Free Republic

"You’re going to see when you’re there, you’re going to see women, young people standing in the middle, in the front of a damn tank saying 'I’m not leaving.'"

Pfc. Giovanny Rincon, of Brooklyn, N.Y., a paratrooper with B Co, 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, makes friends with an Iraqi girl during a patrol in Baghdad's Adhamiyah District Feb. 8. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor. BAGHDAD -- The 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team established a combat outpost in the heart of Baghdad this week in an effort to reduce sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital and assist the Iraqi security forces to take control of the city. Paratroopers from the 2nd BCT’s 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry...

Americans attack militants in Iraq, killing scores BAGHDAD American forces attacked militants in western Iraq on Thursday, killing scores in one of the largest and most lethal operations since President George W. Bush declared that the major fighting was over. The attack began Thursday morning when U.S. warplanes bombed the enemy camp. After the air strike, army Special Operations forces and troops from the 101st Airborne Division moved in on the ground. The United States suffered one casualty, an army Special Operations soldier who was wounded in the leg. An army AH-64 attack helicopter was shot down during the attack,...