Archived material Access restricted Article
Rantburg

Today's Front Page   View All of Sun 09/11/2005 View Sat 09/10/2005 View Fri 09/09/2005 View Thu 09/08/2005 View Wed 09/07/2005 View Tue 09/06/2005 View Mon 09/05/2005
1
2005-09-11 Iraq-Jordan
5,000 Iraqi, 3,500 US troops sweep into Tal Afar
Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.
Posted by Dan Darling 2005-09-11 00:37|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11133 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 Don't care so much for the house-to-house. Liberal use of bombs are best, me thinks.
Posted by Captain America 2005-09-11 01:00||   2005-09-11 01:00|| Front Page Top

#2 The Turkmen have a vocal ally in their Turkish brethren to the north, where Turkey's government is a vital U.S. ally and has fought against its own Kurdish insurgency for decades. Tal Afar is next to land controlled by Iraqi Kurds.

Turkey voiced disapproval of U.S. tactics when American forces ran insurgents out of Tal Afar a year ago. The Turkmen residents complained that Iraqi Kurds were fighting alongside the Americans.

vital?
The money and support *we give them* is vital


"I can see why the terrorists chose this place for a fight, it's like a big funnel of death," Sgt. William Haslett of Rocklin, Calif., said of the twisting streets and alleys Tal Afar's old city.

hee hee..a raisin funnel!

Posted by Red Dog 2005-09-11 01:07||   2005-09-11 01:07|| Front Page Top

#3 About 90 percent of the city's 200,000 people...are Sunni Turkmen

I think this is a point that deserves more attention, regarding who is actually doing the fighting in Tal Afar.
Posted by Paul Moloney 2005-09-11 02:10||   2005-09-11 02:10|| Front Page Top

#4 If the Iraqi forces are doing the house-to-house and have bagged 141 - 150 with a loss of only 5 KIA and 3 WIA then they have come a looooong way and learned well. Excellent news.

As for Turkey and, apparently, their Turkmen "allies" - this is Iraq, not Turkey. Turkey can fuck the fuck off and so can the Turkmen. The Kurds are real allies - and we should not stiff them to please assholes like Yippie & Co. Fuck Turkey - and the Turkmen. With a pitchfork.
Posted by .com 2005-09-11 10:37||   2005-09-11 10:37|| Front Page Top

#5 are the fighters sunni turks or sunni arabs?

either way, why are there "captures"? Kill them
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2005-09-11 10:44||   2005-09-11 10:44|| Front Page Top

#6 Sealing the border is particularly good right now. Before, you had to "approach and question", unless they were obviously acting up. Now, anyone in the KZ can be lit up without further ado.

Personally, I would set up 81mm mortar positions alternatively with heavy machine gun positions, with forward observers on high ground, along with some handy FACs and snipers. Plenty of rear area security to boot. This would make for a fine augumentation of the permanent outposts already there. Not terribly manpower intensive and would seal that border like a drum.
Posted by Anonymoose 2005-09-11 11:01||   2005-09-11 11:01|| Front Page Top

#7 Apparently they found a tunnel complex under the city that allowed a lot these vermin to escape (A/P has just GLEEFULLY posted this)

It is (way past) EXAMPLE TIME! Level the f***ing city, and herd the "Turkmen" back to Turkey!

And as for the Kurds...it is also (way past) time to back them 100% One way would be to tell the Sunnis that IF the upcoming referendum fails to ratify the Iraqi constitution then we are going to form and SUPPORT the country of Kurdistan on our way out of Iraq. The result? A free Kurd people, and a decimated (by the Shiites) Sunni people. As they say in Hold-Em: we should go ALL IN!
Posted by Justrand 2005-09-11 12:36||   2005-09-11 12:36|| Front Page Top

#8 Wonder if Zarkboy is there himself. Look what Debka is reporting:


US forces in Iraq and Baghdad threatened with a chemical attack unless they halt Tal Afar offensive in 24 hours.

September 11, 2005, 4:01 PM (GMT+02:00)

The threat was issued by the “Organization of the Victorious� linked to Abu Musab al Zarqawi. The chemical agent was described as self-produced by the group. The statement was released at the same moment as the Ground Zero ceremony was held in commemoration of the victims of al Qaeda’s attacks on New York and Washington four years ago.

The US military reports 141 terrorists killed in Tal Afar and 211 captured with arms caches since the offensive was launched by thousands of troops at the end of the August. They expect it to be over by Sept. 15
Posted by 3dc 2005-09-11 16:38||   2005-09-11 16:38|| Front Page Top

#9 Simultaneously, Zark is moaning that the US is using chem weaps on his flock ...
Posted by Omort Gloluse2712 2005-09-11 18:50||   2005-09-11 18:50|| Front Page Top

#10 We must be doing something right if Zark is threatening Chemicals of Doom™. Keep it up, and take 'em out.
Posted by Alaska Paul">Alaska Paul  2005-09-11 19:40||   2005-09-11 19:40|| Front Page Top

#11 What we have been doing is a classic military maneuver: moving up the river and roads from Baghdad, along the ratlines supplying the insurgency, and pushing them closer and closer to the border.

Now the border is declared closed, which gives authorization to shoot those coming over it. And one by one we are taking the towns they've used as bases.

I'm not saying they can't wiggle out of this alive, at least Zark and his inner circle. But while we want him, more than anything we want Iraq stable and able to defend itself. The effective presence of Iraqi troops at the front of this effort is a signal to Iraqi citizens that their government can protect them and a signal to baby Assad that his days are numbered because the Kurds are going to be free to turn their attention to their relatives in eastern Syria soon.
Posted by lotp 2005-09-11 19:49||   2005-09-11 19:49|| Front Page Top

23:58 True German Ally
23:57 11A5S
23:55 True German Ally
23:55 11A5S
23:52 .com
23:52 Phil Fraering
23:47 Mike Sylwester
23:41 Tibor
23:36 True German Ally
23:32 Red Dog
23:30 True German Ally
23:27 Zhang Fei
23:20 11A5S
23:12 Mike Sylwester
23:11 Mike Sylwester
23:09 BH
23:04 Zhang Fei
23:03 DMFD
23:00 Zhang Fei
22:51 trailing wife
22:48 trailing wife
22:41 DMFD
22:40 Frank G
22:39 3dc
Merry-Go-Blog










Paypal:
Google
Search WWW Search rantburg.com