From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Here's something I don't understand. It's a guerilla war in Iraq. They
won't stand and fight pitched battles for territory - just slip away and
cause havoc another day.  IMO 'Swarmer'  may be used for a morale boost to
a fledgling Iraqi force - nothing more.


"George Sherwood"  wrote in message
news:pan.2006.03.18.15.35.40.279819{at}beernabeer.com...
> On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 09:27:26 -0600, John Cuccia wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 20:39:49 -0500, "Mark"
 wrote:
>>
>>>Is the rewrite what you'd prefer to read too John? Not me.
>>
>> Hmmm..."Operation Swarmer" is suddenly out of the news, no longer
>> trumpted by the US government as an indication that we've "turned the
>> corner" in Iraq.
>>
>> I believe that it was indeed a routine mission to clear an area that has
>> already been cleared before and that US officials decided to to turn it
>> into a PR exercise as part of the Bush Administration's new initiative
>> to re-sell the war to America.
>>
>> I also believe that the Iraqi army has been infiltrated with people
>> sympathetic to one militant group or another to such an extent that
>> these kinds of missions will never be productive, because any potential
>> targets have been warned well in advance.
>
> Here is the actual link from the Government about "Operation
Swarmer".  So
> me where it is: "trumpted by the US government as an indication that we've
> "turned the corner" in Iraq."  Not the interpretation
of the press, but as
> you said trumpted by the US Government.
>
> George
>
> http://www.mnf-iraq.com/Releases/Mar/060316c.html
>
>    Iraqi Security Forces and their Coalition partners launched the
>    largest air assault operation since Operation Iraqi Freedom I today in
>    southern Salah Ad Din province to clear a suspected insurgent
>    operating area northeast of Samarra.
>
>    Operation Swarmer began this morning with soldiers from the Iraqi
>    Army's 1st Brigade, 4th Division, the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd
>    Brigade Combat Team and the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade conducting a
>    combined air and ground assault to isolate the objective area.
>
>    Attack and assault aircraft provided aerial weapons support for the
>    operation and also delivered troops from the Iraq Army's 4th Division,
>    the Rakkasans from 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry Regiment and
>    the Hunters from 2nd Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment to multiple
>    objectives. Forces from the 2nd Commando Brigade then completed a
>    ground infiltration to secure numerous structures in the area.
>
>    More than 1,500 Iraqi and Coalition troops, over 200 tactical
>    vehicles, and more than 50 aircraft participated in the operation.
>
>    Initial reports from the objective area indicate that a number of
>    enemy weapons caches have been captured, containing artillery shells,
>    explosives, IED-making materials, and military uniforms.
>
>    The operation is expected to continue for several days as a thorough
>    search of the objective area is conducted.
>

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