Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 23 - Iraqi and American forces killed at least 80 insurgents during a Tuesday morning raid on what appeared to be the biggest guerrilla training camp yet discovered, Iraqi officials said today. Seven Iraqi police officers were also killed and six were wounded in what American and Iraqi officials characterized as an especially fierce battle. "It was one of the largest such engagements that I'm aware of," said Col. Robert Potter, a spokesman for the American command in Baghdad. The number of anti-government fighters killed was the most reported in a single conflict since the American offensive...

National Guard at War at Home to Prepare for Real Thing in Iraq One day last week, Capt. Vincent J. Heintz and his men were trying to quell an unruly demonstration by a group of Iraqi villagers when a lone suicide bomber rushed the crowd. A blast rang out, and the scene dissolved into a chaos of smoke and angry Arabic voices. But not for long. Within minutes, the soldiers were dusting the snow off their uniforms and bantering with the villagers, actually Iraqi-Americans flown in to Fort Drum, N.Y., from Michigan. Everyone filed into a nearby warehouse, sat down...