Mood:
chattyTopic: News
Commander says Iraq surge
operations have 'significant' impact
BAGHDAD -- Ongoing anti-insurgent operations conducted in and around Baghdad and to the south of Iraq’s capital city are achieving continued success, a senior U.S. military officer said Friday during a teleconference with retired military analysts.U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rich Lynch, commander of Multi-National Division-Center and U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, said he is optimistic that the surge will reduce violence in Baghdad while seriously disrupting insurgent operations in Iraq.
“Eventually, I believe you’ll see (an) improved security situation inside of Baghdad” due to the surge operations, he said. “But, it’s not going to happen overnight.”
Seeing on TV that the surge has minimal impact on the insurgents, “causes me great confusion,” he noted.
In reality, U.S. and Iraqi security forces participating in Operation Marne Torch are busily knocking out insurgent sanctuaries located within his battle space, Lynch said, which includes parts of eastern and southern Baghdad, as well as Najaf, Karbala, Babil and Wasit provinces.
“We’ve had significant impact on the enemy with the surge forces,” Lynch asserted. “I contend that they are indeed being successful.” Yet, he cautioned it will take some time to gauge the overall effectiveness of the surge operations.
Operation Marne Torch is one of several ongoing operations that are part of an overall offensive against insurgents in Iraq. U.S. troops to Iraq earlier this year as a surge of forces to assist the Iraqi government in confronting the insurgency. called Operation Phantom Thunder, which began June 15, once all of the surge troops were in place. President Bush directed a deployment of about 30,000 additional troops.
Many surge-related operations designed to eliminate enemy activity in Baghdad and its environs are being conducted within Multi-National Division-Center’s battle space, Lynch said. Since it was launched nearly a month ago, Operation Marne Torch has killed or captured 300 insurgents and netted 60 large enemy weapons caches, the general reported.
When he surveyed his area of operations in March before all the surge troops had arrived, Lynch observed there were four enemy sanctuaries that needed to be taken out.
Those sanctuaries were used by Sunni and Shiite insurgents, as well as al Qaeda in Iraq operatives, because “there weren’t any security forces” in the area, Lynch explained.
“So, we’ve got major operations across my battle space to disrupt those four sanctuaries,” Lynch said. One ongoing operation is focused on knocking out Sunni-insurgent strongholds in the Tigris River valley region, including the Arab Jabour area south of Baghdad.
Lynch said another offensive, Marne Avalanche, has just commenced against Sunni and Shiite insurgents operating in the Euphrates River valley.
And, a top al-Qaeda in Iraq chieftain believed responsible for the downing of a U.S. helicopter in April 2006 and the adduction and killing of two Soldiers in June 2006 was apprehended July 9 thanks to tips from Iraqi citizens, Lynch said. Iraqi citizens had tipped off Coalition forces about the location of a large enemy weapons cache that day, he noted, while local Iraqi militia had captured the suspected terrorist and turned him over to coalition authorities.
Lynch also pointed to suspected Iranian support of insurgents in Iraq, noting his troops have found numerous rocket-propelled grenades and other ordnance, including powerful explosive-formed-penetrator munitions, with Iranian markings.
The Iranian ordnance is being trucked-in into Iraq from the border in Wasit province, Lynch explained, noting much of it has been delivered to Shiite-backed insurgent groups. Lynch said U.S. and Iraqi troops, including a brigade from the country of Georgia, are setting up additional checkpoints in that area to intercept such cross-border arms shipments.
Yesterday, Coalition troops patrolling east of the Tigris River destroyed 40 enemy-emplaced, Iranian-sourced rockets that were aimed at U.S. troops, Lynch said.
(Story by Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service)
Multi-National Force - Iraq ~ American Forces Press Service - Gerry J. Gilmore **
Commander says Iraq surge operations have ‘significant’ impact
In other developments throughout Iraq:
• Marines from Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, discovered 500, one hundred-pound bags of ammonium nitrate July 11.
Related: (.PDF File) • 50,000 Pounds of Ammonium Nitrate!, Confiscated in Iraq
U.S. Marines Ambush Insurgents In Ramadi, (...or how to wake-up Terrorist Tenants)
• Herald News Daily ~ AP - Charles J. Hanley ** Air Force quietly building Iraq presence
Why should we listen to him? He's an actual General actually in Iraq fighting the actual war!!! I'd much rather get my military news from the libtards in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.
