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The 2nd Battle of Baghdad Baghdad almost missed its first
battle when our marines pushed unopposed into the city it he first
week of April 2003, now it seems that the city is bracing up for its
first real battle in which the antagonists are getting divided into a
Shiite dominated new Iraqi army and the Sunni terrorist insurgency.
 Many Shiites who held positions in
the Baathist hierarchy have sent out feelers to the new Shiites
dominated government over the last two months. The shiite led Iraqi
police has fought pitched battles with insurgents as thousands of
security forces backed by American troops are sweeping through
Baghdad's streets to flush out militants responsible for killing more
than 720 people since Iraq's new government was announced in April.
Sunni Insurgents lashed back with a renewed spate of car suicide
(Homicide) bombings. There seems no end to the internecine Shiite-
Sunni fighting that threatens to turn into a full-fledged civil war.
BBC News_____________________
In their biggest coup of "Operation Lightning," Iraqi and U.S.
soldiers arrested a former general in Saddam Hussein's intelligence
service who is a Sunni and was also a member of his Fedayeen secret
police during a raid in western Baghdad, the scene of some of
Sunday's heaviest fighting. "He now leads the military wings of
several terror cells operating in the west Baghdad neighborhood of
Ghazaliyah," the military said in its announcement about the former
general. Many Shiites who held positions in the Baathist hierarchy
have sent out feelers to the new Shiites dominated government over
the last two months. The shiite led Iraqi police fought pitched
battles with insurgents Sunday as thousands of security forces backed
by American troops swept through Baghdad's streets to flush out
militants responsible for killing more than 720 people since Iraq's
new government was announced in April. Sunni Insurgents lashed
back killing at least 30 people, including a British soldier and
a senior U.S. military intelligence official acknowledged there are
few indications they "are packing their bags." Abu Musab al-
Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for nearly all the
attacks in Internet statements that could not be independently
verified. It is not known how long the present military operation
would last, and its success or failure will be an indication of how
long Iraq needs to take control of its own security, a key to any
U.S. exit strategy from Iraq. The first of more than 40,000
soldiers and police, who are being supported by U.S. forces, searched
hundreds of vehicles and raided several houses, described
as "terrorist dens" in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, arresting several
suspects, army Capt. Ihssan Abdel-Hamza said. The operation comes
after a relentless wave of attacks, mostly carried out by Sunni
suicide bombers, killed more than 720 people since the April 28
announcement the government, according to an Associated Press count.
At least nine militants died in suicide bombings or gunbattles
Sunday. "We have fairly aggressive operations that are being run
throughout the Baghdad area," said a senior U.S. military
intelligence official who asked not to be named for security
reasons. "Basically they are going to sweep Baghdad and make sure
that the terrorists are run out of the city." U.S. military and
Iraqi government officials, including al-Jaafari, have said the
operation's main target is suicide car bombers, most thought to be
foreign fighters recruited in the Gulf region and smuggled into Iraq
through Syria. In the day's biggest battle, about 50 gunmen fired
rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machine guns at a Baghdad
police unit in a half-hour battle. The Iraqi forces successfully
fought them off, the U.S, military said. The U.S. military said "It
is the enemy's precision guided weapon, if you want to look at it
that way. It is the way the enemy creates great effects, devastating
effects, on the Iraqi civilian population. Because it is the Iraqi
civilians that are being killed more by the suicide bombs than by
another means of attack in the country," the intelligence official
said. Military officials believe the insurgency is predominantly
Sunni Muslim Arab and comprises about 12,000 to 20,000 people,
including supporters, while less than 1,000 carry out daily attacks.
They are motivated either by the ideology of Saddam's outlawed
Baathist party, or the extreme Islamist radicalism represented by
such groups as al-Zarqawi's or personal ties, including to family
or tribal units taking part in the insurgency. Cellular in nature,
the insurgency is thought to be a broad network that does not have a
central command and control structure, according to the official.
Britain's The Sunday Times also reported that al-Zarqawi left the
country after being wounded in a missile attack and was thought to be
in Iran. The paper said it obtained the information from an
unidentified senior insurgent commander with close contacts to al-
Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq group. Iran denied al-Zarqawi was
there. Story Credits: Yahoo
News
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