(Operation) Swarmer finds 'few' rebels

[sabra]

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18509815%255E1702,00.html

Swarmer finds 'few' rebels


UNDER the watchful eye of drone spy planes, joint US-Iraqi patrols have surrounded and entered hamlets near Samarra on the second day of a major operation to find insurgents.

Around 50 suspects were detained during the first 24 hours of "Operation Swarmer" which kicked off Thursday morning in Al-Jalam, a large flat area of farmland and desert north of Samarra, but a third of those arrested were later released.
US officials also admitted that of the six weapons caches found, none were substantial.

"The individual caches are not huge," said Major John Callahan of the 101st Airborne Division.

[phantom power]

1. Gee, imagine that. Just like last time.

[Rex]

2. Operation Propaganda

No set kick off time. Mission accomplished!

[doublethink]

3. Wasn't Feingold's News Conference ......

leading into yesterday morning one of the bigger anticipated news events that was going to take place? :shrug: Correct me if I am wrong. But didn't this operation swarmer pre-empt the news day yesterday? :shrug:

[gratuitous]

4. Operation Overblown

But the big media outlets fell for it hook, line and stinker. Again. This was nothing more than a minor military maneuver, not even worth calling an operation, done in service of Chimpy's need to shore up his declining poll numbers.

I'm really, really glad no one was killed in this little foray (at least, no reported deaths yet). It would have been an incredibly meaningless death.

By the time the media catch on to how they were duped -- again -- it'll be deep into the weekend, and nobody will care. All that will be remembered by some slack-jawed ignoramuses and Bill O'Reilly (or do I repeat myself?) is that there was some action taken with a snappy-sounding name. And all it did was waste a bunch of time and money, but thankfully no lives.

[HuffleClaw]

15. exactly

a mole hill that got FOXed.

[Canuck55]

24. If anything, it was designed to mask your brand new...

$9,000,000,000,000.00 debt ceiling that is sure to drive more fiscal conservatives away at top speed. Rove was probably dancing that Feingold threw this in there.

[Mike Nelson]

5. So, what's a few...

a couple is 2
a few is some number less than 5?

That's a MAJOR COMBAT OPERATION!

[liberal N proud]

6. It should be named Operation Big Blow Hard

It is nothing more than a big show of military movement simply to get a bunch of video on the evening news to make the sheep think they are going to finally do something about Iraq.

Corporal Mike Koppsch of the 29th Cavalry regiment, who had been involved in detaining three Iraqis on Thursday, said the large area and widely spaced dwellings made the searches a gradual process.

"It's a lot slower paced than other search operations," he said, describing a "mixed reception" from the mostly Sunni Iraqis, who form the backbone of Iraq's three- year- old insurgency.

"They are not really unfriendly, but one senses they are not pleased."

Do they expect them to welcome them in to their homes and have dinner on the table for them?

:wtf:

[saigon68]

14. What do the Moran Rustics expect of their actions

When they and 6 other storm troopers arrive--

Kick in the door


And then throw Grand Ma to the ground

[liberalnurse]

7. First of all....

it was not an Air Strike since there was no carpet bombing; just a few transport/cargo planes and helicopters dropping off soldiers.

This to me was just a realistic "practice session" for the new Iraqi soldiers.

Just same old rhetoric hype and posturing by this weak administration.

[leftchick]

8. what is the civilian body count?

:(

[MGKrebs]

9. "McClellan said that President Bush was briefed...

on the operation. But he denied that Bush authorized the operation."

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

:silly: :silly: :silly: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :patriot:

[daleo]

10. So was it "Operation Kill Civilians"

Or just "Operation Spend Money"?

[radfringe]

11. out of the "50" who were detained

17 were released

meanwhile - reports of some weapons, IED componets and uniforms were found. From the "tone" of the new articles it didn't seem to be a significant amount - about what you would find in a freepers basement

[dipsydoodle]

19. Yes - who were detained ?

Probably used the following as guidelines for detention.

Courtesy of Pink Floyd from the Wall :

Are there any queers in the theatre tonight
Get'em up against the wall.
There's one in the spotlight He don't look right to me.
Get him up against the wall
And that one looks Jewish And that one's a coon
Who let all this riff-raff into the room
There's one smoking a joint And another with spots
If I had my way
I'd have all of you shot

[TrogL]

12. No WMD's I take it

'course not.

[MGKrebs]

13. Since Bush didn't authorize this, is he saying

that his General's are incompetent?

[dipsydoodle]

16. You need to ask

SCrOTTum McClellan that question.

[rodeodance]

17. had flown lots of press in to watch it fizzle!! :

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174448,00.html

Posted Friday, Mar. 17, 2006
Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer. Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven.

The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders.

The operation, which doubled the population of the flat farmland in one single airlift, was initiated by intelligence from Iraq security forces, says Lt Col Skip Johnson commander of the 187 Battallion, 3rd Combat Brigade of the 101st Airborne. "They have the lead," he said to reporters at the second stop of the tour. But by Friday afternoon, the major targets seemed to have slipped through their fingers. Iraqi Army General Abdul Jabar says that Samarra-based insurgent leader Hamad el Taki of Mohammad’s Army was thought to be in the area, and Iraqi intelligence officers were still working to compare known voice recordings and photographs with the prisoners in custody.

[rodeodance]

18. "The press, flown in from Baghdad"

......The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence.

[doublethink]

20. Hey Rodeodance .....

check out this short Cnn video for me if you can (I'm having trouble at the moment with my connection?) anyway I want to confirm if this Cnn reporter was just 'embedded today' and not yesterday on this swarmer thing. Yesterdays film coverage was exclusively 'dept. of defense' video. Seems today the military is flying out other reporters, photographers to the area. I also just heard on Cnn that it's only a 10 mile by 10 mile area. And from all the video I've seen so far it's pretty remote, desolate. Peace.

here's the link to the story and video http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/03/17/robertson/index.html

"Robertsons trip to swarmer command".

[maxsolomon]

21. "Are you a Rebel"?

"no, sir, mr. non-arabic speaking westerner with a giant rifle pointed at my head, i am not. the ak-47 is for personal protection".

"carry on, then."

Soft War Now.

[Disturbed]

22. LOL

Insurgents saw the Helis flying in and surrendered.

[cal04]

23. Iraq operation fails to find insurgents

US and Iraqi forces have spent a second day hunting for insurgents in villages and fields north of the capital Baghdad.
While troops have seized weapons, they have not encountered any insurgents. Completing the second day of Operation Swarmer, US and Iraqi soldiers seized mortar rounds, rockets, explosives, and high-powered cordless telephones used to remotely detonate roadside bombs.

The US military says while 48 people had been detained, no insurgents had so far been found. But the deputy-governor of the Salaheddin province north of Baghdad says at least one key insurgent leader, named as Jaish Mohammed, had been captured.

About 900 Iraqi and US troops are scouring villages and fields around the city of Samarra, which is regarded as an insurgent stronghold. A spokesman for the US military, Lieutenant Colonel Craig Collier, says it has been difficult to differentiate between insurgents and the local community.

"Sometimes it's very easy, we'll find the guys laying IEDs that's pretty much a giveaway or who fire on us, often we're given tips by our local Iraqis who point out that some of their neighbours or some of the people who just moved into the area are bad guys and we go detain them," he said. "Much of our information comes from intelligence from the local Iraqis." The US military says the major operation could continue for several days.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1594962.htm