Nancy Pelosi continues her aid and comfort to the enemy this week..."we have many arrows in our quiver" she says.
Perhaps the country would be better served if the arrows were directed against our enemies instead of being used to offer up more ways to surrender to al-Qaeda.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Experts see Iraq Progress, Disgust with al-Qaeda Growing
A new Iraq strategy that targets multiple terrorist outposts and capitalizes on Iraqis’ growing dislike of al Qaeda are combining to degrade insurgent operations in the country, a counter-insurgency expert said today in Baghdad.
“The intention behind the counter-operations that we’re doing is to try to knock over several insurgent safe havens simultaneously,” David Kilcullen, the senior counter-insurgency adviser to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said during a conference call with military analysts.
Operations Phantom Thunder, Arrowhead Ripper and other ongoing, surge-affiliated actions in Iraq are being conducted simultaneously across a wide area, Kilcullen pointed out, noting one of his prime duties in Iraq is helping U.S. and Iraqi forces adapt different strategies and tactics to better confront insurgent challenges.
Arrowhead Ripper is one of several operations that are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq called Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all of the surge troops were in place. President Bush directed a deployment of about 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq earlier this year as a surge of forces to assist the Iraqi government in confronting the insurgency.
Previous single-focus military operations conducted in Iraq, such as the 2004 campaign against insurgents in Fallujah, were successful, but many of the enemy moved elsewhere to fight another day, Kilcullen said.
The Fallujah battle “focused a lot of effort onto a very small part of Iraq,” Kilcullen noted, and “had an effect a little bit like stamping on a puddle,” as the enemy moved their infrastructure to other parts of the country.
Ongoing operations in Iraq seek “to move on several of these (enemy-held) areas at once,” Kilcullen explained, while making it more difficult for the terrorists to relocate and regroup.
A movement from large U.S. military base camps to smaller U.S.-Iraqi manned joint security stations set amid the Iraqi populace is part of the new security strategy that works in conjunction with Iraqi police to hold areas recently cleared of insurgents, Kilcullen said.
This change has also contributed to a decrease in successful enemy improvised explosive device attacks, Kilcullen said. U.S. troops are now already deployed in the areas they patrol, he noted, and therefore aren’t as vulnerable to roadside-bombs attacks as they were before, when they’d convoy from large base camps to mission areas.
Additionally, Iraq’s people are fed up with al Qaeda, Kilcullen said. Al Qaeda was once aligned with a number of Sunni tribes in western Iraq’s Anbar province, but many sheikhs there are now rejecting the terrorist group, Kilcullen said.
Kilcullen said Anbar’s tribal leaders came to dislike al Qaeda’s zealous, Taliban-like oppression, as well as the terrorist group’s negative impact on local trucking and construction businesses that are traditional money-makers for the tribes.
“I think that al Qaeda have really worn out their welcome,” Kilcullen said, noting a key U.S. objective in Iraq is to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.
“The intention behind the counter-operations that we’re doing is to try to knock over several insurgent safe havens simultaneously,” David Kilcullen, the senior counter-insurgency adviser to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said during a conference call with military analysts.
Operations Phantom Thunder, Arrowhead Ripper and other ongoing, surge-affiliated actions in Iraq are being conducted simultaneously across a wide area, Kilcullen pointed out, noting one of his prime duties in Iraq is helping U.S. and Iraqi forces adapt different strategies and tactics to better confront insurgent challenges.
Arrowhead Ripper is one of several operations that are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq called Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all of the surge troops were in place. President Bush directed a deployment of about 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq earlier this year as a surge of forces to assist the Iraqi government in confronting the insurgency.
Previous single-focus military operations conducted in Iraq, such as the 2004 campaign against insurgents in Fallujah, were successful, but many of the enemy moved elsewhere to fight another day, Kilcullen said.
The Fallujah battle “focused a lot of effort onto a very small part of Iraq,” Kilcullen noted, and “had an effect a little bit like stamping on a puddle,” as the enemy moved their infrastructure to other parts of the country.
