Jun 22 2007

The Surge Is Massive, And Intense

Published by at 8:27 am under All General Discussions,Diyala,Iraq

Many Updates Below

The Surge was not just an effort to bring in a lot more troops to walk the streets and man checkpoints. It was meant to clear or purge large areas of the Islamo Fascists so as to reduce the violence in and around Baghdad – where 80% of the violence was taking place. It is a very large operation where the Diyala campaign, called Arrowhead Ripper, is just one element:

Operation Phantom Thunder, the name of the overarching operation to secure the Baghdad Belts, is now in its fifth day. As noted yesterday, Phantom Thunder is a corps-level operation, with multiple U.S. and Iraqi divisions engaged on multiple fronts. Iraqi Security Forces and Multinational Forces Iraq are engaged in intense fights in four main theaters: Baghdad proper, and the belts regions consisting of Diyala and southern Salahadin provinces to the north, northern Babil province to the south, and eastern Anbar province to the west of Baghdad. The fighting has been the most intense in the city of Baqubah, the provincial capital of Diyala.

The good news is the Iraqi-US forces have established themselves in configurations which are surrounding the al-Qaeda (and sympathizing groups’) strongholds so that there is no place for the Islamo Fascists to go. The fighting is most intense in Baquoba, the capitol city of Diyala Province and the second declared capitol city of al Qaeda’s moder caliphate (Ramadi in Anbar was their original claimed capitol – which they lost a few months back when Anbar turned on al-Qaeda):

The large portion of the media attention has focused on the battle in Baqubah, as this is where the brunt of the heavy fighting is occurring. Baqubah is the provincial capital of Diyala as well as al Qaeda’s proclaimed capital of its rump Islamic State of Iraq. Hundreds, and upwards of 1,000 al Qaeda fighters are believed to be holed up in the city in prepared fighting positions. The city has been mined with IEDs and booby-trapped homes, and seeded with snipers.

Both Michael Gordon and Michael Yon, who are embedded in Baqubah, reported U.S. and Iraqi troops are receiving valuable intelligence from the residents of Baqubah. “A positive indicator on the 19th and the 20th is that most local people apparently are happy that al Qaeda is being trapped and killed,” Michael Yon wrote. “Civilians are pointing out IEDs and enemy fighters, so that’s not working so well for al Qaeda.”

I predicted a few months back that al-Qaeda’s brutality would be its undoing and apparently I was right. al-Qaeda cannot exist of the local population is so angry it celebrates their destruction and is willing to take up arms against them. We have gone from what could have been a US surrender to al-Qaeda through a Congressional collapse of spine (nothing more) a few months back to a campaign were the Arab/Muslim street is now rising up against al-Qaeda and showing why the Democrats (or Surrendercrats as I call them) were incredibly wrong on Iraq. Al-Qaeda could have become the beacon of the Muslim world if we had left Iraq, but now they are being destroyed, in large part, by a backlash in the Muslim world.

The reporting on other elements of Phantom Thunder show similar reuslts:

Multinational Division Central, the newly created command to deal with the southern Baghdad Belts, has two concurrent major operations ongoing in its area of operations. Marne Torch is focusing on the city and surrounding regions of Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad. Commando Eagle is focusing on the Mahmudiyah region southwest of Baghdad.

“To date, Marne Torch and Iraqi army units have detained more than five dozen suspected extremists and destroyed more than 17 boats on the Tigris River that are responsible for transporting accelerants into Baghdad,” Multinational Forces Iraq reported in a press release. “U.S. forces killed five insurgents, discovered and destroyed 12 improvised explosive devices, and detained 13 wanted individuals.”

Multinational Forces West has yet to release the name of the ongoing operations in eastern Anbar province. But the scope of the operation in eastern Anbar is now clearer. In an Associated Press interview with Brigadier General John Allen, the deputy commander of Multinational Forces West, the hot spots in the province were identified.

Brig. Gen. Allen noted there are three main focal points: Fallujah, Karma, and the Thar Thar region.

As the major offensive is ongoing in the belts, the pressure is being kept up on Muqtada al Sadr’s Mahdi Army as well as al Qaeda’s network throughout Iraq.

The story has tons of links which knit together the big picture. The Iraqi-US forces are finally engaged in the Surge (which shows why anyone who claimed the Surge was a failure – before it started – was pretty much an idiot) and this intensity is supposed to be sustained for about two months.

Sadly it is impossible to completely cordon off an entire city so that a handful of people cannot get out. And that seems to be the case in Diyala, where al-Qaeda leaders have fled the battlefield (guess they are not interested in 70 virgins):

BAQOUBA, Iraq: U.S. troops are scouring houses and vehicles to root out hundreds of al-Qaida militants believed holed up in western Baqouba, which has become the center of a massive military offensive, a commander said Friday.

