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| Iraq |
| US mounts major Iraq assault - Operation Phantom Strike |
| 2007-08-14 |
| United States troops in Iraq launched a major assault against al-Qaeda-linked militants and alleged Iranian-aided extremist groups on Monday as a Sunni leader accused Iran of plotting genocide against his people. Operation Phantom Strike, the military announced, was being waged nationwide to disrupt Shi'ite extremist networks and insurgents affiliated to al-Qaeda, which the Americans blame for most of the violence besieging the country. "It consists of simultaneous operations throughout Iraq focused on pursuing remaining AQI [al-Qaeda in Iraq] terrorists and Iranian-supported extremist elements," the military said. "My intent is to continue to pressure AQI and other extremist elements throughout Iraq to reduce their capabilities," said Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, the number two commander of US forces in Iraq. The US military declined to elaborate, citing "security concerns". "But I can say this effort will be a top priority for combat units operating in Iraq for this period leading up to Ramadan," a spokesperson said, referring to the Muslim month of fasting due to begin in the second week of September. US authorities regularly accuse Iranian elements, including Tehran's elite Quds Force, of arming, funding and training Iraqi extremist groups to carry out attacks on its troops in Iraq -- charges denied by Tehran. The US military also announced the arrests of a top "financier" of Iraqi extremist groups believed to be supported by the Quds Force, and a medical doctor it accused of harbouring and supplying al-Qaeda affiliates in Baghdad. Adnan al-Dulaimi, who heads a party in the main Sunni bloc that resigned from Iraq's fraying coalition government two weeks ago, meanwhile, launched a vitriolic verbal attack on Iran, accusing it of supporting genocide in Iraq. In an open letter written in the name of Sunni Arabs, Dulaimi's office appealed to the wider Arab world to intervene. "Your brothers in Baghdad are facing an unprecedented campaign of genocide carried out by militias and death squads under Iranian direction, planning, support and weaponry," said the statement, obtained by Agence France-Presse on Monday. "By God, it is a war that started in Baghdad and will not stop there. It will engulf any place where Arabic is spoken. "Use all means to stand up to Iran, as you are its next target. It is trying to occupy your Iraq, the Gulf and all your countries," it added. The Sunni bloc, the National Concord Front to which Dulaimi belongs, walked out of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government on August 1, effectively ending any pretence by the Shi'ite-dominated coalition to national unity. The bloc has accused the government of failing to rein in Shi'ite militias responsible for killing Sunnis in the brutal Iraqi sectarian strife. Maliki, a Shi'ite, last week held two days of talks in largely Shi'ite Iran, where he received a warm welcome and where he was quoted by Iranian state media as praising Iran's "constructive" role in "fighting terrorism in Iraq." US President George Bush took issue with that statement and Washington has warned Iraq's leaders to work harder on unity, concerned that political impasse could undermine the efforts of 155 000 US troops to end the conflict. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #8 Ah, the dreaded approachment of Ramadan. We, of course, in the interests of projecting our humanity and consideration to France and Germany and Italy, we will observe Ramadan by withholding further military operations as will our Iraqi compatriots. But AQI and the thuggish insurgents will not observe but will be honored with fake but accurate stories of thier revolution and bravery by the French, the Germans and the Italians. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-08-14 13:32 |
| #7 About Maliki, just remember that most of what we hear about him has been filtered and spun by the MSM. This doesn't mean that there isn't any truth there, just that we should be cautious. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-14 13:26 |
| #6 Just as long as Billy Zane isn't involved... |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-08-14 11:24 |
| #5 Maliki is becoming more and more of a problem. His patronizing of SHia is more important to him than the pacification and unification of Iraq. I suggest we present Mr Maliki with gun-site photos of him, his wife, his adult children and his extended family. Just a little reminder to him that he has far more skin in this game than he believes he does. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-08-14 10:51 |
| #4 Good. Keep hitting 'em. No rest. No mercy. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-08-14 10:28 |
| #3 Or do the cruise missile thing accompanied by red, white and blue fireworks. "The world" will blame America and the Jews no matter what happens. If they will not love they might as well fear. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-08-14 09:17 |
| #2 do we know where there is a subsyantial amount of these Quds forces being barracked at? if so why not take all inscriptions off one of our cruise missilles so they can't be identified and hit the place. that way they can't show parts of the missile on al jizz and really knopw that it was us who did the bombing and we can say it must have been a work accident |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-08-14 08:06 |
| #1 "Your brothers in Baghdad are facing an unprecedented campaign of genocide carried out by militias and death squads under Iranian direction, planning, support and weaponry," said the statement, obtained by Agence France-Presse on Monday. "By God, it is a war that started in Baghdad and will not stop there. It will engulf any place where Arabic is spoken. "Use all means to stand up to Iran, as you are its next target. It is trying to occupy your Iraq, the Gulf and all your countries," it added. Vitriolic? Mayhaps in the eye of beholder... but essentially, he nailed it down, except the pesky detail that Iran is funding sunni AQ too, as long as it serves its purposes. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2007-08-14 00:29 |