Ongoing operations in Iraq seek “to move on several of these (enemy-held) areas at once,” Kilcullen explained, while making it more difficult for the terrorists to relocate and regroup.
A movement from large U.S. military base camps to smaller U.S.-Iraqi manned joint security stations set amid the Iraqi populace is part of the new security strategy that works in conjunction with Iraqi police to hold areas recently cleared of insurgents, Kilcullen said.
This change has also contributed to a decrease in successful enemy improvised explosive device attacks, Kilcullen said. U.S. troops are now already deployed in the areas they patrol, he noted, and therefore aren’t as vulnerable to roadside-bombs attacks as they were before, when they’d convoy from large base camps to mission areas.
Additionally, Iraq’s people are fed up with al Qaeda, Kilcullen said. Al Qaeda was once aligned with a number of Sunni tribes in western Iraq’s Anbar province, but many sheikhs there are now rejecting the terrorist group, Kilcullen said.
Kilcullen said Anbar’s tribal leaders came to dislike al Qaeda’s zealous, Taliban-like oppression, as well as the terrorist group’s negative impact on local trucking and construction businesses that are traditional money-makers for the tribes.
“I think that al Qaeda have really worn out their welcome,” Kilcullen said, noting a key U.S. objective in Iraq is to prevent it from becoming a safe haven for terrorists.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Increased Operations against al-Qaeda Continue
US and Iraqi Army Units are working side-by-side in ongoing operationsCoalition forces continue to kill and detain suspected terrorists and discover weapons caches during ongoing missions within Operation Phantom Thunder, a large-scale operation targeting al Qaeda strongholds in and around Baghdad.
Two coordinated operations in Mosul today targeted a Kurdish extremist known for helping al Qaeda in Iraq facilitate foreign fighters and conduct financial and media operations, military officials reported.
While troops maneuvered through a targeted building, an armed man engaged them with small-arms fire, endangering the force and the innocent family members. Coalition forces defended themselves, the women and the children by killing the armed terrorist.
Troops identified the terrorist as a member of the al Qaeda in Iraq network who recruited and transported foreign fighters into Iraq to participate in suicide bombings and other terrorist activities, officials said. Coalition forces detained seven other suspected terrorists during the raids for their alleged involvement in the network.
In Baghdad, coalition forces conducted an operation to capture an al Qaeda in Iraq senior leader in the area. As forces entered the building, a man continuously made hostile attempts to evade the ground forces and ignored the translator's instructions to comply with the forces orders. Reacting appropriately to the perceived hostile threat, officials said, coalition forces shot and killed him.
Inside the building, coalition forces detained 10 suspected terrorists, including two who have alleged close ties to al Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders. Coalition forces also destroyed a vehicle used in transporting weapons and personnel for terrorist activity, officials reported.
West of Tarmiyah, coalition forces targeted an individual suspected of helping foreign fighters enter Iraq. The ground force captured the individual and three more suspected terrorists allegedly tied to the al Qaeda in Iraq foreign fighter network.
Coalition forces raided a building northeast of Habbaniyah in search of an al Qaeda senior leader there. The ground force detained eight suspected terrorists for their alleged involvement with the senior leader.
"Al Qaeda in Iraq members continue to threaten the safety of Iraqis with indiscriminant violence, even deliberately endangering their own family members," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. "Al Qaeda's operatives, many of them foreigners to Iraq, do not represent the will or the desires of the Iraq people."
Much of the recent activity is supported by Baathist insurgents and Sunni nationalists that now fight al-Qaeda together with US forces.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Attack Helicopters Ambush al-Qaeda
Iraqi police were conducting security operations in and around the village of Khalis when Coalition attack helicopters from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and ground forces from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, spotted 15-20 al-Qaeda gunmen attempting to circumvent the IPs and infiltrate the village.
The attack helicopters, armed with missiles, engaged and killed 17 of the al-Qaeda gunmen and destroyed the vehicle they were using.
In similar operations on June 15, insurgents surrendered to attack helicopters. Medics were called in to help enemy wounded.
