Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi Troops Sweep Into City of Tall Afar

Tanto per ricodare che non stanno con le mani in mano solo perché c'è 
Katrina in TV.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202250.html
Dall'articolo si può evincere che, dopo tutto, lasciare la cittadina in 
mano ai fondamentalisti islamici per un anno ha avuto un effetto 
positivo sulla predisposizione dei locali a collaborare con i 
governativi e gli USA.
Mirco
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Robert A. Heinlein		Place your clothes and weapons where you can find 
them in the dark.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202250.html
Qui un interessante commento di 4th Rail
http://billroggio.com/archives/2005/09/battle_along_th.php#comments
U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched the largest operation since Fallujah 
last November. Over 5,000 U.S. and Iraq troops strike at the town of Tal 
Afar, which is located west of Mosul, along the northern ratline from 
Syria. The insurgents have taken heavy casualties, and U.S. Army 
helicopter pilots are learning to spot IED deployments via air, and 
react accordingly.
     During the course of the day, at least 30 insurgents were killed as 
U.S. troops conducted house-to-house searches in the baking sun. Apache 
attack helicopters that circled the city of 250,000 all day killed 27 
people, including eight who were attempting to conceal roadside bombs in 
old tires, commanders said. No American or Iraqi army casualties were 
reported.
While the composition of the force is unclear, it appears at least two 
Iraqi Army battalions are in the fight. They were airlifted by Iraqi Air 
Force C-130 transports several days ago (see the one sentence blurb at 
the end of this AP report). The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is also 
engaged in Tal Afar. There are likely five to six battalions 
participating (Iraqi battalions are about 600 to 800 men strong).
As the Washington Post points out, Tal Afar is a contested town, and has 
been the subject of repeated cordon and search operations. The effort to 
fully secure the town has not yet been made. While this is pure 
speculation, the size of the assault team and the inclusion of Iraqi 
Army units indicates a significant force ( a battalion or greater – 
about 1,000 men) may remain to secure the city. If true, this might 
indicate a transition from the harassing operations to clear and hold 
operations, a crucial step to securing the peace and defeating the 
insurgency.
Whether or not Coalition troops remain in force in Tal Afar, the 
Coalition still maintains the initiative in western and northern Iraq 
(see The Anbar Campaign for a list of successive operations). As the 
Anbar Campaign has shown, insurgent IEDs or suicide attacks cannot 
prevent the U.S. military from operating at the time and place of their 
choosing.
Iraqi Army units are now entering the fight with significant formations 
capable of independent operations. During the operations along the 
Euphrates, typically an Iraqi Army company was embedded within a Marine 
battalion. In Tal Afar, two Iraqi battalions have been deployed, using 
their own airlift. The times are changing, and al Qaeda and the 
insurgents' comfort zone is slowly shrinking.
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Robert A. Heinlein		Of all the so-called natural human rights that have 
ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never 
free of cost.
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