[Peace-discuss] what freedom?

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

U.S. Troops Storm Sunni Muslim Enclave
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 12:34 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Thousands of U.S. troops stormed through a Sunni Muslim 
enclave centered on the Tigris River north of Baghdad on Thursday, day three 
of a massive operation aimed at cracking down on Saddam Hussein loyalists.

Fighter jets, attack helicopters and unmanned aerial drones have backed up 
ground troops during Operation Peninsula Strike, one of the U.S. military's 
biggest assaults since Saddam's ouster. About 400 Iraqis have been captured.

Early Thursday, U.S. fighter jets bombed what they said was ``terrorist 
training camp'' north of Baghdad. Hours later, Iraqi forces shot down a U.S. 
helicopter gunship, and a U.S. F-16 fighter-bomber went down southwest of Baghdad 
for reasons yet determined, the U.S. Central Command said. The crews of both 
aircraft were unharmed.

``As we receive actionable intelligence, we strike hard and with lethal 
force,'' Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, the U.S. ground forces commander in Iraq, said 
in a briefing Thursday. ``Iraq will be a combat zone for some time.''

The sharp escalation of U.S. military action in central and western Iraq came 
after increased guerrilla attacks on American troops in the region -- the 
so-called ``Sunni triangle'' that is a heartland of support for Saddam's 
now-banned Baath Party and that includes Tikrit, the hometown of the deposed Sunni 
leader.

``It's one of the largest operations since the war,'' Central Command 
spokesman Lt. Ryan Fitzgerald said of the sweep, aimed at routing those organizing 
attacks on coalition forces. Central Command has not given a total number of 
Iraqi casualties.

In a related effort, the American civilian administrator of Iraq, L. Paul 
Bremer, on Thursday banned gatherings, pronouncements or publications that incite 
disorder or violence against the U.S.-led occupation forces, or the return of 
the Baath Party.

As the operation pushed head, thousands of American troops swept through an 
area centered on the town of Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad in the heart 
of the ``triangle.'' Largely untouched during the war, Duluiyah is considered a 
likely hideout for die-hard pro-Saddam fighters.

Ten to 15 Iraqis were killed in Thursday's action and four U.S. soldiers 
suffered gunshot wounds, said U.S. Sgt. Forest Geary. Three of the injured 
Americans were flown to Germany for medical care, he said.

The downed AH-64 Apache helicopter -- was the first aircraft shot down by 
ground fire since Saddam was ousted two months ago -- belonged to the U.S. Army's 
101st Airborne Division, McKiernan said. A pair of Apaches fired on 
``irregular forces'' at the crash scene, while U.S. ground troops secured the site and 
rescued the two-man crew.

McKiernan said the shootdown happened during an ongoing operation where U.S. 
forces ``struck very lethally and very decisively.''

Hours earlier, at about 1:45 a.m., U.S. planes attacked a site they described 
as a terror camp 95 miles north of Baghdad, according to Central Command. A 
firefight broke out, and one coalition soldier was slightly injured. The 
statement did not give any Iraqi casualty figures.

Of the hundreds of Iraqis captured, Fitzgerald said he had no information 
whether any were among the top 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's former regime. 
He said U.S. officials armed with intelligence on particular suspects were 
questioning those captured.

The southwestern corner of the ``Sunni triangle'' is the city of Fallujah, 
where four American soldiers have been killed and 21 wounded by Iraqi insurgents 
since April. As part of the ongoing crackdown, some 1,500 troops from the 
Army's 3rd Infantry Division were sent to Fallujah, which has about 200,000 
residents, and the neighboring towns of Khaldiyah and Habaniyah.

The heavily wooded area around Duluiyah provided good cover for ambushers, 
but searches Thursday failed to turn up more than a few light arms and rocket 
propelled grenades, weaponry commonly found all over Iraq, said troops involved 
in the operation.

``When we came down here we really expected the worse. That has not been the 
reality,'' said Sgt. Todd Oliver, of the 173rd Airborne Division. ``We came 
here searching houses and knocking down doors. If they were here, they're gone 
now.''

In Habaniyah, a top U.S. commander said his men have made significant 
progress in restoring security.

``There are three elements we are having to deal with, first armed bandits, 
second former Baath Party officials are paying people to attack us, and then 
the Fedayeen,'' said Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III, commander of the 3rd Infantry 
Division. The Fedayeen were a paramilitary force set up by Saddam's regime.

U.S. intelligence has made progress in figuring out which groups are 
responsible for which attacks and U.S. troops are working to dismantle them, Blount 
said.

Anecdotal evidence such as large amounts of cash seized during arrests of 
militants suggests that someone is paying the militants to attack U.S. troops, 
said Sgt. Brian Thomas, an Army spokesman in Baghdad.

The attackers have used guerrilla tactics allowing them to strike U.S. 
military vehicles and escape. They also appeared to be coordinating raids with 
signaling devices, including flares, military officials said.

``It's an adaptive enemy. They'll change their tactics if they're not 
successful,'' McKiernan said, adding that he saw little direct coordination between 
the two main centers of combat, west and north of Baghdad.