Senior al-Qaeda Leaders Captured in Surge Operation
Soldiers assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, move to their next location during Operation Arrowhead Ripper, in Baqouba, Iraq, June 19, 2007.Fox News reports U.S. and Iraqi troops captured two senior Al-Qaeda militants and seven other operatives Saturday in Diyala province, an Iraqi commander said, as an offensive to clear the area of insurgents entered its fifth day.
On day five of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, Task Force Lightning and Iraqi soldiers continued sweeping through Baqouba, Iraq, to root out al-Qaeda in Iraq.
CF Soldiers worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Iraqi soldiers and police officers in and around the city during the operations. Coalition ground forces and air support provided critical assistance in targeting and destroying al-Qaeda operatives and their safe havens.
On the fourth day of the operation in Baqouba, ISF and CF discovered a building suspected of being used as a torture chamber. Ground forces observed various weapons, including knives and saws, inside the building as well as blood stains throughout the building. After securing the area, the building and its contents were destroyed by an attack helicopter armed with Hellfire missiles.
Since the beginning of Operation Arrowhead Ripper, at least 55 al-Qaeda operatives have been killed, 23 have been detained, 16 weapons caches have been discovered, 28 improvised explosive devices have been destroyed and 12 booby-trapped structures have been destroyed.
Raids Target al-Qaeda Leaders Across Iraq
"We will continue to hunt them down”
Coalition Forces killed seven terrorists and detained 10 suspected terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq leaders and operatives Friday and Saturday.
Coalition Forces targeted an al-Qaeda in Iraq senior leader during a Saturday raid in Tikrit. While the ground force was securing the target building, a vehicle approached on the road at a high rate of speed. Ground force elements on the road attempted to stop the vehicle with visual and audio signals. When the vehicle continued to speed toward them, Coalition Forces engaged the vehicle to stop it, and killed two men inside. The vehicle swerved and lodged in a fence, where the ground forces found an improvised explosive device on the back seat. Coalition Forces cleared civilians from the area and called in an air strike to destroy the vehicle, which produced secondary explosions after the strike.
Inside the building, Coalition Forces detained two suspected terrorists with alleged ties to the targeted al-Qaeda in Iraq leader.
East of Fallujah, Coalition Forces raided four buildings Saturday while looking for associates of a high-level al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist. As Coalition Forces advanced on the building, a group of armed men fired on them from a nearby patch of reeds. Reacting to the hostile threat, the ground force called in close air support to engage the armed men. Five men armed with rifles, light machine guns and grenades were killed in the strike.
Coalition Forces discovered two vehicles outside the building with ammunition, hand grenades and mortar rounds inside. The ground force moved the vehicles away from buildings and civilians and safely destroyed the munitions on site.
Based on information gained from an operation June 16, Coalition Forces targeted an area south of Baghdad Saturday and captured an alleged member of the Baghdad vehicle-borne IED network. The suspect is also believed to provide foreign fighters and weapons to the network.
“We will continue targeting terrorist who are seeking to derail Iraq’s progress,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, MNF-I spokesperson. “As they continue to operate and identify themselves by committing terrorist acts, we will continue to hunt them down.”
Surge in Place, Shield Forming Around Capital
Soldiers move down a neighborhood street during Operation Arrowhead Ripper"We have already begun attacking the enemy"
The surge of forces into Iraq is over. The surge of operations has begun, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference yesterday
Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said the series of operations under the overarching title “Operation Phantom Thunder” is designed to protect the Iraqi people, ease reconciliation among the religious sects, defeat al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists, and continue developing Iraqi security forces.
Phantom Thunder is a corps-level offensive aimed at defeating extremists in Iraq, the general explained. “It is an open-ended operation that will extend through the summer and will be done in conjunction with civil-military operations to support political and economic efforts,” he said.
All of the elements of the surge are in place, the general said. Twenty U.S. brigades and regimental combat teams are now in place in the country. Six brigades are in Baghdad proper – the focus of the surge -- and eight are in the belt around the Iraqi capital. Two Marine units guard the western approaches to the city.
