ssss*

[JennysCool]

Thanks, Oh Great One!

[hattend]

Excellent! WooHoo! BTTT

[DoughtyOne]

s More proof of Anderson Cooper's perception that soldiers spend so much time on base, they may not even know what is actually taking place in Iraq. /s

What a dip stick!

[Hardastarboard]

For a minute I thought this said "Operation Swimmer" and was a thread about Ted Kennedy.

[July 4th]

More than 3,200 rounds of small-arms ammunition;

Heh heh...got about that much in my basement.

[AliVeritas]

BTTT

[prairiebreeze]

Wonder where most of the munitions can be traced? Iran perhaps? Syria?

[BenLurkin]

Copperheads deeply saddened.

[Marine_Uncle]

Quite a weapon cache. Hopefully these quick strike missions shall become the norm using more and more Iraqi units. So many areas in the sunni belt and associated baddy places to drop them in and clean up. Keep the goons on the run, and if not running popping up daisies.

[Marine_Uncle]

"Wonder where most of the munitions can be traced? Iran perhaps? Syria?"
Original estimates, US Army/CIA where that Iraq had upward 600,000 tons of ordnance. Back in 2004, I cannot remember what month but think it was fall, we had gathered and cateloged some 250,000 tons. How much was destroyed verse guarded, I have no info on. Point is. There is still huge amounts of French,Russian,Bulgarian etc., ordnance, e.g. artillery shells, tank shells, rpg's, mortars etc., hiden. It is going to take a long time to get rid of all this stuff. We have special army units that make it their business to haul this stuff to approved sites for demolition. Yes, sometimes, depending on the nature and place the stuff is found, it is destroyed in place.

[tomnbeverly]

The continued abuse of the President by the MSM. It makes me sick and the GOP pundits need to be out bashing the MSM. In other words the press coverage cannot get any worse.

If I was the President I would start giving press conferences and interviews to small unheard of news outlets and get ABC, NBC and BS all riled up.

[prairiebreeze]

I'm sure you're correct that there are plenty of French and Russian muntions leftover and being discovered. The whole country is really just one big munitions dump.

I thought I read recently that some... either explosives material or weapons were being traced back to Iran and Syrian sources as well.

[Marine_Uncle]

"I thought I read recently that some... either explosives material or weapons were being traced back to Iran and Syrian sources as well."
Don't know about Syria. But yes, we read about IED's using specific type shaped charges that can be traced back to Iran. And just a week back or so we saw an article that incoming Persian manufactured IED's where intercepted on the Iraqi/Iranian border. But these are specialty items. It is not like Iranians,Al Qaeda,Iraqi's are trying to smuggle in large amounts of rockets, rpgs, mortars etc., from Iran. There is enough crap still in Iraq for the goons to get hold of. At least that has been my understanding.

[Cobra64]

If Rush sees it, he may bring it to the surface.