Posted on 04/05/2008 11:08:59 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
IN THE opening game of the baseball season between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics in Japan, 11 runs were scored.
So who's right? It is rare in the annals of war for the side that is winning to seek a cease-fire. "The Iraq army has cordoned off the city and is methodically advancing to allow residents to leave the city amidst the fighting, militants to turn over arms, while gradually isolating the factions they intend to uproot," a Marine liaison officer to the Iraqi security forces said in an e-mail Tuesday to radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
(Excerpt) Read more at toledoblade.com ...
H/T to the Strata Sphere Blob:
Updates On The War On Terror 04_05_08
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Lots of news on the war on terror - good news actually. First off, when contemplating the Surrendercrats panic attacks over Iraq and their suicidal calls to retreat as fast as possible it is good to see what we are supposedly retreating from. At the moment the retreat would be in the face of scary school and medical facilities construction projects:
H/T to the Strata Sphere Blog:
This is good news then. It is how the U.S. dismantled Fallujah. The Iraqis have learned from the best!
A look at Operation Knights' Assault
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By April 4, 2008 4:09 PM
Eleven days after Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki launched Operation Knights' Assault in Basrah, the picture of the fighting in the city has become clearer. Maliki launched the operation after giving limited notice to Multinational Forces Iraq, and an inexperienced Iraqi Army brigade from the newly formed 14th Division cracked doing the opening days of the fighting. Basrah Operational Command rushed in forces into Basrah, including Army and elite police units, to stabilize the fighting, and six days after the operation began, Muqtada al Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stand down in Basrah, Baghdad, and the South.
The start of the operation
While the government of Iraq has been planning to conduct an operation to clear the militias from Basrah for some time, Maliki pushed up the time schedule for the operation by months, The New York Times reported on April 3. Maliki also failed to give proper advanced notice to the US military and almost no notice to the British forces in the south. This insured the Coalition forces were unable to properly back up the Iraqi Army with needed combat and logistical support from the start of the operation.
The US military was given notice of the operation on March 21, just four days before the Iraqi security forces began the advance into Basrah, The Times reported. General David Petraeus reportedly tried to dissuade Maliki from conducting the offensive, but the Iraqi prime minister pushed forward. Additional Iraqi Army, police, and special forces units began arriving in Basrah on March 24, and Maliki started the operation the next day.
The Basrah operation was initially planned to be executed in July 2008, when sufficient forces were available. The Iraqi Army and police have been massing forces in the South since August 2007, when the Basrah Operational Command was established to coordinate efforts in the region. As of December, the Iraqi Army deployed four brigades and an Iraqi Special Operations Forces battalion in Basrah province. The Iraqi National Police deployed two additional battalions to the province.
A green unit falters, reinforcements arrive
Maliki’s gambit to advance the Basrah clearing operation took a major setback once Iraqi security force met stiff resistance from the Mahdi Army. The decision to rush the operation forced a newly formed brigade into the fight just one month after the unit graduated from basic training. While the brigade has not been named, it was likely the 52nd Brigade from the 14th Iraqi Army Division, the most inexperienced units in the Iraqi Army.
Entries from Today In Category: 'Iraq'
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Iraqi security forces killed thirteen Special Groups fighters and detained 16 others during separate operations in Basrah. British advisers have moved into Basrah. Coalition forces killed five al Qaeda operatives and detained 16 during raids throughout Iraq. The Diyala provincial council called for a new operation after stating al Qaeda has regrouped in villages around Mandali.
US & Iraqi Troops Fight Sadr’s Thugs
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posted by: Curt @ 6:57 pm in The Iraqi WarVisited 144 times, 103 so far today
Looks like US forces have pushed into Sadr city to get rid of those mortar attacks:
U.S. forces are pushing Shiite militias farther from the Green Zone in an attempt to put the area out of range for rockets and mortars that have recently pounded the diplomatic and government enclave.
The strategy, which targets the southern outskirts of the Shiite district of Sadr City, began as part of a wider crackdown on armed Shiite groups that left Iraqi leaders in disarray after strong resistance and protests from the powerful Mahdi Army militia.
But for American commanders, the showdowns offered an opportunity to move against the launch sites, known as “rocket boxes,” which soldiers previously had not reached through the teeming Sadr City streets.
