Posted on 06/01/2007 12:02:08 AM PDT by txradioguy
BAGHDAD — U.S. troops battled Al Qaeda in west Baghdad after Sunni Arab residents challenged the militants and called for American help to end furious gunfire that kept students from final exams and forced people in the neighborhood to huddle indoors. Backed by helicopter gunships, U.S. troops on Thursday joined the two-day battle in the Amariyah district, according to a councilman and other residents of the Sunni district. The fight reflects a trend that U.S. and Iraqi officials have been trumpeting recently to the west in Anbar province, once considered the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. Many Sunni tribes in the province have banded together to fight Al Qaeda, claiming the terrorist group is more dangerous than American forces. Three more U.S. soldiers were reported killed in combat, raising the number of American deaths to at least 122 for May, making it the third deadliest month for Americans in the conflict. The military said two soldiers died Wednesday from a roadside bomb in Baghdad and one died of wounds inflicted by a bomb attack northwest of the capital Tuesday. Lt. Col. Dale C. Kuehl, commander of 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, who is responsible for the Amariyah area of the capital, confirmed the U.S. military's role in the fighting in the Sunni district. He said the battles raged Wednesday and Thursday but died off at night.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Saif M. Fakhry, an Associated Press Television News cameraman, was shot twice and killed in the turmoil in Amariyah on Thursday. Fakhry, 26, was the fifth AP employee to die violently in the Iraq war and the third killed since December.
(I'm not sayin' nuthin!)
May God protect our Troops and help our Allies, that we may win this War...
Iraqis are finally seeing an evil bigger than ol’ Saddam. They are realizing if Aquida get its way,that they will loose local control to a bunch of blood thirsty hooligans.
They’re hoping the democrats don’t replay their vietnam “runb like hell” scenario...
Zarqawi’s memos ‘splained it all. We’re now fighting back accordingly.
AP wrote something along the lines that the Sunni’s decided to fight AQ because AQ is seen as a bigger threat than Coalition Forces.
But how could “occupiers” be asked for help?
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