Free Republic

By Tim Ripley NEW satellite images of an Iraqi nerve gas plant show that the site has been rebuilt after being bombed by the United States, but there seems to be little sign that production of chemical weapons is under way. The site, named Fallujah I, some 38 miles north-west of Baghdad, is one of three similar facilities built in the late 1980s around the town of Habbaniyah to mass-produce elements, known as precursors, of the nerve gases used in the Iran-Iraq war and against the Kurds in 1988 and 1991. Images taken by an American company, DigitalGlobe, and published...

CAMP HABBANIYAH, Iraq (June 28, 2006) -- Marines of Company A, 2nd Tank Battalion are supporting the grunts of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment by maintaining a constant presence with their M1-A1 Main Battle Tanks along the main highways in the battalion’s new area of operations. “We’re operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael J. Kadlub, a tank commander for 2nd Platoon. “There’s always somebody out there.” The tanks followed Darkhorse to Habbaniyah when the battalion moved west from Fallujah at the end of May. The transition to the new battle space was eased...

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (June 12, 2006) -- The enemy snipers hit their targets- but it yielded them no results. In less than a week’s time, Sgt. Joshua S. Adams and Pfc. Jason Hanson, of D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion were hit by sniper shots. But the enemy had little effect because both were left with only minor injuries thanks to their small-arms protective inserts, or SAPI, plates. While working in support of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, to complete counterinsurgency and humanitarian operations in the town of Habbaniyah, Hanson was the lead man on a patrol looking for roadside...

CAMP HANBBANIYAH, Iraq (June 13, 2006) -- Marines from 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion wouldn’t consider themselves good neighbors unless they lent a hand combating snipers, small-arms fire and roadside bombs in 120 degree heat. For two weeks, D Company, 3rd LAR, assisted 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment take over a new area of operations in the city, located between Ar Ramadi and Al Fallujah. They patrolled the region, conducting counterinsurgency operations and keeping the routes clear of improvised explosive devices, in addition they assisted in several humanitarian efforts. “We kept the area secure while 3/5 ... got a more...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military said. A statement by U.S. Central Command said another soldier was wounded in the attack on a convoy, near Habbaniyah, west of Baghdad. The soldiers were from the First Brigade Combat Team of Task Force All American.

The United States military has launched a search and destroy offensive against Sunni fighters loyal to deposed President Saddam Hussein.Thousands of troops from the US 3rd Infantry Division have been deployed in two Iraqi cities.One force, the size of two battalions, arrived in Falujah, some 65 kilometers west of Baghdad, on Wednesday.Another task force was deployed around two military airfields in the area of Habbaniyah.Falujah and Habbaniyah are major transit points from Baghdad to the Syrian border and are said to contain thousands of Saddam loyalists who fled the Iraqi capital during the war.Sunni insurgents have repeatedly attacked forced from...