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| U.S. Launches Fresh Strike in Fallujah on Zarqawi Safe House |
| 2004-06-25 |
| U.S.-led coalition military forces struck a suspected terrorist safehouse in Fallujah on Friday, hoping to cripple Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s terror network. cripple? Kill.Them. "We conducted another attack against the Zarqawi network today: coalition forces conducted another strike on a known Zarqawi network safe house in Southeastern Fallujah, based on multiple confirmations of Iraqi and Coalition intelligence," a senior coalition military official said. "This operation employed precision weapons to target and destroy the safe house," the official said. As many as 25 people were in the house at the time but it was not clear how many were killed or wounded. Earlier Friday in Fallujah, explosions and gunfire rocked the turbulent city for a second day Friday, after coordinated attacks in other Iraqi cities killed about 100 people less than a week before Iraq’s new government takes power. seems they don’t like the handover U.S. tanks and armored vehicles maneuvered on the highway near the edges of the city, firing in several directions, while armed men in an eastern suburb returned fire, witnesses said. Seven people have died in two days of exchanges there, hospital officials said. Hours later, a roadside bomb exploded in a residential neighborhood in Baghdad, killing one Iraqi policeman and wounding another, police said. The attacks on security forces fit a pattern of violence that targeted several cities on Thursday, when insurgents set off car bombs and seized police stations in an offensive aimed at creating chaos just days before the handover of power to a new Iraqi government. U.S. and Iraqi forces regained control in heavy fighting, but the day’s violence killed about 100 people, most of them Iraqi civilians. Al-Zarqawi’s terror network claimed responsibility for the attacks Thursday. A large number were killed in simultaneous car bombings in the northern city of Mosul, but some also died as U.S. troops battled the guerrillas. Three U.S. soldiers were among the dead. At least 320 people were wounded, including 12 Americans. As the situation worsened, Iraq’s interim vice president warned that a drastic deterioration in the country’s security could lead to emergency laws or martial law, however undesirable such measures may be in a democratic society. "Announcing emergency laws or martial law depends on the nature of the situation. In normal situations, there is clearly no need for that (step)," Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite and member of the Islamic Dawa Party, told The Associated Press in an interview late Thursday. "But in cases of excess challenges, emergency laws have their place," he said, adding that any such laws would fall within a "democratic framework that respects the rights of Iraqis." Iraq’s new leaders have recently begun to suggest the possibility of at least some form of martial law in some hotspots around the country as a way of stemming the tide of violence. It is unclear, however, whether U.S. officials would go along with the idea. A U.N. Security Council resolution approved this month gives the United States a primary security role in Iraq even after the transfer of sovereignty Wednesday. American forces set up checkpoints around Iraq on Thursday to intercept weapons, guerrillas and bombs. They fear that al-Zarqawi plans a string of car bombings in Baghdad, said Col. Michael Formica, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division’s 2nd Brigade. good assumption "There is clearly a transnational threat, as represented by al-Zarqawi, and that threat appears — based on what we’ve seen in Fallujah and Mosul today — to want to bring the attack to Baghdad," Formica said Thursday. A large number of the dead from Thursday’s attacks were killed in simultaneous car bombings in the northern city of Mosul, but some also died as U.S. troops battled the guerrillas. "We underestimated the nature of the insurgency that we might face during this period, and so the insurgency that we are looking at now ... has become a serious problem for us," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the British Broadcast Corp. The assaults were launched in the morning on Thursday, when black-clad guerrillas attacked police stations and government complexes in Baghdad, Baqouba, Mosul, Ramadi and Mahaweel. The heaviest fighting was in Baqouba, northeast of the capital, where guerrillas shot their way into a government office complex, seized two police stations and destroyed the home of the provincial police chief. The stations were recaptured Thursday afternoon, Maj. Neal O’Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said Friday. Two American soldiers died in the Baqouba fighting, the 1st Infantry Division said. Insurgents also attacked a police station in a Baqouba suburb late Thursday, killing three officers and injuring one, said Dr. Nassir Jawad, who is in charge of the Baqouba morgue. Isolated skirmishes were also reported nearby into Thursday evening, O’Brien said Friday. Al-Zarqawi’s followers claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site often used by his Tawhid and Jihad movement. The statement said the "occupation troops and apostates" — meaning Iraqi police — "were overwhelmed with shock and confusion." Al-Zarqawi earlier claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and beheadings of American businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il, and an audiotape released Wednesday purporting to be by al-Zarqawi threatened to kill Iraq’s prime minister. Analysis of the tape showed it likely was al-Zarqawi’s voice, a CIA official said Thursday. American and Iraqi officials insisted the transfer of power would proceed as planned June 30. On Thursday, the coalition turned over the last 11 government ministries to Iraqi officials. During the handover ceremony, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said the attacks were "only acts of disturbances conducted by cowards" meant "to foil the democratic process." |
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #11 At this point, no matter where Zarqawi is, with the continuing 20 to 1 ratio kill in effect, his leutenants will definitley be crapping bricks, crying out for some sort of 'truce' in the interim. See, they want to fight 'like a man', not die, burnt to a crisp in a corner basement while taking a piss, waiting for instructions! |
| Posted by: smn 2004-06-25 11:49:06 PM |
| #10 The AF uses the GAU-8 for aerial sniping. It's just so handy that way. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-25 4:15:28 PM |
| #9 DING DONG.... AVON!?!?! |
| Posted by: JackAssFestival 2004-06-25 3:39:11 PM |
| #8 "We underestimated the nature of the insurgency that we might face during this period, and so the insurgency that we are looking at now ... has become a serious problem for us," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told the British Broadcast Corp. Thank you Powell for encouraging them. Would you like to be bitch-slapped by Rumsfeld now or after dinner? |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-06-25 3:17:47 PM |
| #7 The AF uses the GAU-8 for aerial sniping. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-25 2:40:53 PM |
| #6 I just saw on cnn.com that coalition officials claimed that the latest Fallujah strike just missed Zarqawi. I am cautiously optimistic about the likelihood of his death in the near term. As for the Fallujah Brigade, who cares? All along I suspected that the USMC was going to have to finish the job. Seeing pictures on cnn.com of "insurgents" in Fallujah, I had a question. Is there such a thing as a high-altitude sniper rifle? It seems to me that a helicopter could hover over an area where there is ground fighting, identify targets based on GPS coordinates provided from the ground using thermal imaging at night or hi res cameras during the day, and drop miniature bombs (in the form of .50 cal shells) on the bad guys. The chopper would have to be high enough to protect it from RPG and high-powered rifle fire, and would have to shoot and scoot to avoid SAMs, but it otherwise seems doable. The weapon wouldn't even have to be manually fired -- I suspect we could develop a stabilized platform like the Abrahms uses. Does this seem like something that could be done with off-the-shelf technology or am I just talking out of my @ss? |
| Posted by: Tibor 2004-06-25 2:15:48 PM |
| #5 Where is the F*****g Fallujah Brigade? Have they fallen off the earth? Abducted by aliens? Gone over to the other side? Dropped into the dustbin of discarded ideas? I haven't seen a word in print on these bozos and their moustachioed general in over a month. Will the new Iraqi government disband these useless fools or send the real army in to kill them? |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-06-25 12:02:24 PM |
| #4 Whoa! LH good news indeedy. Perhaps Belmont Club is right about the US being the swing force. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-06-25 11:38:10 AM |
| #3 so what do y'all make of this The militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has declared a unilateral cease-fire with U.S. forces in the Baghdad district of Sadr City and has offered to help police ensure safety in the area, a statement said Friday. The cease-fire went into effect Thursday and was "obligatory on all al-Mahdi army's heroes," according to the statement, issued by the central committee of al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and distributed in the Shiite district. The declaration said the cease-fire was called to show al-Sadr's interest in preventing "terrorists and saboteurs" from "causing overwhelming chaos or security disorder." |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-25 11:23:52 AM |
| #2 "In Baghdad, insurgents attacked four Iraqi police stations using mortars, hand grenades and assault rifles on Wednesday and Thursday.[b] Police fought back[/b], and defended the stations [b]with minimal assistance from coalition forces[/b], a U.S. statement said. " |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-06-25 10:22:54 AM |
| #1 I think al-Zarqawi's in Baghdad, not in Fallujah but he has some key goons there. |
| Posted by: mhw 2004-06-25 10:17:51 AM |