“There are also four combat aviation brigades and a Marine air wing in support, all with many other combat enablers such as precision air support and artillery,” Odierno said. “This provides us tremendous capability to do simultaneous and sustained operations and to maintain pressure across the entire theater on extremists. More importantly, it allows us to operate in areas where we have not been in a long time.”
All of the operations under Phantom Thunder are done in coordination with Iraqi security forces and coalition partners, he said.
“We have already begun attacking the enemy from multiple directions in a way that I believe he will not be able to resist,” the general said. “Our pursuit will be agile and relentless. Our goal is to force the enemy to fight from positions of disadvantage while we maintain the initiative.”
Phantom Thunder consists of carefully synchronized operations at division and brigade level to clear al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiia extremists in, near and around Baghdad. “It also includes aggressive shaping operations by our special operations forces focused on al Qaeda in Iraq and other special groups,” he said.
The intent of Phantom Thunder goes back to the handbook of defeating an insurgency – separate insurgents from the population, then put in place political and economic initiatives to buy time and space for the Iraqi government to move toward political accommodations, Odierno said.
There are already results, he said. To the west, the Marine’s 6th Regimental Combat Team is well into the process of establishing Iraqi police precincts in Fallujah, where violence has significantly decreased during the past few months. The leathernecks found a very large cache with more than 25,000 gallons of nitric acid. The city of Ramadi, which up until a few months ago was considered lost, is returning to normal. “Attacks in Ramadi are at a two-year low,” he said.
South of Baghdad, the Multinational Division Center began Operation Marne Torch against al Qaeda safe havens along the Tigris River. The coalition has not had forces in the area in two years. “This is an area known for producing car and truck bombs that are sent north into Baghdad,” Odierno said.
Coalition and Iraqi forces already have eliminated and detained more than 100 enemy fighters. Forces in the area are slowly and deliberately clearing the area of enemy while reaching out to the local populace.
“Of note, the citizens there are coming forward, providing tips to coalition forces, which has helped us to find and clear many (improvised explosive devices),” he said. “Some of the highlights from Operation Marne Torch: 17 caches found and cleared, 288 structures cleared, several Iraqis added into our biometric database, 46 captured insurgents, 18 of which are considered to be of high value.”
In the city, “some parts of Baghdad are doing well and seeing progress, while others still have high levels of violence,” Odierno said. Coalition focus is clearing and controlling the security districts of Adamiyah in the northeast, Rashid in the south and portions of Mansour in the northwest.
Building joint security stations and combat outposts – the building blocks of the strategy in the capital – continues.
“In some neighborhoods, such as Ameriyah, we have had residents come forward to coalition forces and express their weariness of (al Qaeda in Iraq) and a desire to band together to form neighborhood watches,” he said. “The government of Iraq is actively publicizing the joint security stations to Baghdad citizens and providing telephone numbers to report suspicious behavior and tips, and they continue to be very high, as we continue to get many tips.”
In Multinational Division North, three brigade combat teams operate in the belts north and east of Baghdad, and three more brigade combat teams work elsewhere in the division’s area of operations. Operation Arrowhead Ripper is concentrated in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, to defeat enemy fighters in the city and secure the population by conducting detailed, deliberate clearing operations.
“What we have found so far is a determined and entrenched enemy who's trying to stand and fight, and we have continued to use … close-air support, artillery, and helicopter air weapons teams with success,” Odierno said.
The general said senior al Qaeda leaders in Baqubah abandoned their followers.
“So far within Baqubah, there've been many successes: four weapon caches have been found and cleared, three truck and car bombs have been captured and destroyed, over 25 deep-buried improvised explosive devices have been found and cleared, and 10 booby-trapped houses were rendered safe.” Al Qaeda terrorists rigged the houses with thousands of pounds of explosives to try to kill coalition forces as they attempted to enter.
