suedanim
04-19-2008, 07:56 PM
The surge did not work and some of us knew this at the time Petraeus and Bush promoted it.
Iraqi troops launch offensive in Basra (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq20apr20,1,112986.story)
By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 3:49 AM PDT, April 19, 2008
BAGHDAD — Artillery fire and bomb blasts shook a militia-held district in the southern city of Basra today as U.S. and British forces backed up Iraqi troops launching a new offensive in the area.
The fighting was concentrated in Hyaniyah, in western Basra, a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns said Iraqi forces were trying to wrest control of the area from the Mahdi Army, known by its Arabic acronym JAM.
"JAM tried to prevent them from entering, but fierce air strikes enabled the Iraqi Army to take over control of the main streets and roads in Hayaniyah," one witness said.
A British military spokesman in Basra, Capt. Chris Ford, said the battles marked the start of a "new phase" in the offensive launched March 25 by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki against Shiite militias.
Hyaniyah has been surrounded by Iraqi forces for several days, but today's actions marked the first time they had attempted to take over the neighborhood.
Ford said Iraqi forces had entered Hyaniyah after the initial bombardments by U.S. and British forces. "There were violent clashes with gunmen there" when the Iraqis moved in, he said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Fighting also was reported overnight and early today in Sadr's Baghdad stronghold, Sadr City. A hospital official in Sadr City said 12 civilians had been killed and 71 injured in the latest confrontations.
The U.S. military had no immediate information on the Sadr City clashes but confirmed it had killed two suspected members of a mortar launching team with a Hellfire missile early today. Lt. Col. Steven Stover, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said aerial surveillance aircraft had spotted the two with a mortar tube. The missile also destroyed the tube, Stover said.
Two more U.S. troop deaths were announced. One soldier died in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad, and another was killed in the capital, according to brief statements. Both deaths occurred Saturday and were caused by roadside bombs.
At least 4,038 U.S. forces have died in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003, according to www.icasualties.org (http://icasualties.org/oif/).
Iraqi troops launch offensive in Basra (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq20apr20,1,112986.story)
By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer 3:49 AM PDT, April 19, 2008
BAGHDAD — Artillery fire and bomb blasts shook a militia-held district in the southern city of Basra today as U.S. and British forces backed up Iraqi troops launching a new offensive in the area.
The fighting was concentrated in Hyaniyah, in western Basra, a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr and his Mahdi Army. Witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns said Iraqi forces were trying to wrest control of the area from the Mahdi Army, known by its Arabic acronym JAM.
"JAM tried to prevent them from entering, but fierce air strikes enabled the Iraqi Army to take over control of the main streets and roads in Hayaniyah," one witness said.
A British military spokesman in Basra, Capt. Chris Ford, said the battles marked the start of a "new phase" in the offensive launched March 25 by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki against Shiite militias.
Hyaniyah has been surrounded by Iraqi forces for several days, but today's actions marked the first time they had attempted to take over the neighborhood.
Ford said Iraqi forces had entered Hyaniyah after the initial bombardments by U.S. and British forces. "There were violent clashes with gunmen there" when the Iraqis moved in, he said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Fighting also was reported overnight and early today in Sadr's Baghdad stronghold, Sadr City. A hospital official in Sadr City said 12 civilians had been killed and 71 injured in the latest confrontations.
The U.S. military had no immediate information on the Sadr City clashes but confirmed it had killed two suspected members of a mortar launching team with a Hellfire missile early today. Lt. Col. Steven Stover, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said aerial surveillance aircraft had spotted the two with a mortar tube. The missile also destroyed the tube, Stover said.
Two more U.S. troop deaths were announced. One soldier died in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad, and another was killed in the capital, according to brief statements. Both deaths occurred Saturday and were caused by roadside bombs.
At least 4,038 U.S. forces have died in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003, according to www.icasualties.org (http://icasualties.org/oif/).