U.S. Seeks Arms of Iraq Militia Suspects

AP ^ | Jun 14, 8:36 PM EDT | CHRIS TOMLINSON Associated Press Writer

[Kaslin]

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. Army units moved in force early Sunday to seal off the conservative town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, intending to raid the homes of suspected militia leaders and search for illegal weapons.

Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade targeted locations where intelligence reports indicated militia operations were underway or weapons stockpiled for use against U.S. forces. The operation was called "Spartan Scorpion."

The initial thrust against the city 37 miles from the capital met no resistance, but Iraqis flashed their porch lights in apparent warning to each other that American troops were coming.

The 2nd Brigade entered Fallujah and the nearby towns of Habaniyah and Khaldiyah on June 4, tripling the number of U.S. troops in the area after repeated ambushes on supply convoys. The brigade's mission was to defeat anti-American militias and help restore local government offices and infrastructure.

The raids across Fallujah by Task Force 3-15, Task Force 1-64 and Task Force Enforcer - using more than 1,300 soldiers - began at about 3 a.m., just three hours after a deadline for Iraqis to turn in heavy weapons under an amnesty program.

[tet68]

And so they have electricity now?

[Kaslin]

I heard the other day they have for 20 hours per day.

[niteowl77]

The initial thrust against the city 37 miles from the capital met no resistance, but Iraqis flashed their porch lights in apparent warning to each other that American troops were coming.

Then I would consider any buildings with flashing porch lights to be giving Mr. Soldier and his friends an invitation to come in and set a spell whenever they choose, with no obligation to clean up after themselves.

[WL-law]

U.S. Army units moved in force early Sunday to seal off the conservative town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, intending to raid the homes of suspected militia leaders and search for illegal weapons

Now let's see -- I'm an AP writer, I'm looking for just-the-right-way to describe a town full of fascist Baath party sympathisers, including a regiment of Al Queda types operating a staging center for ambushes on US troops. Let's see, hmmm -- I KNOW, let's call them "CONSERVATIVES"!!!

[Kaslin]

Just because the elite army of Saddam was the Republican guard, it does not mean they were conservatives. Some of these reporters are really idiots

[JSteff]

They also got the words "militia" and "illegal weapons" in the same sentence. Possibly it is out of their pre-canned news lines for our very own country.

Replace the town names, Fallujah and Baghdad, with any predominently conservative town in a mostly GOP state and it could be for here. Odd, huh?

They will never stop trying to demonize all those words. Militia, conservative, and illegal weapons by putting them all together.