Marines, Iraqi Troops Launch 2nd Offensive (Operation Dagger)

[maddezmom]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 1,000 U.S. Marines and Iraqi troops launched a second offensive Saturday against insurgents in restive Anbar province, this time targeting the marshy shores of a remote lake just north of Baghdad.


Operation Dagger, or Khanjar in Arabic, aims to uncover insurgent training camps and weapons caches in the southern part of the Lake Tharthar area in central Iraq, some 60 miles northwest of Baghdad. The region was the focus of a major campaign in late March that killed 85 insurgents.

"Operation Khanjar is focused on locating hidden weapons caches and denying insurgents sanctuary in the area that is a suspected insurgent and terrorist logistical hub," Marine Capt. Jeffrey Pool said from Ramadi, the provincial capital.

The operation began a day after another 1,000 Marines and Iraqi forces, backed by battle tanks, fought their way into Karabilah, 200 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province. U.S. fighter aircraft dropped bombs and the tanks fired shells at insurgents holed up inside buildings.

~snip~
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050618/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_

[annabanana]

1. 17 of the last 23 US casualties have been in Anbar

(starting from 6/11)

I expect the numbers will not improve.
http://icasualties.org/oif/Details.aspx

[billyoc]

2. It's just like that "Whack-A-Mole" game,

except that the "Moles" have 380 tons of high explosives. :eyes:

[Jacobin]

6. Exactly

There is a never ending supply. When these insurgents are killed, their children, brothers, sisters, uncles and cousins will avenge their death.

Too bad someone hasn't shown Smirky the documentary "Algeria"

[NeoConsSuck]

13. A lot of these 'insurgents'

were young children who had older siblings slaughtered in the Sr. Bush genocide.

Payback is a bitch!

[grytpype]

3. And when the Marines leave, the insurgents will pour back in.

We don't have enough troops to cover all of Iraq, it's a simple matter of geometry.

[FlemingsGhost]

7. Yup. It really is that simple.

The hawks have backed themselves into a corner, regarding boots on the ground. Support for the war is collapsing, and a draft is political suicide.

Meanwhile, back in Iraq: hit, run, hide ... hit, run, hide. Same way our founding fathers earned their independence.

[Jacobin]

15. But its not like Viet Nam, so stop saying that.

:-)

[mtnester]

4. Jeesh, and their last offensive was so successful we buried 4 local boys

in the same 7 day period, for Gawd's sake. Lima Company was literally dessicated, Ohio's sons took a terrible hit on that one.

[peacebird]

5. How many more towns will we have to destroy in order to save them?

How many more innocent Iraqi's will be slaughtered in the process? Operation Spear and Operation Dagger will both be hailed as triumphal successes by bushco and rummy, and as always - when playing whack-a-mole, our forces will lose in the end. (As they should frankly, we should not be in Iraq and we have lost any possible "high moral ground" long ago)

[DemsUnited]

8. After twenty-seven months, still launching "major offensives"

Still losing many, many American soldiers and Iraqi civilians, still decimating cities.

Hugely behind in all basic reconstruction goals.

And yet, according to repug talking points, the insurgency is in it's "death throes".

Constantly amazed at the lies. More amazed that a good number of Americans still believe them.

[ElectroPrincess]

9. I wish Kerry would change his stance, we're losing troops based

on A LIE! Just like we did in Vietnam. How many more thousands must die before we pull out?

[FlemingsGhost]

10. Someone needs to publically ask John Kerry how *he* is ...

"going to ask a man to be the last man to die in Iraq."

Judas.

[kitkatrose]

11. U.S. launches 2nd Iraq operation; 50 rebels dead

U.S. launches 2nd Iraq operation; 50 rebels dead By Peter Graff
13 minutes ago



KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces launched their second major offensive in western Iraq in as many days on Saturday, ratcheting up the hunt for rebels and weapons in the Euphrates river valley that stretches to the Syrian border.

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Faced with slipping poll numbers, President Bush asked Americans to show patience, saying that since U.S. troops overthrew Saddam Hussein, Iraq had become a "central front in the war on terror" and a "vital test" for U.S. security.

As Marine forces launched Operation Dagger in the desert about 75 km (50 miles) northwest of Baghdad, the general in charge of the capital was declaring success in a month-long crackdown there. But he warned it was too early to speak of breaking the back of any revolt.

Around 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers, supported by Iraqi troops and backed by fighter jets and helicopters, began the operation east of Tharthar lake on Saturday, the military said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&u=/nm/20050618/ts_nm/iraq_dc_30

[gizmo1979]

12. What happen to all our special forces guys?

These sort of operations sound perfect for them.They wouldn't be telegraphing everything they do.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. So, which village is being wiped out this time?

[maddezmom]

16. 2nd wave of U.S. offensive in Anbar province draws Sunnis' ire

~snip~
The area is reportedly a transit point for foreign fighters loyal to
al-Qaida-linked terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. While such fighters are thought to be a small portion of the insurgency, military officials view them as a potent threat because they are often better trained and more willing to act as suicide bombers.

Sunni tribal sheikhs in the area have accused the Marines of killing and injuring dozens of innocent civilians during the operations; a charge that the Marines deny.

On the national level, Sunni leaders said they were outraged that the U.S. military launched operations in the Sunni heartland province of Anbar when they are in talks with Iraqi and American officials about greater participation in the government.

Sunnis are drafting a list of 15 names to sit on a constitutional committee, and 10 more to act as advisers. Their involvement is seen as crucial in helping to pacify the Sunni population, some 20 percent of the nation and the base of the insurgency.
~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/krwashbureau/20050618/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_usiraq_wa_1