Posted on 12/13/2007 12:18:15 PM PST by mdittmar
Ongoing U.S. military efforts to disrupt insurgent operations in and around Baghdad are garnering continued success, a senior military officer posted in Iraq said today.
Before the surge, Sunni, Shiite and Iranian extremists operated across much of his present area of operations, Army Col. Wayne W. Grigsby Jr., the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, said during a conference call with online “bloggers” and reporters.
Yet today, the insurgents “no longer can do that,” Grigsby said, noting the terrorists’ capabilities have been greatly degraded in an area that runs east and south of the Iraq capital city along the Diyala and Tigris rivers.
Grigsby’s unit deployed to Iraq as part of the surge strategy designed to eliminate enemy sanctuaries close to Baghdad that could be used to launch attacks on the capital city.
“It is just evident that the surge was the right thing to do,” Grigsby said. Overall attacks in Baghdad have decreased significantly since the surge took hold, he said.
A series of anti-insurgent offensives in his area that began in June have disrupted insurgent operations and kept them on the run, Grigsby noted. The most recent operation, named “Marne Anvil,” was aimed at a known extremist sanctuary in the Narwan area near Baghdad, he said.
Marne Anvil-related operations to date have resulted in the killing of 128 insurgents and the capture of almost 500 suspected extremists, Grigsby said, 25 of whom are considered to possess high informational value.
The operation also disabled 119 roadside bombs and seized 43 weapons caches and destroyed 160 boats, the colonel said.
“We are continuing to kick the insurgents’ butt each day,” Grigsby said.
Additionally, concerned Iraq citizens’ groups continue to step up to aid coalition and Iraqi troops in confronting the insurgents, Grigsby said.
“This is probably the biggest piece that I’ve seen that has allowed us to do things out here that we weren’t able to do in the past,” Grigsby said. A group of 24 local Iraqi leaders, he added, is involved in helping communities reject insurgent violence and regain security and stability.
Grigsby said his soldiers will next target Salman Pak, an area southeast of Baghdad.
“Our focus for the next five or six months is to get in and clear and control Salman Pak,” Grigsby said.
ping
Response from media: “Romney is a Mormon”
Sad news for defeatists ping.
The Cut&RunocRats are Deeply Troubled
Pray for W and Our Iraq Winning Troops
I saw somewhere earlier today where a pundit described how attacks on our troops are down. He wrote that they were down in two ways: the insurgents are not attacking as much and that since the surge is working, the Democrats are also attacking our troops less!
ROTFLMHO
Ping
Which will result in a morale drop for the enemy. Which will result in less joining and more leaving the enemy ranks; which will result in less attacks on the Coalition, which will result in less Dem attacks on our troops...and on...and on.. an on.....Great News!
Just think how many American military lives they could save if the Dems simply said, "The Surge is Working, it has our support!" That could translate into more GI's surviving this conflict.
Never Forget what these democrats did.
It was peaceful, peaceful, peaceful the whole time.
And that has become the rule rather than the exception over the past few months.
You have a Merry Christmas.
I’ve been wondering when we would address this area just SE of the capital. I sense one hell of a lot of ordnance and perhaps wmd shall ultimately be uncovered.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
There's been a lot of focus there the past couple of months. And it has yielded much.
This thing is almost over. Not quite yet, but we can all see the light at the end of the tunnel.
ON TO IRAN.
It's not their butt I worry about.
I want their heads' crushed.
I want to see their bodies riddled with shrapnel and bullets.
And their brains splattered across the desert.
Of course I'm being slightly flippant. (sorry Commander)
But I love to hear it when a strong US C/O makes a statement to the effect that "we just eliminated (X-number of terrorist insurgents) -- and we plan to kill (X-number) more."
Yes, but not being a member of congress, you can’t possibly be well informed on these matters.
Nor am I a member of the media. Of course I have no idea what is really going on. ;-)
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