Posted on 01/28/2007 11:06:07 AM PST by cgk
Edited on 01/28/2007 11:44:41 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
| U.S., Iraqi forces kill 250 militants in Najaf Sun Jan 28, 2007 2:16 PM ET
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen in a fierce battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a senior Iraqi police officer said. The day-long battle was continuing after nightfall, Colonel Ali Nomas told Reuters, as tens of thousands of pilgrims converged on the nearby city of Kerbala for the climax of the Ashura commemorations. A U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fighting, Iraq security sources said. The U.S. military declined comment. A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter come down trailing smoke. Shi'ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites loyal to a cleric called Ahmed Hassani. In Baghdad, 13 people were killed in bombings in mainly Shi'ite areas, police said. Twin car bombs targeting ethnic Kurds killed 16 people as night fell in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, whose population is a volatile mix of Kurds, Turkmen and Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have converged on Iraq's other main Shi'ite holy city, Kerbala, for Ashura, marking the 7th century Battle of Kerbala, which helped consolidate the schism between Shi'ite and Sunni Islam. It ends on Monday. It is the first time the 10-day annual ritual has been held since violence erupted last February between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and once-dominant minority Sunnis. Tens of thousands have since been killed in tit-for-tat killings. The governor of Najaf province said Iraqi troops fought a day-long battle with up to 200 Sunni gunmen, including foreign fighters, holed up in orchards on the northern outskirts of the city, seat of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite clerics. Governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura. "There is a conspiracy to kill the clergy on the 10th day of Muharram," Najaf governor Abu Gilel said, referring to the day of the Muslim calendar on Monday. A Reuters reporter about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the fighting said he heard intense gunfire and saw U.S. helicopters rocket groves sheltering militants. He saw smoke trailing from one helicopter before it came down in the midst of the fighting. He was unable to see what had happened to the helicopter, but officers in Iraq's 8th Army Division and policemen said it had crashed and that the two crew members were dead. The U.S. military said it did not comment on operations still taking place. (Additional reporting by Aseel Kami, Sherko Raouf in Sulaimaniya) |
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No interest, though. No takers!!LOL
What alternative solution are you proposing?
Silly, I meant our side!
; )
a sad day for Hanoi Jane, and Queen Pelosi too
I did post it since this is now a rather long thread.....See this:
NY Times: Iraqi Forces in Fierce Battle With Gunmen ~ US copter down....250 militants down...
I played the double meaning!
Sorry, couldn't hold back. LOL!
It is going to take awhile before it gets better. It might get a lot worse in the near future.
If you haven't already, read the unclassified version on the plan here:
http://www.aei.org/docLib/20070111_ChoosingVictoryupdated.pdf
And the new Army's Counterinsurgency Manual here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-24.pdf
Hard to say,, the surge is still forming.. I'll get back to ya, how's that? Welcome to FR, btw.
What do you think?
Better yet, ask What does Iran think about what it is stepping in?
3 carriers groups pack a lot of oomph.
2007 could be a decisive year for the Middle East and Iran.
Don't expect the sectarian violence to end any time soon.
If it makes you feel any better, many of the Sunnis are on the run to escape Baghdad.
About 600 fighters and 16 leaders of the radical Shia militia, the Mehdi Army, have been nabbed in 52 operations over the last 45 days.
Before that, we've been killing al-Qaeda and Sunni insurgents over the last few years. And we've now trained over 300,000 Iraqi security forces.
IF the politicians would stay out of it and let them do their job, this war would have been over long ago.
Here's a military general explaining why he thinks it's important to have the Iraqi security forces doing their own work to combat the Shiite militias.
Sounds to me like the General is saying it's important military strategy to have a unified Iraqi military army (and police force) so that they can clean up their own fat-boy and Mahdi Army mess. Maybe you missed it but this operation was lead by Iraqi Security forces. Perhaps that explains the wait to you
Perhaps, you should stay out of it and let the Generals do their job.
This looks like a good segue into my theory on the sexual mores of the left and the right as they relate to the war. But everybody always runs away once I get started. LOLOL!
CNN reporting live that 300 beasts killed in Najaf. Exterminate these despicable worms! God bless and protect our incredibly brave and devoted troops! St. Michael, St. George ~~ be their guides and defenders in these vicious battles. Blessed Mother, protect Your courageous sons and daughters.
Amen
The "muzzies" doing the killing don't seem to be killing other insurgents of the opposite sect.
Woman and children in markets, University student nerds and working stiff apartment dwellers in the "wrong neighborhood" are the victims, and insurgent scum connected to al Qaeda and Iran are the ones doing the killing.
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