U.S. Forces Stage Massive Raid in Iraq

Yahoo News and AP ^ | December 2, 2003 | ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer

[bd476]

(December 2, 2003) U.S. Forces Stage Massive Raid in Iraq AP - 26 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops north of the capital arrested at least 20 insurgents in a raid while workers began demolishing gigantic bronze busts of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in Baghdad on Tuesday — both moves aimed at stamping out loyalty to Iraq (news - web sites)'s ousted regime.

Iraqi police said a senior former member of Saddam's elite Republican Guard was among those captured in Hawija, 155 miles north of Baghdad. However, the U.S. troops failed to catch the target of the raid — Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, considered a key planner of attacks against U.S. troops.

Also in the north, insurgents kept up attacks against American-led forces, with a soldier of the 4th Infantry Division killed in a roadside explosion in Samarra, the scene of deadly weekend battles between Americans and Iraqis.

Meanwhile, relatives of U.S. troops visiting Iraq pressed their agenda to meet with leaders of the occupation authority, hoping to voice their opposition to the U.S.-led occupation.

One mother held back tears while looking at U.S. soldiers guarding the entrance of the Habbaniyah military base in Baghdad.

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

Elsewhere in the capital, workers using a construction crane started dismantling the 13-foot busts of Saddam from his former Republican Palace, now the headquarters of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.

It was unclear how long the work would take.

Lt. Col. William MacDonald, spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, said the raids in Hawija were aimed at capturing former regime members financing guerrilla attacks in the region.

Iraqi police said U.S. troops had captured more than 100 people, including a senior former member of Saddam's elite Republican Guard. Six Iraqis were wounded in the raid, but it wasn't immediately clear if they were all insurgents.

The U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade detained 20 suspected insurgents, but not al-Douri, the top Iraqi fugitive after Saddam. Earlier, a member of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council had said al-Douri had been caught.

"We have no reports that we have captured or killed al-Douri," MacDonald said.

MacDonald said the confusion stemmed from local officials' statements that linked the raids to the hunt for al-Douri.

"The key objective was to get the subversive groups that have been conducting anti-coalition activities," he said. "I can't say we are on the trail of al-Douri."

[Recovering_Democrat]

Tom Daschle is saddened, deeply saddened.

[Yo-Yo]

Meanwhile, relatives of U.S. troops visiting Iraq pressed their agenda to meet with leaders of the occupation authority, hoping to voice their opposition to the U.S.-led occupation.

One mother held back tears while looking at U.S. soldiers guarding the entrance of the Habbaniyah military base in Baghdad.

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

"Sorry Sarg, I can't fight today. I have a note from my Mommy excusing me from strenuous combat."

[JRandomFreeper]

"I can't say we are on the trail of al-Douri'

Hmmmm. Interesting answer.

/john

[CedarDave]

Meanwhile, relatives of U.S. troops visiting Iraq pressed their agenda to meet with leaders of the occupation authority, hoping to voice their opposition to the U.S.-led occupation. One mother held back tears while looking at U.S. soldiers guarding the entrance of the Habbaniyah military base in Baghdad. "They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

This is the high school teaching-assistant lady from Tucson who represents the leftwing Moveon(sp) organization. Her son was just home on leave, and her daughter is apparently estranged from her (hasn't seen in three years). Maybe she should talk to some Iraqi parents as to whether THEY want the US troops out right now.

[P-Marlowe]

Where are all the embedded reporters we had when we moved into Baghdad? Why aren't the networks bringing this stuff to us live. I think that would be a great morale booster for the troops and for the country. People need to see our troops in action.

[Blood of Tyrants]

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia,

Then who should be there in their place, Mrs. Valencia?

[bd476]

Daschle, the poor widdle bleeding heart liberal.

Love your tagline, btw.

[desertcry]

What happened to: Duty, Country and Honor?

[tubebender]

This is the high school teaching-assistant lady from Tucson who represents the leftwing Moveon(sp) organization. Her son was just home on leave, and her daughter is apparently estranged from her (hasn't seen in three years). Maybe she should talk to some Iraqi parents as to whether THEY want the US troops out right now.

BUMP...

[bd476]

"'Sorry Sarg, I can't fight today. I have a note from my Mommy excusing me from strenuous combat.'"

Indeed ... shades of Hanoi Jane.

Have military families always been allowed to visit/protest/inspect combat areas or is this a recent change in policy?

[facedown]

Bump; ping.

[CedarDave]

I gave the wrong name of the supporting organization -- not MoveOn but Global Exchange from San Francisco. FR story link below:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1031595/posts

[jwalsh07]

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

Oy, it's bad enough having your Mom call your commander becasue she hasn't heard from you in a while. This is enough to make a grown man shrink to Tom Thumb size.

[Ex-Dem]

"They are so young. This is not for them. ... They look just like my boy," said Annabelle Valencia, whose daughter, 24, and son, 22, are both based in Iraq.

So young. Not for them. The same could be said for the young men and women who died in the World Trade Center, and in the terrorist attacks in Israel. I do believe that those young men and women in Iraq know why they are serving, even if their parents do not...

[ImpBill]

I wonder how her kids feel about her making comments like this to the media? And I wonder if she has any clue, if the kids do, how it puts them at risk as they think about their mothers concerns, in that she made them quite public.

What the kids feelings about the war are is immaterial as they need to keep their minds 100% focused on where they are.

Parents like this really do make me sick. Not that they feel the way they do, but that they make those feelings public to the media.

[Rome2000]

"The key objective was to get the subversive groups that have been conducting anti-coalition activities,"

LIke the DNC and Ms. Valencia?

Imagine being in Iraq in a war zone and still not able to get away from your obnoxious mother.

[The South Texan]

More and more of these buckets of scum are eating dust by the day. Way to go guys!!

Meanwhile, the US Democratic party goes deeper and deeper into panic mode.

[Rome2000]

Have military families always been allowed to visit/protest/inspect combat areas

Shes not authorized to be in country.

She is a disgrace,but a golden nugget for the leftist press who still can't come to terms with the fact that the GOP isn't stupid enough to allow them to broadcast the return of dead soldiers every night.

Such broadcasts didn't happen in WWI, WWII or Korea, which we won, but did for the first time in Vietnam, which we lost, largely because the lying leftist media was allowed to demoralize the nation and sap our troops will to fight.

NEVER AGAIN

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" Also in the north, insurgents kept up attacks against American-led forces "

Another Democrat insurgent,Jon Corzine, verbally attacked our troops today in Iraq. His claims that the US troops would not be able to win the war without the UN,that their mission was wrong and the force mix was inappropriate-were on direct orders from Haji Hillary. Joe Lieberman, an insurgent in training,said today that " The US military needs to work on it's peacekeeping skills" and international peacekeepers must be sent to Afghanistan, to help the US military do the job. At the rate the Democrats are going, it is not beyond comprehension that they might actually start planting IEDs along Baghdad roadsides.