“They’re clearly in hiding, no question about it. But they’re a hardline group of fighters who have no intention of leaving, and they want to kill as many coalition and Iraqi security forces as they possibly can,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press and another news agency.

U.S. commanders have acknowledged, however, that while some element of surprise was preserved in the offensive that began Monday, al-Qaida’s sophisticated intelligence gathering meant top militant leaders knew an attack was imminent.

More than three-quarters of the senior al-Qaida leaders holed up escaped as American soldiers launched an offensive earlier this week, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. ground forces commander said on Thursday during a one day trip to the battlefield.

“We believe 80 percent of the upper level (al-Qaida) leaders fled, but we’ll find them,” Odierno said. “Eighty percent of the lower level leaders are still here.”

While it is not good the leaders escaped, the left their people behind to die. That is not considered ‘good form’ in the Middle East. And where will these people go? If their fighters are being rounded up and the locals are ready to kill them on sight where in the world are these cowards going to go? I doubt they will be resurrecting any large fighting forces in Iraq after turning tail in Baquoba. I would gather they (and any remnants that survive the Surge) will be limping into Iran or Syria.

The Islamo Fascists cannot lose two of their claimed capitol cities in Iraq and retain enough credibility to entice people to go die for their cause. The Islamo Fascists are becoming the enemy of the Muslim street. They are being defeated and running from the fight. When they collapse it will be not be some long drawn out event but it will be like a thunderclap. The bottom will fall out of the insurgency and Iraq will FINISH its turn towards a democratic future and an ally of the US and West. The fact the Arab/Muslim street is turning on al-Qaeda makes this almost (nothing is for certain) inevitable. Once they reject al-Qaeda and embrace the current government they will expect to see results, and they will work to try and create the opportunities and garner some of the rewards. If the Iraqis are finally making their decision on which path to go, I have no doubt they will embrace it with energy and determination.

Update: Michael Yon’s latest on the battle for Baqouba is up. I could not help but note how, in yesterday’s installment (linked above), Yon relayed how the SurrenderMedia was completely caught off guard regarding these operations. It is stunning sometimes when a little ol’ blogger like me can see what is building up while CNN, Reuters, AP and others miss the obvious. That is what happens when you staff your organization from only the liberal fringes I guess. Anyway, today’s report from Yon is just positive as yesterdays – and it shows we are out to kick butt:

The combat in Baqubah should soon reach a peak. Al Qaeda seems to have been effectively isolated. The initial attack on 19 June achieved enough surprise that al Qaeda was caught off guard and trapped. They have been beaten back mostly into pockets and are surrounded and will be dealt with. Part of this is actually due to the capability of Strykers. We were able to “attack from the march.” In other words, a huge force drove in from places like Baghdad and quickly locked down Baqubah.

Our guys are winning. Al Qaeda is about to be strangled and pummeled to death in this town, …

Diyala Province caught my eye way back in March. The military was making noise back then that Diyala would be the scene of some major activity. Back in March I noted how al-qaeda’s brutality would be there undoing, and how the Surrendercrats would pay a price if the Muslim/Arab street rose up. I have been watching and posting on Diyala since March predicting that Dilaya would be the pivot point in Iraq. It would be this war’s Battle of the Bulge where al-Qaeda makes its last stand and loses. For anyone interested on what I have been posting on Diyala I created a category on the subject with all my posts. Let’s just say I become more confident in my earlier predictions each day we see the reporting from Diyala.

Update: As more news media wake up and finally get into Diyala and start reporting, the news is now coming fast and furious. And ugly:

Baquba is the capital of Diyala province. The region has long been an al Qaeda hotbed, but attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces have soared here since a four-month-old U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad and operations elsewhere prompted many al Qaeda militants and other gunmen to seek sanctuary in Diyala.

The campaign is part of a broader offensive involving tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers pushing on with simultaneous operations in Baghdad, and to the south and west of the capital.

Tough fighting is expected over the next 45-60 days, U.S. military officials have said, sketching a rough timeline for the combined operations.

Bednarek said U.S. forces were making some grisly discoveries as they scoured Baquba.

He said residents led soldiers to a house in the western part of the city that appeared to have been used to hold, torment and kill hostages. Soldiers destroyed it.

“When you walk into a room and you see blood trails, you see saws, you see drills, knives, in addition to weapons, that is not normal,” Bednarek said.

Is it really any wonder the Muslim street is rising up against the Islamo Fascists? Is there any doubt this would not be the kind of decision any people would make when faced with the choice of bloody brutality or democratic reform? And as the Muslim World sees what al Qaeda does to other Muslims, is it expected that the Muslim world will embrace these fascists? Or will they seek revenge upon them?

