It's Game On In Ramadi: Long Awaited Operation Underway, Fierce Fighting in Center of City

Iraq Slogger ^ | March 2 2007 | ROBERT Y. PELTON

[jmc1969]

The 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division (1-3ID)is currently engaged in street to street fighting in central Ramadi. The much anticipated attack follows months of hands off policy as troops were routinely sniped and attacked with orders not to retaliate.

After much planning U.S. forces along with a collection of hired local tribesmen from nearby Sofia (a suburb of Ramadi) and other groups are attacking and clearing the are house by house. The tribes have been formed into paramilitary units called "Emergency Response Units" and are linked with U.S. troops.

The 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment (1-9), 2nd Infantry Division has been given the dirty job of house to house combat in Ramadi's center. Many of the houses have been booby trapped in anticipation of the attack. The U.S. Military estimates that there are around 60 insurgents remaining in the area of 15,000 people. Initial estimates put the insurgent numbers at between 100 and 200.

[Patriot Hooligan]

Whose next in your world, Hindus?

[jmc1969]

That is what I meant when I said earlier that Rumsfield and Abaizaid didn't want to win the war, they wanted to slide out of Iraq.

[MinorityRepublican]

Rumsfeld was focused on modernizing his military to meet the threat imposed by China.

He did not see Iraq as a serious problem and wanted to leave the country.

[jmc1969]

That about covers what happened. It was clear in 2004 and 2005 we needed more troops and a bigger Army. But, Rumsfield put his Transformation plan ahead of the urgent need for a bigger Army.

[Domicile of Doom]

If need be

[El Gato]

NOTHING will ever replace boots on the ground.

True, but precision guided munitions, liberally applied, can make the "boots" job much easier and safer.

[El Gato]

Aviation leaves no prisoners, and very little ground to do anything with.

Actually, it can leave the ground pre-plowed and ready for planting... even if was a city before the aviators did their thing. :)

[El Gato]

Wonder if they'd get their ticket punched by Allah and the complimentary 72 virgins?

I'm sure it would be considered premature Jihadization. No Virgins for them, especially considering they didn't get to take any infidels with them.

Run a few hogs into the building with them, so that if the booby traps go off, their bodies will be all intermixed with those of the pigs.

Kinda cruel to the pigs, but those are the breaks. :)

[El Gato]

Pay them by the scalp.

In that part of the world, I think the usual practice is to require the full head, not just the scalp. :)

[t2buckeye]

God speed to our men there. My nephew is a Navy Corpsman stationed in Ramadi...hopes and prayers go up daily. He has two small children and we pray for his and all of the men there!

[Marine_Uncle]

Roger that.

[vigilante2]

The sector has already been cleared..They're handing out humanitarian aid now..These guys are fast..The 1-9 kicks butt

[vigilante2]

ping

[Marine_Uncle]

"...what in the hell were we doing?"
The issue is more what the hell was Maliki and his crew thinking. Our soldiers, Marines and some Iraqi units had started to cordon off the lower part of the city to the extent people where fleeing to temp refuge camps in anticipation of a long bloody battle.
The US had the go for it, the Iraqi said no. Almost every miscalculation in Iraq is not of the US forces but of the reluctance of the IG to allow us to rid their country earlier on of the hadji.
Finally, Maliki has been forced into submission. Ever since we have seen Iraqi start to realize they must take strong actions against all forms of the insurgency and the sectarian elements that have allowed the L/MSM so much free news in the way of bloody attacks, we now see them willing to allow Iraqi soldiers blood to be spilled to retake their country from the goon squads. The tide has finally changed.

[happygrl]

My sentiments mirror yours on both points.

Not being more ruthless in the beginning has cost more lives, even those of Iraqi civilians.

It is immoral not to allow self defense on the part of our soldiers.

[Kathy in Alaska]

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Instead of shipping the insurgents off to Club Gitmo,have them enter the houses.Feedback?"

The UN has decried this as an Israeli tactic. Catch a PLO terrorist and force him to open doors as the Israeli's lie in wait.

The UN said this is illegal. The UN can STFU.

[SandRat]

FR WAR NEWS!

WAR News at Home and Abroad You'll Hear Nowhere Else!

All the News the MSM refuses to use!

Or if they do report it, without the anti-War Agenda Spin!

[magslinger]

Thoughts of joe terrorist: "Well, for every one of us they kill, we will kill 10 of our own people, especially women and children. Yeah, that will show them."

The people they are killing aren't really their people. Joe is from out of town. And the more he kills the locals, the more the locals see that Joe is friend to no man.

[Flora McDonald]

Prayers up for our Freedom Fighters and all the Iraqis with them.