Posted on 06/21/2007 6:26:44 AM PDT by bnelson44
BAQUBA, Iraq, June 20 — Fighting was heavy in parts of Baquba on Wednesday as American troops continued to squeeze a large section of the city in an effort to rid it of insurgents believed to be part of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.
Soldiers moved block by block through the city, the capital of Diyala Province, clearing houses and removing roadside bombs. As they pressed in, American troops discovered a medical aid station for insurgents — another sign that the Qaeda fighters had prepared for an intense fight. The hospital, uncovered by troops from the Fifth Battalion, 20th Infantry, was equipped with oxygen tanks, defibrillators, generators and surgical equipment, as well as pieces of insurgent propaganda.
The American effort got off to a slow start in the morning when blowing sand precluded reconnaissance and medevac flights. But as the weather cleared, the soldiers advanced into the western section of the city. Soldiers said they had received useful tips from some residents on the location of buried bombs and booby-trapped houses. In the Mufrek neighborhood, several residents said they had been terrorized for months by Qaeda fighters, who commandeered houses to use as positions to shoot at American forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
To a liberal, I guess I am.
You’re irrelevant.
see post #21
I replied to 21. You’re also ignorant.
See post #21
. . . and inconsequential.
Leadpenny sounds like a sniveling punk
You sound like a little girl.
On the other hand, surprisingly, the NYSlimes report is pretty good and Michael Yon's report in another thread is excellent as far as actual information about what's happening. Yon mentioned that this NYSlimes reporter, Gordon, is the only other embed with that part of the surge.
It’s part of the big picture. Don’t read it if if bothers you. Here’s more on the surge and the fighting in Baquba :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6226910.stm
Last Updated: Thursday, 21 June 2007, 14:11 GMT 15:11 UK
Iraq attacks kill 14 US soldiers
Many Suleiman Beg casualties were driven long distances for treatment
Insurgents in Iraq have killed 14 US soldiers in just two days, the US military has announced.
Twelve died in four attacks in Baghdad, officials said, where a four-month-old military “surge” has now reached its peak with some 160,000 troops deployed.
The US has also said it killed dozens of insurgents on the first two days of a major operation north of Baghdad.
Elsewhere at least 15 people died and 40 others were hurt in a suicide truck bomb attack in northern Iraq.
The attack in Suleiman Beg, 90km (55 miles) south of Kirkuk, destroyed part of a local council office and several nearby homes.
The casualties included several women and children, hospital officials said.
Insurgents ‘will respond’
The latest round of attacks on US forces raised the numbers of Americans killed in June to 59, the AFP news agency reported.
In the worst incident, five soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in north-eastern Baghdad on Thursday. That attack also killed three Iraqi civilians and an Iraqi interpreter, the US said.
[Al-Qaeda in Iraq] wanted to make sure that the headlines about the launch of the offensive don’t create too much hope
Gen David Petraeus
Four died in another bomb attack in the west of the city on Wednesday, with three others killed in two more strikes. Two more soldiers were killed by a bomb in the western province of Anbar.
Earlier, the commander of US forces in Iraq said he expected al-Qaeda in Iraq to respond to the military build-up around Baghdad with one of its own.
In an interview with a British newspaper, Gen David Petraeus said the truck bomb attack on an important Shia mosque in Baghdad that killed at least 78 people on Tuesday was an example of this.
“They wanted to make sure that the headlines about the launch of the offensive don’t create too much hope,” he told The Times.
Gen Petraeus also said up to 80 al-Qaeda volunteers were crossing into Iraq from Syria every month, all of them seen as potential suicide bombers.
Gen Petraeus also said he believed a group which kidnapped five Britons - a computer expert and his four bodyguards - in Baghdad last month had links to Iran.
He said the kidnappers were part of a secret cell of the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr.
“They are not rank-and-file Jaish al-Mehdi. They are trained in Iran, equipped with Iranian [weapons], and advised by Iran,” he added.
Tehran has denied supporting militant groups in Iraq.
US offensive continues
Gen Petraeus’s comments came after his forces conducted several different operations against al-Qaeda and other insurgent strongholds on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Operation Arrowhead Ripper began on Tuesday
The BBC’s Andrew North in Baghdad says US commanders believe these “belt areas”, as they call them, are where many of the car bombs set off in the capital are made.
Heavy fighting has been reported in Baquba, a city in Diyala Province, where US and Iraqi forces are conducting the largest offensive.
The US military says at least 41 insurgents have been killed in the first two days of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, but local officials say there have also been civilian deaths.
Operations have also been launched against Sunni militants south of Baghdad.
Troops reportedly destroyed 17 boats believed to have been used by insurgents along the River Tigris and detained at least 60 people.
There have also been intense clashes in the southern cities of Nasiriya and Diwaniya between coalition forces and Shia militias.
It’s part of what “bit picture”? It is part of the MSM agenda, sure, they want us to lose. Is that your agenda as well? What do you have against our war effort to post like this?
According to the MSM as exemplified by your prior post, casualties aren't "part of the big picture"; they're the ENTIRE picture. The MSM's so-called "war reporting" sucks big time and it's because 99.999% of the so-called "journalists" are libs. It's unfair to the American people and, worse, it's unfair to our brave men and women in uniform that the MSM talks about only their deaths and not their achievements. Where are the reports of heroism? Where are the reports of progress made and neighborhoods reclaimed from the terrorists? Where are the reports of the killed/captured terrorists? Where are the reports of intel from the locals which led us to weapons caches, terrorist hideouts, etc.? Only in Michael Yon's reporting and to some extent in the article from the NYSlimes. It's disgusting.
You’re stuck on something, and it ain’t “smart.”
Are you the spokesperson for the American people?
Please don't speak for me.
That’s a good idea appending related stories to a thread instead of starting a new thread. More should do this.
Please don't speak to me.
We got a deal.
It makes sense to me. thanks.
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