92 responses so far

92 Responses to “The Surge Is Massive, And Intense”

  1. DaleinAtlanta says:

    Merlin, thanks for that link!

    “Center”: help me, I’m trying to figure something out about you?

    Were you actually born STUPID, or did you just really Practice HARD to get where you currently are?

    Please answer, I’m curious?

  2. MerlinOS2 says:

    Ok Dale

    Now put down all liquids and back up from the keyboard and then look at this one

     

    Oh if you go into Google Earth, you see the same tunnel markings in Anbar Province. 

  3. MerlinOS2 says:

    Here is a nice little pic to go with the last comment.

  4. MerlinOS2 says:

    Fire up Google Earth and goto 32 degrees 29 / 25 N 43 degrees 41/39.

    Sorry for the units stuff but hard to generate those off a normal keyboard stroke set.

    Just search for Karbala , Iraq and then move directly west and south of the lake.

  5. MerlinOS2 says:

    Karbala is a bad hit from a map shift, search for Ain Dakhnah,Iraq and look just south.

  6. MerlinOS2 says:

    Durn the river runs south from there, look at the parallel path to the west of the river about 2.72 miles west to be exact.

  7. DaleinAtlanta says:

    Merlin: Hi, some good stuff, thanks. I spent six weeks in N. Iraq back in 91, looking for “other stuff”; but just between you and me, from my contacts “inside”; I’m SURE that stuff was taken out of Iraq and into both Syria/Bekaa, and Iran.

  8. For Enforcement says:

    AYE, well,,,,,, except…………

    Since we know that everything things TCCH says is fabricated, then using the L word would be a fabrication also.

    besides, if he got bumped ala Ken beget Soothie beget TCCH then TCCH would just beget also….

    So let him keep showing us what Stupid really is………..

  9. Retired Spook says:

    So let him keep showing us what Stupid really is………..

    FE, ya gotta admit, though, Center/Ken has definitely lowered the standards for what we consider entertainment.

  10. Soothsayer says:

    As for your mechanized brigades:

    Top US commanders in Iraq have been encouraging soldiers in Baghdad to “get out and walk.” A counterinsurgency guidance memo “released last week by Army Lt. Gen Raymond T. Odierno, the commander of day-to-day military operations, urges Iraqi and American troops to ‘get out and walk.’

    “I would rather go out without any armor or gear,” one soldier said, “If an EFP hits the vehicle, you are dead anyway no matter how much armor you have. It can take out an Abrams tank; these 1114 [armored Humvees] are nothing.”

    The paper notes that the memo argues that although Humvees offer protection, “they also make units predictable and ‘insulate us from the Iraqi people we intend to secure.'”

    More to the point, according to soldiers interviewed for the article, walking is safer: “U.S. troops working the streets of the capital fear one Iraqi weapon more than others — a copper-plated explosive that can penetrate armor and has proved devastating to Humvees and even capable of severely damaging tanks,” .

    “The power of what the military calls an EFP — for explosively formed penetrator, or projectile — to spray molten metal balls that punch through the armor on vehicles has some American troops rethinking their tactics,” Barnes adds. “They are asking whether the U.S. should give up its reliance on making constant improvements to vehicle defenses.”

    Mechanized brigades are great for invading and seizing ground. During a prolonged and ill-advised occupation, they are tin death traps, as the troopers well know.

  11. gumbo_diplomacy says:

    “The Islamo Fascists are becoming the enemy of the Muslim street. They are being defeated and running from the fight. When they collapse it will be not be some long drawn out event but it will be like a thunderclap. The bottom will fall out of the insurgency and Iraq will FINISH its turn towards a democratic future and an ally of the US and West.”
    –Strata

    In other words, the insurgents are “in their last throes” and victory is “just around the corner?” Or do you mean like in the Palestinian territories where a majority of the population supports the Islamo Fascists and elected them so they could dismantle democracy and institute sharia law? Or do you mean like Lebanon, which is still caught in turmoil 20 years after its civil war? Predicting peace in the middle east is a game for suckers and (currently) water-boys for the Bush administration. The worst is yet to come. The Bush administration stupidly lit a powder keg in Iraq, and sadly, cheap wing-nut rhetoric seems to have no effect at all at stemming the mayhem.

  12. voxampguy says:

    I think that it is possible that you don’t even know what “fascism” is, do you? I think that people of your stripe should look up that word and see if it works with the Islamo thing. It doesn’t you know. These countries you are talking about are Militant theocracies. The militant part is the only thing similar to the fascist nations that you are trying to link them to. Our country, unfortunatly is beginning to fit the definition of “fascism” much more closely than the Middle East. Corporately controlled government…that is the basis of Fascism. It is ok to have your own opinion, but not your own facts.

