US joins Iraqi offensive in Basra

[unhappycamper]

US joins Iraqi offensive in Basra
By Tina Susman
Los Angeles Times / March 29, 2008

BAGHDAD - US forces plunged deeper into the bloody showdown between Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite militiamen yesterday, launching air strikes in the southern city of Basra, and firing a missile into the main Shi'ite stronghold in Baghdad.

The US military said a Navy jet had strafed a mortar-launching position in Basra with 20-mm cannon fire late Thursday night, killing three "criminal militia members," and the US air strikes continued yesterday.

It was the first time American forces had been directly involved in the combat in Basra since the Iraqi government launched an offensive against militias there Tuesday. US ground troops also were deployed in small numbers there yesterday, for the first time in years.

The developments do not bode well for the Iraqi government or US military leaders, who had hoped the offensive would show that Iraqi security forces can handle major operations without outside help. They also come at a delicate time for the United States, which plans to complete the pullout of 28,500 troops from Iraq by the end of July.

Security in Basra has largely been the responsibility of provincial forces since December, when British troops handed over control of the region. The US military has been providing some advisers and air surveillance, but it has not been playing a direct role in Basra.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2008/03/29/us_joins_iraqi_offensive_in_basra/

[whistle]

1. U.S. military sucked right in again

[jimshoes]

2. Is this like a civil war now?

And how's that "surge" doing?

[NYVet]

3. Hard to be a civil war when one side quits in the middle of the battle.

No text.