Odierno stressed that these are the early days in the operation, but added that there are encouraging signs. Baghdad murders this week are down to 33, from 93 a week in January, and coalition forces are finding more caches.
“In some places, the enemy has decided to stand and fight, and they are paying dearly for this mistake,” he said. Also, large-scale car and truck-bomb attacks are down “because Iraqi security forces are doing their job,” Odierno said.
Coalition and Iraqi forces have detained 721 detainees so far, with 50 classified as leaders of cells and high-value targets, he said.
Most encouraging, Odierno said, is that Iraqis are stepping forward.
“One of the things we do as part of our foot patrols among the population centers is monitoring graffiti to gauge public sentiments,” Odierno said. “In the mixed and volatile Rashid district of Baghdad earlier this week, there were two sentences spray-painted on the wall in Arabic. The first said: ‘Yes, yes, to the new security plan’ and the second said, ‘No difference between Shiia and Sunni.’ Obviously, this is only one anecdote, but a small step in the right direction.”
Fixed-wing aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on targeted sites preventing insurgents from entering southern Baghdad. This was the beginning of a major offensive operation dubbed Marne Torch.
The surge of forces into Iraq is over. The surge of operations has begun, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference yesterday
Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno said the series of operations under the overarching title “Operation Phantom Thunder” is designed to protect the Iraqi people, ease reconciliation among the religious sects, defeat al Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists, and continue developing Iraqi security forces.
Phantom Thunder is a corps-level offensive aimed at defeating extremists in Iraq, the general explained. “It is an open-ended operation that will extend through the summer and will be done in conjunction with civil-military operations to support political and economic efforts,” he said.
All of the elements of the surge are in place, the general said. Twenty U.S. brigades and regimental combat teams are now in place in the country. Six brigades are in Baghdad proper – the focus of the surge -- and eight are in the belt around the Iraqi capital. Two Marine units guard the western approaches to the city.
“There are also four combat aviation brigades and a Marine air wing in support, all with many other combat enablers such as precision air support and artillery,” Odierno said. “This provides us tremendous capability to do simultaneous and sustained operations and to maintain pressure across the entire theater on extremists. More importantly, it allows us to operate in areas where we have not been in a long time.”
All of the operations under Phantom Thunder are done in coordination with Iraqi security forces and coalition partners, he said.
“We have already begun attacking the enemy from multiple directions in a way that I believe he will not be able to resist,” the general said. “Our pursuit will be agile and relentless. Our goal is to force the enemy to fight from positions of disadvantage while we maintain the initiative.”
Phantom Thunder consists of carefully synchronized operations at division and brigade level to clear al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiia extremists in, near and around Baghdad. “It also includes aggressive shaping operations by our special operations forces focused on al Qaeda in Iraq and other special groups,” he said.
The intent of Phantom Thunder goes back to the handbook of defeating an insurgency – separate insurgents from the population, then put in place political and economic initiatives to buy time and space for the Iraqi government to move toward political accommodations, Odierno said.
There are already results, he said. To the west, the Marine’s 6th Regimental Combat Team is well into the process of establishing Iraqi police precincts in Fallujah, where violence has significantly decreased during the past few months. The leathernecks found a very large cache with more than 25,000 gallons of nitric acid. The city of Ramadi, which up until a few months ago was considered lost, is returning to normal. “Attacks in Ramadi are at a two-year low,” he said.
South of Baghdad, the Multinational Division Center began Operation Marne Torch against al Qaeda safe havens along the Tigris River. The coalition has not had forces in the area in two years. “This is an area known for producing car and truck bombs that are sent north into Baghdad,” Odierno said.
Coalition and Iraqi forces already have eliminated and detained more than 100 enemy fighters. Forces in the area are slowly and deliberately clearing the area of enemy while reaching out to the local populace.
“Of note, the citizens there are coming forward, providing tips to coalition forces, which has helped us to find and clear many (improvised explosive devices),” he said. “Some of the highlights from Operation Marne Torch: 17 caches found and cleared, 288 structures cleared, several Iraqis added into our biometric database, 46 captured insurgents, 18 of which are considered to be of high value.”
