Posted by Esarhaddon from dialup-67.73.32.72.Dial1.LosAngeles1.Level3.net (67.73.32.72) on Monday, July 14, 2003 at 11:15PM :
When would these liars admit and tell the truth about the grassroot movement that is spreading throughout the land as of result of occupation/liberation?
FYI: Just found that the the U.S. have the VETO power over the current Iraq's Puppet Council memebers decisions?
What a liberation?
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Americans kill 4 in latest swoop on resistance
Agencies, The Daily Star, 7/14/03
US forces killed four suspected pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents and arrested more than 50 others as they launched a fourth major offensive in central Iraq Sunday.
The operation was designed to blunt expected attacks against US soldiers during upcoming holidays that mark major events in the history of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, military officials said.
In Washington, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that attacks on US troops in Iraq may worsen this summer but he insisted that occupation forces there are making progress.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to expect this to go on and there’s even speculation that during the month of July, which is an anniversary for a lot of Baathists events, we could see an increase in the number of attacks,” Rumsfeld said on the NBC Television program Meet the Press.
In a separate appearance on ABC’s This Week, Rumsfeld rejected suggestions that the Iraqi occupation has evolved into a guerrilla conflict.
“We’ve been there less than 10 weeks, is that bogged down? How long were we in Germany? How long were we in Japan?” he said. “The president has said we are going to use as many forces as are necessary for as long as it takes.”
Still, the defense secretary insisted that progress is being made on the ground with Iraqis signing up for the army and police forces and schools and hospitals opening back up.
The US military announced that one soldier was killed and two others injured early Sunday when a tractor trailer crashed accidentally into their vehicle, parked at a checkpoint outside a base in Diwaniyah, 160 kilometers south of Baghdad.
Also Sunday, Iraqi police and coalition forces exchanged fire at a military checkpoint in the Iraqi capital, witnesses said. They said that a police vehicle drove up to a coalition checkpoint and started shooting, and US soldiers returned fire.
It was not clear if there were any casualties.
Meanwhile US forces detained nine “high-value targets” in raids near Mosul, in northern Iraq. None of the suspects were on the list of 55 most wanted Iraqis.
The Army’s 4th Infantry Division launched “Operation Ivy Serpent” Saturday night with a series of raids on suspected pro-Saddam holdouts, instituting aggressive checkpoints and sweeps through illegal weapons markets in Baqouba and Balad north of the capital.
“We’re going offensive to disrupt potential attacks against us by Baathists and former fedayeen elements,” said Colonel David Hogg, a commander of the 4th Infantry’s 2nd Brigade.
Hogg also said that US forces captured three wanted men: a former fedayeen general, a former Iraqi Air Force general and the second in charge of the Baath Party in Diala Province.
Since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1, 31 US soldiers have been killed by enemy forces and scores have been wounded in a series of attacks.
Most of the attacks have taken place in Baghdad and traditionally pro-Saddam Sunni Arab strongholds of central Iraq, known as the “Sunni Triangle.”
US military officials have received intelligence reports including letters addressed to community leaders urging attacks against Americans.
The intelligence indicates that pro-Saddam and Islamist insurgents plan to commemorate the July 14, 1958, anniversary of the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy and the July 17, 1968, coup by Saddam’s Baathist Party with spectacular anti-US actions.
America’s elusive enemy in Iraq appears to have some level of organization. Using flares and small-arms fire, they have developed a system to notify one another when the Americans are entering an area.
Three previous operations Peninsula Strike, Desert Scorpion and Sidewinder aimed
at stemming the insurgency yielded mixed results.
Hundreds of suspects were detained, but many were released for lack of evidence. Numerous large weapons caches were discovered, but the attacks continue.
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-- Esarhaddon
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