Major joint ops begin against al-Qaida in Iraq

[unhappycamper]

Major joint ops begin against al-Qaida in Iraq
By Steven R. Hurst - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 8, 2008 16:12:07 EST

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military launched a countrywide offensive Tuesday against al-Qaida in Iraq’s efforts to regroup and intensify suicide strikes on civilians who have sided with the Americans against the terror group.

But the latest U.S. blitz brings more than just firepower to the field — a determination to speed up work on basic services and other civic projects that commanders believe will win more converts to the American effort.

The No. 2 U.S. commander, Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, announced the new operation — named Phantom Phoenix — and took pains to say it would focus on bettering Iraqi lives as well as on attacks against al-Qaida.

“The non-lethal aspects of this operation are designed to improve delivery of essential services, economic development and local governance capacity,” the military statement said.

By emphasizing publicly that the offensive was twofold, the Pentagon appeared to acknowledge that it will be difficult to maintain lower levels of violence without swaying more support from the streets — particularly as al-Qaida is waging a renewed campaign of suicide attacks in recent weeks against America’s new Sunni allies.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_jointops_080108/



uhc comment: Meet one of the non-lethal weapons:




Heat Ray Too Scary for Iraq

Many a DT reader will remember the so-called “Active Denial System” – a giant millimeter-wave electromagnetic antenna mounted on a Humvee that could be directed at large, unruly crowds to disperse them without firing a shot in anger.

The ray heats the human skin to such an uncomfortable level that he has to retreat. It is the hallmark of the Pentagon’s non-lethal weapons development plan...and the most controversial.

Well, it looks like commanders in Iraq have been pleading for the device, which is pretty far along in its development. But fearing the post-Taser backlash from some groups, the Pentagon denied the technology in favor of more lethal methods.

It would be a familiar scene in Iraq's next few years: Crowds gather, insurgents mingle with civilians. Troops open fire, and innocents die.

All the while, according to internal military correspondence obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. commanders were telling Washington that many civilian casualties could be avoided by using a new non-lethal weapon developed over the past decade.