In the city, “some parts of Baghdad are doing well and seeing progress, while others still have high levels of violence,” Odierno said. Coalition focus is clearing and controlling the security districts of Adamiyah in the northeast, Rashid in the south and portions of Mansour in the northwest.
Building joint security stations and combat outposts – the building blocks of the strategy in the capital – continues.
“In some neighborhoods, such as Ameriyah, we have had residents come forward to coalition forces and express their weariness of (al Qaeda in Iraq) and a desire to band together to form neighborhood watches,” he said. “The government of Iraq is actively publicizing the joint security stations to Baghdad citizens and providing telephone numbers to report suspicious behavior and tips, and they continue to be very high, as we continue to get many tips.”
In Multinational Division North, three brigade combat teams operate in the belts north and east of Baghdad, and three more brigade combat teams work elsewhere in the division’s area of operations. Operation Arrowhead Ripper is concentrated in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, to defeat enemy fighters in the city and secure the population by conducting detailed, deliberate clearing operations.
“What we have found so far is a determined and entrenched enemy who's trying to stand and fight, and we have continued to use … close-air support, artillery, and helicopter air weapons teams with success,” Odierno said.
The general said senior al Qaeda leaders in Baqubah abandoned their followers.
“So far within Baqubah, there've been many successes: four weapon caches have been found and cleared, three truck and car bombs have been captured and destroyed, over 25 deep-buried improvised explosive devices have been found and cleared, and 10 booby-trapped houses were rendered safe.” Al Qaeda terrorists rigged the houses with thousands of pounds of explosives to try to kill coalition forces as they attempted to enter.
Odierno stressed that these are the early days in the operation, but added that there are encouraging signs. Baghdad murders this week are down to 33, from 93 a week in January, and coalition forces are finding more caches.
“In some places, the enemy has decided to stand and fight, and they are paying dearly for this mistake,” he said. Also, large-scale car and truck-bomb attacks are down “because Iraqi security forces are doing their job,” Odierno said.
Coalition and Iraqi forces have detained 721 detainees so far, with 50 classified as leaders of cells and high-value targets, he said.
Most encouraging, Odierno said, is that Iraqis are stepping forward.
“One of the things we do as part of our foot patrols among the population centers is monitoring graffiti to gauge public sentiments,” Odierno said. “In the mixed and volatile Rashid district of Baghdad earlier this week, there were two sentences spray-painted on the wall in Arabic. The first said: ‘Yes, yes, to the new security plan’ and the second said, ‘No difference between Shiia and Sunni.’ Obviously, this is only one anecdote, but a small step in the right direction.”
Fixed-wing aircraft dropped precision-guided bombs on targeted sites preventing insurgents from entering southern Baghdad. This was the beginning of a major offensive operation dubbed Marne Torch.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Iraqi Insurgent Groups Turn on al-Qaeda
Insurgent groups that once killed U.S. troops are now allying themselves with their former enemy and against a common foe - al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Fox News reports, "Hundreds of fighters from the 1920s Revolution Brigades, a Sunniinsurgent group, work as scouts and gather intelligence for the 10,000-strong American force in the fifth day of its mission to remove al-Qaeda gunmen and bomb makers from the Diyala provincial capital."
Fox News goes on to say, "The informants have given the American troops exact coordinates of suspected Al Qaeda safe houses, with details down to the color of the gate out front, said Lt. Col. Avanulas Smiley, 40, commander of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and a Tacoma, Wash., native."
Most of the Brigades members, whom U.S. officials call "concerned local nationals," hail from eastern Baqouba, while the bulk of the fighting has so far raged in western Baqouba. But with contacts among fellow Sunni fighters on the city's west side, they have fed American soldiers critical information about Al Qaeda positions."
"The Sunni insurgency in Iraq is splitting, with loyalists to the old Baathist regime now fighting al-Qaida-backed Islamists. Could it be a turning point in the country's civil war?" reports Spiegel Online.