U.S. troops reinforced positions on the edges of Sadr City , an 8-square-mile slum with about 2.5 million people , and have battled their way into suspected launch sites.
“We’ve seized the ‘rocket boxes’ and pushed them north,” said Col. John Hort, commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
And thanks to Blackfive for this video of our forces fighting in that city:
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See the link for access to the video....
bump
Round II may be getting a start on Wednesday....
Related thread:
Al-Sadr militia prep for U.S., Iraqi fighting
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Militiamen loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are positioning explosives to defend the major routes into Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood in anticipation of a major battle with U.S. and Iraqi government forces, residents said yesterday.
Iraqis also said families in Sadr City and other Shi'ite areas of Baghdad are stocking up on food, fearing new fighting that will leave them unable to get to the markets.
While food prices in most of Baghdad are stable, they have increased in Sadr City and surrounding neighborhoods as people brace for a resumption of fighting that rocked the neighborhood late last month, said Sajad, an Iraqi translator who spoke with several residents in the Shi'ite stronghold on behalf of The Washington Times.
See #10....Round II timed for Petraeus appearance in Washington .....
Did the NY Times name their source?
(I doubt it)
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| Posted: 03/29/08 02:03 PM [ET] | |
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Clinton’s opponent for the Democratic nomination, front-runner Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), will not be at that hearing, but he does sit on the Foreign Relations Committee, which will also hear testimony on Iraq that day from Petraeus and Crocker.
The Armed Services Committee hearing could serve as a platform for McCain and Obama to highlight their differences over Iraq with an eye toward a possible November match-up. Clinton, who voted for war authorization, has promised to bring home the troops soon after she takes office while McCain has vowed to remain in Iraq until the war is won. Iraq also has been a contentious issue between Clinton and Obama, who has criticized Clinton for authorizing the war. Both Democrats have criticized McCain for his support of the war. At the same time, the testimony by Petraeus, who Clinton has praised on the campaign trail, could put Clinton and Obama in a complicated position, according to Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. He said the two Democrats may want to avoid directly criticizing Petraeus for his recommendations. They also may not want to focus on the implications of a quick drawdown, he said. Instead, O’Hanlon said they will lob their criticism at failures in the Iraqi political system. McCain, who opposes withdrawing troops from Iraq, could be boosted by the Petraeus appearance. O’Hanlon said he would probably seek to ask questions about what it would mean to quickly withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq. The Petraeus review comes at a time when violence is flaring in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, where Iraqi security forces have had a hard time taking over combat and policing duties from the U.S. troops. Iraqi government troops have also battled in recent days with Shiite militias in Baghdad. Whoever wins the presidency in November could inherit as many as 140,000 troops still deployed in Iraq. That’s about the same number as before the so-called surge of 35,000 troops announced in January 2007. President Bush has said he will not decide whether to further withdraw troops until after Petraeus’s and Crocker’s testimony in the Senate and the House. Petraeus has already advised against withdrawing more troops than those added last year during the surge. Democrats have been less eager to talk about Iraq than they were last year, but some are starting to criticize the administration for signaling it will not continue to withdraw troops after July. |
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The "surrendercRATS will change their tune to "Bring our Troops home, they're bored to tears".
Great article ern, thanks fer da ping.
Intel report shows security in Iraq improving
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Grudging good news from the USA Today, no less.It musta killed em to report that. LOL
Hill Dems petition Bush on Iraq - Democrats Letter to President Bush April 4, 2008
Thanks Ernest.
Al-Sadr militia prep for U.S., Iraqi fighting
The Washington Times | 05 Apr 2008 | Sharon Behn
Posted on 04/05/2008 1:36:02 PM EDT by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997218/posts
Officials Confirm Iran’s Role in Truce
AP | April 5, 2008 | Ali Akbar Dareini — 1 hour ago
Posted on 04/05/2008 2:04:37 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997303/posts
Not What They Supposed - The terror connection missed by the Clintonistas
The Weekly Standard | 4/14/2008 | Stephen F. Hayes
Posted on 04/05/2008 11:59:28 AM EDT by GVnana
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997191/posts
Hill Dems petition Bush on Iraq - Democrats Letter to President Bush April 4, 2008
Washington Times | April 4, 2008 | Surrendcrats Democrats
Posted on 04/05/2008 12:56:30 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997275/posts
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