PDA

View Full Version : Troops pounce on rebels



thedrifter
03-17-06, 07:08 AM
The War in Iraq
Troops pounce on rebels
Operation Swarmer called biggest air assault in three years

Richard Boudreaux / Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi forces began a major helicopter and ground attack Thursday on an insurgent stronghold near Samarra, the Sunni Arab-dominated city where the bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine last month set off waves of sectarian bloodshed across the country.

The joint military operation is one element of an American strategy to start bringing home U.S. troops, who arrived here nearly three years ago to topple President Saddam Hussein. Iraq's military has been taking a bigger role in attacks on a Sunni Arab-led insurgency made up in part of Saddam's supporters.

In announcing the counter-insurgency assault, called Operation Swarmer, U.S. officials emphasized the involvement of Iraq's army, which provided 800 of the 1,500 troops involved.

That is fewer total troops than have taken part in assaults to drive insurgents from Fallujah, Ramadi and other cities. But more than 50 aircraft, mainly helicopters, helped transport the troops, making it the largest airborne attack in Iraq since April 2003, military officials said.

A statement by the U.S. command said that the raids by the 101st Airborne Division and Iraq's 1st Brigade would continue for several days, and that a number of insurgent weapons caches -- containing artillery shells, explosives, army uniforms and materials for making car bombs -- had been discovered.

Lt. Col. Edward S. Loomis, a U.S. military spokesman, said 40 people were detained for questioning on the first day of the assault. There were no reports of resistance or casualties.

Residents of the area, northeast of Samarra, said they heard large explosions in the distance after troops, helicopters and armored vehicles swooped in shortly after 7 a.m.

They said the operation was concentrated around four villages that have harbored insurgent followers of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose al-Qaida in Iraq organization has been blamed by U.S. and Iraqi officials for the Feb. 22 mosque bombing.

Repeated sweeps by American soldiers have failed to secure the Samarra area in the past.



Ellie

thedrifter
03-17-06, 07:31 AM
Iraq Assault Was Military, not Political Effort, Officials Say
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
March 17, 2006

(CNSNews.com) -- On Thursday, as U.S.-led coalition forces launched the largest air assault since the invasion of Iraq nearly three years ago, officials from the Bush administration fended off reporters' assertions that the main goal of "Operation Swarmer" was political, not military, in nature.

During a White House briefing, David Gregory, chief White House correspondent for NBC News, pressed White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan to admit that the air raid in northern Iraq was actually intended to boost President Bush's sagging poll numbers.

"Beyond the merits of this particular operation, we are coming to the three-year anniversary of the war," Gregory said, pointing to the March 20, 2003 U.S.-led coalition attack to topple Saddam Hussein's regime. "Support for the president is at rock bottom. Support for this war is at rock bottom in this country.

"Does the president think it's important as a show of U.S. and Iraqi force to mount these kinds of operations to try to change public opinion?" he asked.

McClellan replied that he could not accept the premise of Gregory's question since the decision to use more than 1,500 Iraqi and coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles and more than 50 aircraft in the operation was "made by the commanders" on the ground, not Bush.

"It's important that the commanders have the flexibility to make these type (sic) of tactical decisions in order to prevail," the press secretary added.

Exchanges like that were common across cable news channels all day, as reporters asked both Republican and Democratic officials whether the new military push had a more subtle reason for taking place than the stated purpose of denying insurgents a base of operations in Samarra, located about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

However, none of the guests -- who ranged from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to liberal Democratic U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel from New York -- would take the bait and connect the air and ground assault with Bush's low poll numbers or with the upcoming third-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Most analysts and experts said they hoped the operation would be successful so Americans and their elected officials could keep their attention on such issues as passing a federal budget and preventing avian flu.

Nevertheless, the new coalition push drew strong reactions from both opponents and supporters of the war.

"'Operation Swarmer': That's what the U.S. military is calling the air assault they launched in Iraq earlier today," United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), an anti-war coalition, stated in a press release Thursday.

After noting that CNN was reporting that "some 50 aircraft are 'supporting' U.S. and Iraqi troops near the city of Samarra," the statement added: "When the military says 'supporting,' they mean bombing. And when bombs are dropped, innocent civilians are killed.

"This new air assault demands a quick, visible outcry from people all around the country," the UFPJ release stated, then encouraged readers to take part in "anti-war activities planned to coincide with the third anniversary of the start of the war in hundreds of locations around the country."

"It is time to stop the killing," the UFPJ complained. "It is time to stop the war in Iraq. It is time to bring all of our troops home!"

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean also registered his opinion on "Operation Swarmer" on Thursday.

"Three years after Vice President (Dick) Cheney said that American troops would be greeted as liberators, the American military today is engaging in the largest air strikes since the war began," Dean said in a press release. "It is no wonder new polls confirm that the American people are continuing to lose confidence in the president's ability to lead the nation.

"From his commitment to a failed strategy in Iraq, to an inept policy that allowed Iran to become a major threat and North Korea to acquire even more nuclear weapons, President Bush's failure to address the real threats to our homeland is undermining Americans' security," the DNC chair added.

"Americans want a change, not more of the same bad choices and failed agenda," he said. "Democrats have a bolder vision for a secure America."

On the other side of the political aisle, Richard Nadler, president of America's Majority, told Cybercast News Service that "Operation Swarmer" is proof that the "job is getting done" in Iraq.

"This is hardly the operation of a force that's losing," Nadler said. "The coalition is clearly on the offensive. The security over there is getting better all the time, and the insurgents are being swept out."

Nadler also praised the involvement of the Iraqi army in the operation and Iraqi citizens who are providing information for coalition forces.

"It's wonderful. It really is," he added. "So much progress is being made" in Iraq as part of the ongoing War on Terror.

Ellie