US launches major Iraq air attack

[Great Spirit]

Fucken Nazis....Go after the REAL terrorists in the White House and Congress, not innocent women and children in Iraq! How would Amerikan's like it if bombs were dropped on their cities and killed their women and children????!!!!! It wouldn't be fun now would it and you would condemn the attackers! Wars are meant to be for defensive purposes only...never offensive. When Amerika starts fighting wars offensivly, then you know something is fucked up. Amerika has great power...don't let your country go to shit because of fascist pigs like Bush and co.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4814094.stm

The US military says it has launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, targeting insurgents near the central city of Samarra.
More than 50 aircraft and 1,500 Iraqi and US troops have been deployed in the operation, a military statement says.

A bomb attack on the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, 100km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, last month sparked widespread sectarian violence.

There are no independent reports of Thursday's offensive so far.

The US military said the assault, dubbed Operation Swarmer, was intended to "clear a suspected insurgent operating area" north-east of Samarra.

Iraqi interim Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told CNN the attack had been necessary to prevent insurgents forming a new stronghold in the area, such as had been seen in the town of Falluja.

Weapons caches

The offensive is expected to last several days "as a thorough search of the objective area is conducted".

Near the end of the first day, the joint US and Iraqi force said it had captured a number of weapons caches, containing shells, explosives and military uniforms.

US military spokesman Sgt Stan Lavery, in Baghdad, told the BBC the operation was focused on Iraq's Salahuddin province.

"We are trying to achieve denying the insurgency and the terrorists their weapons, and capturing and killing as many of them as we can," he said.

A senior Iraqi army officer told AFP news agency the offensive was "targeting bases of militants loyal to Zarqawi", the leader of the militant group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

There are no reports of casualties or details of any insurgent resistance so far.

Show of force

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says it is clear the Americans do believe there are pockets of insurgents in the Samarra area.

Samarra has become a byword for sectarian violence following the shrine attack, our correspondent says, and the US is keen to be seen as attacking the roots of the violence.

The BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says a major show of force is being carried out in the hope of breaking a cycle of escalating violence which it is feared could lead to civil war.

The Pentagon is keen to demonstrate that US and Iraqi forces can operate jointly and effectively in response to sectarian attacks, he says.

The military operation is also backing up the political message from the Bush administration in recent weeks that progress is being made in Iraq, he adds.

Asked whether President George Bush had ordered the offensive to bolster falling US support for the Iraq war, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the decision to attack had been made solely by commanders on the ground.

The operation coincides with the US announcement of a new national security strategy - in which it restates a policy of pre-emptive strikes first issued in 2002 and criticised since the Iraq war - and the first session of Iraq's new parliament.

It also comes shortly before the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Great Spirit Reviewed by Great Spirit on 03-16-2006. US launches major Iraq air attack Fucken Nazis....Go after the REAL terrorists in the White House and Congress, not innocent women and children in Iraq! How would Amerikan's like it if bombs were dropped on their cities and killed their women and children????!!!!! It wouldn't be fun now would it and you would condemn the attackers! Wars are meant to be for defensive purposes only...never offensive. When Amerika starts fighting wars offensivly, then you know something is fucked up. Amerika has great power...don't let your Rating: 5

[Great Spirit]

"We are trying to achieve denying the insurgency and the terrorists their weapons, and capturing and killing as many of them as we can," he said.

Wow...that quote doesn't look good for public relations. He could have said captured and arrested. When you say kill, that means the US is going trigger happy. Just like the Nazis did!!

[mont974x4]

Your misinterpretation and misunderstanding of facts and history and your hate never cease to surprise me.

LOL but that stop mad cowboy disease pic is dang funny lmao

[Psycho4Bud]

Fucken Nazis....Go after the REAL terrorists in the White House and Congress, not innocent women and children in Iraq!
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The US military says it has launched its biggest air offensive in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, targeting insurgents near the central city of Samarra.

I just fuckin' hate it when innocent women and children turn into insurgents! I say give em' back their potato peelers and water pistols and take away their new toy the Ak-47!:thumbsup:

[Zinnia]

They are 'insurgents' because they aren't interested in Bush's agenda and they want our asses out of there, which, IMHO, is something we should consider before more of our people and Iraquis are killed.

[mont974x4]

They are insurgents and terrorists and have been for decades. This is not a new situation. The only thing diference is they are finally being dealt with justly.

[Psycho4Bud]

They are "insurgents" because their going against the will of the 70% of the Iraqi's that turned out to vote. I know, hard concept, but I have confidence that people will eventually catch up!:thumbsup:

[mont974x4]

shhh we don't like real facts around here. LOL

[Zinnia]

They are "insurgents" because their going against the will of the 70% of the Iraqi's that turned out to vote. I know, hard concept, but I have confidence that people will eventually catch up!:thumbsup:

I can agree to that. But I still think the US needs to get the hell out of there.

[mont974x4]

Fair enough. Do you think the Bush policies are really to blame or do you consider the failings of almost every president going back to, say, Carter shares in the blame?