Free Republic

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A suicide bombing ripped through a popular Baghdad kebab restaurant at lunchtime, killing at least 16 people and wounding 25 Sunday as insurgents stepped up attacks nationwide, defying two major U.S.-led offensives aimed at routing foreign fighters. The bomber detonated a vest laden with explosives at about 2:45 p.m. in the Ibn Zanbour restaurant, which is just 400 yards from the main gate of the heavily fortified Green Zone and is especially popular with Iraqi police and soldiers. Six police officers were among those killed, while the injured included 12 police officers, Iraqi army Maj. Falah...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 1,000 U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops launched a second offensive Saturday against insurgents in restive Anbar province, this time targeting the marshy shores of a remote lake just north of Baghdad. Operation Dagger, or Khanjar in Arabic, aims to uncover insurgent training camps and weapons caches in the southern part of the Lake Tharthar area in central Iraq, some 60 miles northwest of Baghdad. The region was the focus of a major campaign in late March that killed 85 insurgents. "Operation Khanjar is focused on locating hidden weapons caches and denying insurgents sanctuary in the area...