US prepares battle force to wipe out hardline Iraqi resistance Rory McCarthy in Baghdad and Ewen MacAskill Tuesday June 3, 2003 The Guardian (UK) A force of more than 1,500 US troops, backed by tanks and armoured vehicles, is to take control of two towns near Baghdad that are thought to be sheltering Iraqi fighters still loyal to Saddam Hussein. In the next 10 days, battle-hardened troops of the US army's 3rd Infantry Division will be sent into Falluja and Habaniya, west of Baghdad. The troops, who led the invasion of Iraq and the capture of Baghdad, will be backed...