March 3, 2007

Did We Chop the Chopper-Killers?

Hatched by Dafydd

The "U.S. military" -- Reuters isn't any more specific than that -- says we killed several "senior insurgents" yesterday suspected of shooting down some of the eight helicopters we recently lost:

A U.S. air strike killed senior insurgents suspected of targeting American helicopters in Iraq, and the Iraqi government said 39 militants had been killed in volatile western Anbar province in recent fighting.

The U.S. military said on Saturday the air strike took place on Friday north of Baghdad near the town of Taji, which is home to a major U.S. air base. It said weaponry, including a vehicle mounted with anti-aircraft artillery, was destroyed.

"Coalition forces believe key terrorists were killed during the air strike ... Intelligence reports indicated this network is responsible for threats to coalition aircraft," the military said in a statement without elaborating. [Maybe it has something to do with the "anti-aircraft artillery" we destroyed.]

AP doesn't mention the "39 militants," but they have a few more details about the raid against the anti-aircraft artillery terrorists:

Also Saturday, the U.S. military said American warplanes bombed an area near Taji, on Baghdad's northern outskirts, killing "key terrorists" who were using anti-aircraft artillery to fire at military helicopters.

Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman, told The Associated Press that insurgents near Taji had been firing at U.S. helicopters with heavy machine guns mounted on the back of truck.

"It's mobile and it can inflict damage to our helicopters," Garver said. "Anything that can threaten our helicopters, we're going to try to get it off the battlefield," he said of the Friday air strike.

Not much to say about this one; we'll just have to wait and see. But AP mentions another raid of interest:

In a separate raid in the Taji area on Saturday, nine suspected insurgents were captured, including two believed to be responsible for recruiting and helping foreign militants join the insurgency in Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The suspects were also accused of harboring al-Qaida in Iraq leaders, it said.

Iraq's defense ministry said Saturday that Iraqi troops killed three suspected militants in Khan Bani Saad, a mixed town northeast of Baghdad. Two men were arrested in the raid, the ministry said in a statement. Seven others were captured in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, it said.

The 39 terrorists killed in Anbar died in a long-running firefight by "Iraqi security forces." (Don't you just love the precise specificity of the elite media? We don't even know if the terrorists were killed by the Iraqi Army or the Iraqi Police Commandos.)

In Anbar Province, a number of Sunni tribal leaders have turned against al-Qaeda and are helping us fight them. Enjoy it while it lasts; tribes can be fickle.

Regardless of the missing specifics, clearly the security operation is working very well at the moment. I wonder if the Democrats are as pleased as I.

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, March 3, 2007, at the time of 7:35 AM

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The following hissed in response by: MTF

I wonder if the Democrats are as pleased as I.

Isn't this an astounding time to be an American? You know, with absolute conviction, that many on the left detest the present success in Iraq, you know they have high hopes for the oft-announced Taliban "spring offensive" to be successful and you know they dearly hope administration leaders are assissinated. Lefty leading lights actually say these things, frequently.

I wonder if the lefties believe there will be no consequences to the country if any of their "opinions" are actually realized, or if they think the world will somehow be a better, more tolerant, more peaceful place as a result. Do they really not understand how important these struggles are? Dodgeson-style politics are all the rage among the loony-left.

The above hissed in response by: MTF [TypeKey Profile Page] at March 3, 2007 9:50 AM

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