GREAT NEWS FROM IRAQ!!!
This Reuters article is great news from Iraq. Check this out:
U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed 90 al Qaeda fighters across Baghdad in the past five days during one of the biggest combined offensives against the Sunni Islamist group since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. officials said yesterday.
U.S. air strikes yesterday killed seven fighters suspected of belonging to al Qaeda in Tikrit in Salahuddin province and near the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
Of course, Reuters had to throw this statistic in for good measure:
The U.S. military also announced yesterday that roadside bombs killed seven American troops in Iraq, including four in a single incident outside Baghdad.
This will sound cold but I don’t know of many commanders who wouldn’t take a 13:1 kill ratio.
In the latest military action, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are taking part in simultaneous offensives in provinces across Baghdad to deny al Qaeda militants sanctuary in farmlands and towns from which they launch car bomb attacks and other violence. U.S. officials say al Qaeda is trying to spark all-out sectarian civil war in Iraq. A key plank of the combined offensives is Operation Arrowhead Ripper, which began Tuesday in and around the city of Baqouba in Diyala province.
The U.S. military said yesterday that 55 al Qaeda militants had been killed in that operation alone. Another 28 have been killed in separate operations in the past several days in Diyala, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
We weren’t aggressive enough after we toppled Saddam but it appears as thought Gen. Petraeus’s plan is helping make up for lost time. Certainly, it’s a welcome sight with a chance of achieving victory. We’ll have to wait for the final outcome but this is encouraging news.
U.S. soldiers have been tightening the cordon around al Qaeda fighters holed up in Baqouba, advancing carefully through streets lined with roadside bombs and booby-trapped houses. “We are enveloping the enemy into a ‘kill sack,’” said Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Huggins from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade.
It’ll be interesting to see if any AQI fighters escaped the surge’s “kill sack”. One thing’s for certain, though: This operation has told Iraqis that we’re in this to restore order by killing AQI fighters. Let’s hope that that causes the fence sitters to commit to the elected government.
Technorati Tags: Fallujah, Diyala Province, Tikrit, Baqouba, al-Qaeda, David Petraeus, Iraq War
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
June 25th, 2007 at 2:20 am
[...] Cross-posted at California Conservative Categories: Military, Iraq, Terrorism, Radical Islam | [...]
June 25th, 2007 at 2:25 am
[...] Original post by Gary Gross and software by Elliott Back [...]
June 25th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Sherman, Grant, Rosecrans and others would have taken a 13:1 casualty ration gladly.
With all the bullshit and hype from the media, we forget just how bloody some of our wars has been
Yaeh I know, Im a cold haerted bastard. I also believe in winning wars, unlike the wimps who run our country today.
June 25th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Again, if we lose in Iraq, it WONT be because our military doesn’t know how to kick enemy ass. It’ll be 100% the fault of Washington (and the American Left).
June 25th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
No, Dairenn, it will be the idiots in Washington who can’t manage their way out of a paper bag, let along a war, terrorism, immigration, taxation, representation… I could go on for hours, but suffice it to say, this is the Republicans’ war, and Presnit Cheney will go to his grave knowing that fact.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, the news quickly soured as Al Queda attacked the few Muslims trying to put Iraq back together: Iraq bomber strikes U.S.-allied sheiks.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Ah, but you mistake me Rocky, when I say wimps running the country, im not just singling out Republicans. A pox on both their houses, and the stooges who buy their sorry ass excuses.