Is this chance? fortune? or is it a reasonable evolution of strategy by the U.S.? All indications point to some real strategy at work.
The switch begs the question - why? One insurgent commander sheds light in the Fox News report - "We do not kill police or army members, or call for their killing," he said. "Al Qaeda threatened us for taking this stance. ... They began to kidnap and kill our fighters, so ... we began to fight back."
“House to house, block to block, street to street” against al-Qaeda
A soldier uses a smoke grenade for concealment as troops advance on al-Qaeda during Operation Arrowhead Ripper in Baqouba, IraqIraqi Security Forces teamed with Task Force Lightning units, Thursday, to clear Baqouba and surrounding areas of al-Qaeda fighters as Operation Arrowhead Ripper continued.
“It is house to house, block to block, street to street, sewer to sewer,” said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general, operations, and commander of Operation Arrowhead Ripper.
“We are shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqi Security Forces in this fight,” said Bednarek.
The weeks ahead are absolutely key in not only holding and retaining the ground that is cleared in partnership with Coalition Forces, but also in building trust and confidence with the citizens of Diyala.”
In support of the operation, attack helicopters from 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Squadron, 82nd Attack Reconnaissance Battalion provided assistance to Iraqi and Coalition ground forces, killing at least 13 al-Qaeda operatives and destroying an al-Qaeda compound during the second day of the operation.
“Over the last three days, the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade has provided Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition infantry brigade combat teams, attack, scout and transportation helicopters. These assets give Coalition and Iraqi ground forces the added support they need to eliminate or contain al-Qaeda during operation Arrowhead Ripper in Baqouba,” said Lt. Col. Gregory Baker, deputy commanding officer, 25th CAB.
As Arrowhead Ripper continued through June 21, at least 51 al-Qaeda operatives have been killed, with 20 al-Qaida operatives detained, seven weapons caches discovered, 21 improvised explosive devices destroyed and nine booby-trapped structures destroyed.
Operations Killing and Capturing al-Qaeda across Iraq
A series of anti-insurgent operations conducted across Iraq by U.S. and Iraqi troops in recent days has resulted in the killing or capture of scores of terrorists and the seizure of copious amounts of enemy ordnance, U.S. military officials reported.
Operation Commando Eagle, a joint operation geared toward curbing terrorist activity southwest of Baghdad, began today and is producing immediate results, officials said.
Commando Eagle features a mix of helicopter-borne air assaults and Humvee-mounted movements, included soldiers from several battalions of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Drum, N.Y., and the 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.
The operation targeted a series of houses that local citizens indicated were being used by al Qaeda cells to intimidate them and launch attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
In other areas, Operation Marne Torch continued to engage anti-Iraq forces (video below).
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
U.S. Deploys 10,000 troops against al-Qaeda
Stryker Soldiers of B Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Division take up blocking positions on the western outskirts of Baqubah, Iraq in support of Operation Arrowhead-Ripper, a major military offensive to clear insurgents from the city.
Nighttime air assault leads "Operation Arrowhead Ripper"
June 19th, BAQOUBA, Iraq – 10,000 soldiers backed by attack helicopters and close air support surged into Baqouba and its surrounding areas today in a large-scale effort to destroy al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorists .
The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, launched the offensive with a quick-strike nighttime air assault earlier today.
By daylight, attack helicopters and ground forces had engaged and killed 22 anti-Iraqi forces in and around Baqouba.
“The end state is to destroy the al-Qaeda influences in this province and eliminate their threat against the people,” said Brig. Gen. Mick Bednarek, deputy commanding general, operations, 25th Infantry Division. “That is the number one, bottom-line, up-front, in-your-face, task and purpose.”
Approximately 10,000 Soldiers, with a full complement of attack helicopters, close air support, Strykers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, are taking part in Arrowhead Ripper, which is still in its opening stages. Elements of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, from Fort Lewis, and the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, are also participating in the operation.
The combined attack against al-Qaeda was made possible by the "Surge" initiated ealier this year.
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