Operation Phantom Fury Live Thread

msnbc, cnn, various ^ | epluribus_2

[epluribus_2]

NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq - More than 4,000 U.S. Marines and Army troops punched their way into northeastern Fallujah on Monday, kicking off a massive assault dubbed Operation Phantom Fury that seeks to put an end to half a year of insurgent control of the Sunni Muslim city.

The prelude to the assault on the Askari neighborhood was a crushing air and artillery bombardment of the city that rose to a crescendo by Monday evening, with U.S. strike jets dropping bombs around the clock and big guns pounding the city every few minutes with high-explosive shells.

Meanwhile, insurgents in Baghdad and nearby Ramadi tried to keep up the pressure on the coalition forces with new attacks, including one on a Catholic church in the capital.

Earlier Monday U.S. troops had fought their way into the city's western outskirts, seizing two bridges over the Euphrates River and helping Iraqi soldiers take the city's main hospital in the first stage of a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.

[King Prout]

IIRC, "Puff" was the original gunship, a modded DC-3
then came the first "Spooky" (AC-130-?)
followed by "Specter" (AC-130-?)
then "PAVE Specter" (AC-130-H)
and now a new "Spooky" (AC-130-U)

[epluribus_2]

R U Kidding? I'm so damn sure they are directing this whole bloody insurgency from "educational/humanitarian offices" within the mosques...

[AmericanInTokyo]

"F-TOWN" BUMP! FUNKY TOWN. GET SOME.

[jamz]

You do not want to be on the receiving end of the "hourglass of fire" that comes from the AC-130.

[AZamericonnie]

Anyone who hasn't left is most likely a bad guy! I'm sure their press will spin it which is why I'm so glad to that Allawi made the call & Iraqi forces are being shown.

[King Prout]

mount your webcam in the fore-end, then!

[OESY]

More Photos

[Bahbah]

"...a plan is in place ready to begin rebuilding as soon as the insurgency is killed off."

I wonder if they will protest that the nice, new homes are not large or palatial enough as was the case in "Palestine?"

[TexKat]

A wounded woman walks from a Catholic church in the Baghdad suburb of Dora, November 8, 2004 after it was rocked by an explosion. Iraqi police reported three people killed and 40 wounded in the incident. REUTERS/Ali Jasim

Iraq police inspect the remains of a wrecked vehicle following a car-bomb in Mosul. At least six Iraqis were killed and more than a dozen people wounded during attacks in central and northern Iraq.(AFP/Mujahed Mohammed)

[Godzilla]

Might have missed this but can we blow up "holy" sites? Those will be their last place of refuge.

Word was no PC. If they are shot at they can take the place down.

[Wyatt's Torch]

True...so can we blow them to hell or do we have to be "sensitive"?

[AZamericonnie]

Please explain unrestricted ROE to me?

[broadsword]

The situation is completely a tactical one, so it is unlikely we're going to have to worry too much about what is posted here today.

Besides, the Muslirats are the worst fighters on earth, probably because they are the worst men on earth. Completely worthless, stupid and incompetent. Always have been. Always will be. Our guys will slaughter them by the bushel and use their guts to grease the treads of our tanks. (To paraphrase Patton)

[KoRn]

"mount your webcam in the fore-end, then!"

Great idea, or I could mount a small one on a helmet. I'll leave here in a few, gotta buy some beer and smokes first then I'll be on my way.

;-)

[processing please hold]

And it fires 40mm. That'll wake you up in the morning when one of those go whizzing by your head.

[AZamericonnie]

Marine commanders have warned the new offensive could bring the heaviest urban fighting since the Vietnam war. Some 10,000 U.S. Marines, Army soldiers and Iraqi forces are around Fallujah, where commanders estimate around 3,000 insurgents are dug in. More than half the civilian population of some 300,000 people is believed to have fled already.

I like these odds...

[epluribus_2]

If you shoot from it (coordinate/plan) from it, it is no longer a holy site, it's a pillbox, command base. They changed it's nature, not us.

[dinasour]

Please explain unrestricted ROE to me?

Kill anything that moves.

[P-Marlowe]

I suspect that this is entirely a military operation. Thus mosques will be treated as enemy fortresses if they are used by terrorists for cover.

[Lijahsbubbe]

All insurgents, attention:

Latest bulletin. Osama has just given directive to give up Fallujah. It is the will of Allah. Lay down all weapons and prostrate yourselves.