  13. MerlinOS2 says:

    Clueless Sooth

    They are being used as cordon forces on the Tigris River sitting there ready to blow away anything that moves.

    You really need to get out more.

  14. DaleinAtlanta says:

    Wow: Ken/Bootlicker/THECENTERISABUNGHOLE has just cloned Herself, and has a new Transgender sockpuppet named: “Dumbo_Dipshithomies!

    Beautiful; another Leftist, Anti-American, Pro-Jihadi to immiate!

    Somebody give me a Ballpeen hammer, gotta start smacking myself again!

    YEE HAH!

  15. Soothsayer says:

    They are being used as cordon forces on the Tigris River sitting there ready to blow away anything that moves.

    And how long will that last, you moron? Sooner or later, they gotta move. But that’s okay, I’m sure you know better than Lt. Gen Raymond T. Odierno, because you’re no doubt some big war hero — like Dale in Atlanta is the TS/codeword equivalent of Jack Bauer.

    As if.

  16. thecentercannothold says:

    You’re a political sociopath masquerading as a patriot, Dale-rat.
    How you taking the last three dozen kayos of US troops? Ooops,
    I answered my own question; sociopaths cannot feel regret.

    Regret you didn’t finish the job when you were in Iraq-maybe that
    helped send you over the line? Too bad. It’s a life-long condition,
    like the Vietnam syndrome. For this is indeed the second phase of the mother of all battles and it’s already lost.

  17. DaleinAtlanta says:

    And how long will that last, you moron?

    Retired, Leftist “Booklicker”, has called you a BAD word?

    Aren’t your itty bitty feewings hurt by that?

    Boo hoo, PLEASE don’t call me any old name, little Miss “Bootlicker”, I can’t stand it.

    Because I’d be just like witty old wou then, and I can’t stand being called names, because it kicks in my medical “condition” that I suffer from; it’s called “Reflexive Surrender Syndrome”; and like all good wittle Weftists, I just want to surrender to someone, ANYONE, pweese, let me surrender, because War is hard, and difficult, like uh.. stuff, and sometimes it doesn’t all go perfect, and sometimes, my Heros and Icons, the Jihadis, get their widdle pinkies hurt, when our mean old American troops spank their widdle peepees…

    So we can’t do war any more, because my mudder told me it’s dangerous and I might get my peepee thwacked by the big bad old Americans…

    Boo hoo hoo; Boo hoo hoo…

  18. DaleinAtlanta says:

    THECENTERISABUNGHOLE:

    You’re a political sociopath masquerading as a patriot, Dale-rat.

    Thank you, you’ve finally gotten thru, and made an impact on me!

    I’m calling the Middle East RIGHT NOW, as we speak, and desperately trying to find someone to surrender too; I’ve left a couple of random messages with Jihadis over there, asking them to call me back, and telling me when and where, and under what conditions, that I can, just like you (THECENTERISABUNGHOLE), and your buddy “Booklicker”, and your even newer buddy “Dumbo_Dipshithomies”, where I can surrender as soon as possible; PLEASE?

    And, just like you three, I’ve been practicing my “Reflexive Surrender Syndrome” best move!

    1st: Stand, and face your Jihadi master, and look him in the eye
    2nd: In one smooth motion, quickly, efficiently pull your pants and underwear down to your ankles, quickly please..
    3rd: In another smooth, one movement motion, twirl around, and lay flat on the ground on your stomach!
    4th: In a staccato two-count movement, raise both your arms, and reach back and violently spread your buttcheeks apart!
    5th: Yell loudly in Arabic: Min Fudluck, Ha-neq Tees-uq!

    Ah, I’ll let you do the research on the Arabic phrase, but even idiots like you should be able to get an idea what that means?

    Okay, now all together now: PRACTICE…Step #1…

  19. DaleinAtlanta says:

    Sorry my Arabic is getting rusty:

    5th: Yell loudly in Arabic: Min Fudluck, Ha-neq Tees-EE!

    That’s the correct possessive pronoun!

    “Boolicker”, “THECENTERISABUNGHOLE” and “Dumbo”; I know you already have the “Reflexive Surrender Syndrome” move down pat, from years of experience, but just in case, I DO recommend you practice with each other, as often as possible!

  20. Soothsayer says:

    Thanks, Dale, for making so very clear that your claims of having authored hundred – nay, thousands – of TS/codeword classified documents for the gubmint – are as empty of meaning as your rantings so thoughtfully provided for analysis here.

    May your enemies eat from your food-dish with their left hands!