Troops out in force for Baghdad sweep (1 US troop killed on Wed)

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070214/ts_nm/iraq_dc;_ylt=AslmN9z4.XXDBxsdlrRBzvqs0NUE


Troops out in force for Baghdad sweep

By Dean Yates and Ibon Villelabeitia 2 hours, 40 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces set up new checkpoints and stepped up joint patrols in Baghdad on Wednesday, for the first time showing war-weary residents that a long-promised offensive against militants was under way.


The U.S. military said anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads a militia that Washington calls the greatest threat to Iraqi security, had left the country and was in
Iran. The cleric's aides denied Sadr had fled.

The United States also backed away from a senior U.S. defense official's comments implicating Iran's government in arming Iraqi militants, insisting it was not trying to "hype" evidence of Iranian weapons being used in
Iraq.....

edit to add from AP story (below)

......A U.S. soldier also died Wednesday after coming under small arms fire a day earlier from insurgents while on patrol north of Baghdad, the military said. Separately, another soldier died Tuesday in a non-combat-related incident that is under investigation, it said.

At least 38 Iraqis also were killed or found dead nationwide, including four civilians who died when a parked car bomb struck a predominantly Shiite district in central Baghdad, although only five bullet-riddled bodies were found on the streets of the capital, an unusually low number of apparent victims of so-called sectarian death squads mainly run by Shiite militias that have killed thousands in the past year.

[rodeodance]

1. AP: U.S. troops sweep through Baghdad (1 dead US troop, Wed)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070214/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_070214175942;_ylt=AjY958mnIaSLNHaYO11sK1xg.3QA

U.S. troops sweep through Baghdad

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer 38 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Thousands of U.S. troops swept house-to-house through mostly Shiite areas near a militia stronghold Wednesday in the opening phase of the long-awaited Baghdad security crackdown.
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The clearing operation began as Iraqi forces set up new checkpoints across the city of 6 million people, snarling traffic and forcing Iraqis to stream across bridges on foot.

The neighborhoods targeted by the Americans are north of the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, which had been off-limits until Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lifted his protection of them.

[Eugene]

2. "Al-Maliki urged...supporters...to unite behind the plan, dubbed Operation Imposing Law"

From the AP story:

Al-Maliki urged thousands of Shiite supporters in the holy city of Karbala to unite behind the
plan, dubbed Operation Imposing Law, promising it would target those "who want to continue
with rebellion."

O-I-L? :eyes: