...it's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there...

March 16, 2006

Airborne Assault

Woke up to this news today:

U.S. forces, joined by Iraqi troops, on Thursday launched the largest airborne assault since the U.S.-led invasion, targeting insurgent strongholds north of the capital, the military said.

The military said the operation was aimed at clearing 'a suspected insurgent operating area' northeast of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, and was expected to continue over several days.

'More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation,' the military statement said of the attack designed to 'clear a suspected insurgent operating area northeast of Samarra,' 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The province is a major part of the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have been active since shortly after the U.S.-led invasion three years ago.
Saddam Hussein was captured in the province, not far from its capital and his hometown, Tikrit.

Waqas al-Juwanya, a spokesman for
Iraq's joint coordination center in nearby Dowr, said 'unknown gunmen exist in this area, killing and kidnapping policemen, soldiers and civilians.'

Near the end of the first day of the operation, the military said, 'a number of enemy weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells, explosives, IED-making materials, and military uniforms.'

Noticeably absent from the story was any mention of "civilian deaths" or any quotes from the "insurgents" point of view. That may come later, but for now I'm proud of the AP writer.

Posted by annika, Mar. 16, 2006 | TrackBack (0)
Rubric: annikapunditry



Comments

You've got a point. This is being carried out with mostly Iraqi troops in the lead. I halfway expect later reports to claim Iraqi troops unfairly killed Iraqi civilians, and to take the tone that it is unfair for Iraqi troops to fight the insurgents/terrorists. After all, what right have Iraqi troops to interfere in the local matters of Samarra? That is an issue for Samarrans to handle. Iraqi troops are interfering in the internal matters of Samarra, and killing innocent civilians in the process. Reprehensible.

Posted by: gcotharn on Mar. 16, 2006

I'm sure when planning this they also took into account that Iran was watching very closely.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin on Mar. 16, 2006

Happy St. Pat's! Interesting: with the Irish banner, you've got a rainbow and a new, fancy font. Thanks to those changes, I briefly thought I'd stumbled upon a very happy blog called Cannabis Journal.


Kevin

Posted by: Kevin Kim on Mar. 16, 2006

Haha, Kevin. I usually post that kind of banner on April 20th.

Posted by: annika on Mar. 16, 2006

I had to look up the 420 reference. I now consider myself edumacated.


Kevin

Posted by: Kevin Kim on Mar. 18, 2006