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BBC: New push to control Baghdad area
BBC ^ | Wednesday, 24 January 2007, 17:15 GMT | BBC Staff

Posted on 01/24/2007 9:38:21 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach

New push to control Baghdad area

Smoke rises over Baghdad after clashes in Sunni area

The operation began at dawn and lasted several hours

Iraqi forces backed by US helicopter gunships have fought insurgents in the Sunni-dominated Haifa Street area of the capital, Baghdad.

The US said it was part of the new plan to restore security to the capital.

An Iraqi official said up to 30 militants were killed and 27 detained. One US soldier was killed.

The battle came hours after President George W Bush urged the US to give his new strategy a chance to work, warning of "grievous consequences" of failure.

In his annual State of the Union address to Congress, Mr Bush said that if the US stepped back before Baghdad was secure, "the Iraqi government would be overrun by extremists from all sides".

President Bush


Bush asks for "a chance"

The new US strategy is to take control of insurgent strongholds and then to hold them, rather than withdrawing and allowing the areas to be re-taken by anti-US insurgents and sectarian militias.

An advance guard of 3,200 troops arrived in Baghdad on Sunday, part of President Bush's plan to send an extra 21,500 troops to Iraq.

Machine-gun fire

The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Baghdad says the latest operation began at dawn and for several hours afterwards loud explosions and frequent bursts of heavy machine-gun fire could be heard from the Haifa Street district.

Baghdad map


Witnesses said insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and mortars and machine-guns against a joint force of US and Iraqi troops.

Haifa Street is a major Baghdad thoroughfare lined with high-rise buildings.

"A lot has been coming from high-rise buildings," US military spokesman Maj Steven Lamb told Reuters news agency. "We are firing at terrorists in those buildings."

A statement from the US military said that one soldier was killed and two others injured in a combined security operation in Baghdad.

There were unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties.

Earlier, gunfire and mortar rounds were heard coming from another district, al-Fadl, where five US civilians died on Tuesday when a US helicopter crashed after apparently coming under fire.

Elsewhere in the city, gunmen killed a well-known professor and economist who presented a programme on Sharqiya television.

Diya al-Meqoter was shot several times in the head and chest

He was known for supporting poor people needing loans to set up businesses, and he also headed Iraq's consumer association, a non-government agency which campaigned for fair pricing.

Map of Baghdad's sectarian districts




TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: baghdad; haifastreet; iraq

1 posted on 01/24/2007 9:38:22 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

God Bless our Troops... Victory is underway!


2 posted on 01/24/2007 9:42:31 AM PST by AmericanMade1776 (Democrats don't have a plan)
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To: AmericanMade1776
Earlier thread with Reuters report ...some photos:

U.S. helicopters strike high-rises in Baghdad

3 posted on 01/24/2007 9:44:23 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Thanks Ernest, I was at Yoga earlier this morning.. all relaxed. :-)


4 posted on 01/24/2007 9:57:37 AM PST by AmericanMade1776 (Democrats don't have a plan)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Bump for killing more bad guys!


5 posted on 01/24/2007 10:10:13 AM PST by roses of sharon
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To: roses of sharon

As Ledeen says.....faster please....


6 posted on 01/24/2007 10:17:08 AM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Control Baghdad?
That's a fool's errand, like herding cats....

This time -- if the lunatics can't be silenced, I hope we realize it would be time to exercise the "war option" and reduce the "troublesome" parts of the city to a single layer of smoking RUBBLE, with the scent of the rotting corpses reaching Iran....

We've played the game by "Islamic rules" too damned long.
Time to play by "Chicago rules"......and bust their asses.

Semper Fi
7 posted on 01/24/2007 11:02:03 AM PST by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat

River Rat,

I'm with you. A few MOAB's and there will not be a peep to be heard. It's time to take the gloves off. The minimalist war is over.

Semper Fi'
Jarhead


8 posted on 01/24/2007 2:13:52 PM PST by Buffettfan (VIVA LA MIGRA! - LONG LIVE THE MINUTEMEN!)
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To: Buffettfan
A few MOAB's and there will not be a peep to be heard.

We decided not to produce any MOABs beyond the handful of prototypes. Another "low priority" weapon system that did not make the budget cut line.

9 posted on 01/24/2007 6:34:56 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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