'Operation Spear' Launched in Iraq (1000 troops on Iraq-Syria border)

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

'Operation Spear' Launched in Iraq
Friday, June 17, 2005

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159858,00.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military launched a major combat operation Friday, sending 1,000 Marines and Iraqi soldiers to hunt for insurgents and foreign fighters in a volatile western province straddling Syria (search).

Operation Spear (search) started in the pre-dawn hours in Anbar province (search) to hunt for insurgents and foreign fighters, the military said. The area, which straddles the Syrian border, is where U.S. forces said it killed about 40 militants in airstrikes in Karabilah on June 11.

The operation came one day after Air Force Brig. Gen. Don Alston (search) called the Syrian border the "worst problem" in terms of stemming the influx of foreign fighters to Iraq. Syria is under intense pressure from Washington and Baghdad to tighten control of its porous 380-mile border with Iraq.

The Marines have lost 11 men and two sailors over the past week in separate incidents around Anbar.

[leftchick]

1. wow! Goes nicely with "Operation White Shield"

:puke:

[llmart]

2. Boy, they sure are terrific at coming up with cutesy names.......

for their "Operations" but haven't really accomplished anything in Iraq but destroying the country, killing thousands of innocent people and abusing our people in the military.

Oh, yeah, and making sure that the US is even more hated by more people.

Way to go BushCo!

[LightningFlash]

3. Right when Iran is being bombed to....

Truly sad and alarming. We need to work to get them out quickly, and go to every length.

[HeeBGBz]

4. Operation Britney Spear

More like it.

[soup]

5. MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION

MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION?
MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION?
MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION?

No, it CAN'T be a MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION, because that would mean ** LIED. Damn liberal media. At it again.

---


1 May 2003

Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment -- yet, it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free.
http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/terrorism/bushiraq4.html

[Moderator]

6. kick

[Roland99]

7. US Troops Launch Big Iraq Offensive

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1509246,00.html

American troops backed by warplanes and helicopters yesterday launched one of their biggest offensives in recent months to hunt insurgents on Iraq's border with Syria.

About 1,000 marines with tanks and amphibious assault vehicles fanned across the desert near Karabila, a flashpoint town in Anbar province, following a spate of clashes in the area.

"Operation Spear began in the early morning hours, aimed at rooting out terrorists, foreign fighters and disrupting terrorist support systems in and around Karabila," said a US military statement.

Residents in in the nearby city of Qaim reported fierce gunbattles overnight and several air attacks. Hospital staff said that six bodies, including one woman, had been brought to the morgue by mid morning

Like the last offensive was SO successful.

:sarcasm:

[sweetheart]

8. by the very fact that the terrorist foreign fighters are running the op..

makes it distinctly possible they'll be successful at disrupting
themselves. At least they can waste tax dollars in the desert
pursuing irony if nothing else. ;-)

[rocktivity]

9. And if Operation Spear just happened to go OVER the border into Syria

if it hasn't already?...Can you say "Cambodia?"

No wonder Georgie needs nearly two weeks to get ready for his June 28 speech. He's up to something...

:headbang:
rocknation

[Massacure]

12. A 1000 man force is likely to get slaughtered.

If I recall, Syria has been uneasy with the U.S. and has a rather large guard force at the border. The U.S. cannot handle Iraq, they are not going to intentionally provoke another country as well...

[manic expression]

10. Shadows of Carrhae

I wonder if Crassus' memory will stop us from committing the same mistake. Probably not.

We march to the same fate the Romans suffered before us....

[msanthrope]

11. "Ille homo habet equum Seianum?"

I think we own the horse, now.........

[wookie294]

13. After we re-take Qaim again, we'll re-take Ramadi again

After we retake Ramadi again, we'll re-take Samarra again. And after we re-take Samarra again, we'll re-take Basra again. And after we-retake Basra again, we'll retake Ramadi again. And after we re-take Ramadi again, we'll re-take Sadr City again. (Repeat)