New W. Iraq Offensive Launched
U.S. and Iraqi troops launched an operation in western Iraq to clear insurgents from a suspected safe area used to make car and roadside bombs, the military said Wednesday.
About 1,500 U.S. Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 500 U.S. soldiers and 500 Iraqi soldiers were taking part in Operation Iron Hammer near Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, a U.S. Marine statement said. The forces would concentrate efforts in the Hai Al Becker region, where U.S. and Iraqi troops rarely patrol, it added.
"The Hai Al Becker region is suspected to be an al Qaeda in Iraq safe area and base of operations for the manufacture of vehicle car bombs, roadside bombs," the military said.
It added that the area is believed to be a stopping point for insurgents traveling down the Euphrates River from Syria into Iraq.
Also Wednesday, CBS News correspondent Cami McCormick (audio) reports Iraqi troops raised their flag at a base in Husaybah, near the Iraq border with Syria, to show they are reassuming control. The town was once a safe haven for insurgents before Operation Steel Curtain.
"And what this ceremony commemorates is the restoration of Iraqi control to that Syrian border around Husaybah, and all the way, frankly, from the northern border with Turkey down to Jordan," said General George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq.
In other developments:
Iraqi forces are great when it comes to looking for a fight, but not so great in planning it. That's what CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier says reporters always hear from the Americans. "Today was a case in point," Dozier said. "We went out with the Iraqi highway patrol, looking for roadside bombs. The Iraqis brought their guns, but no food or water for a three-hour drive. As usual, the Americans had to provide.
"Iraqi forces are better supplied than in the past, but there are still major gaps. One American soldier says every time he goes out on a joint patrol, the Iraqi cops complain that their superior officers are stealing the money intended for supplies. None of the guys have wet weather gear for Iraq's torrential winter rains, only some of them have bullet-proof vests, and one policeman showed the Americans that he had only a single bullet to fire, in case anyone attacked," Dozier said.
Earlier this week, German TV station ARD showed images of what appeared to be Osthoff and her driver blindfolded on the floor beside armed and masked militants, and Al-Jazeera broadcast video of the four men held by a previously unknown group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. The group claimed they were spies working under the cover of Christian peace activists.
Christian Peacemaker Teams said it was saddened by the videotape of their workers, who the statement said were working against the occupation of Iraq.
"We are angry because what has happened to our teammates is the result of the actions of the U.S. and U.K. government due to the illegal attack on Iraq and the continuing occupation and oppression of its people," the group said.
"We are some of the few internationals left in Iraq who are telling the truth about what is happening to the Iraqi people. We hope that we can continue to do this work and we pray for the speedy release of our beloved teammates."
Loney, a community worker, was leading the Christian group's delegation in Iraq.
A German newspaper, the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, reported that Osthoff had received a kidnap threat last summer from extremists linked to al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and that U.S. soldiers brought her from Mosul to Baghdad for her own safety.
Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman, said he was unaware of the report but if true, such a move would have been with the knowledge of the German government and "we would ultimately leave it to them" to comment.
Germany has ruled out sending troops to Iraq and opposed the U.S.-led war, but it has been training Iraqi police and military outside the country.
Six Iranian pilgrims were seized Tuesday near a Shiite religious shrine north of Baghdad, police said. Iranian television reported that all were freed Tuesday night.
The latest attacks are part of a new wave of kidnappings police fear is aimed at disrupting the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. U.S. and Iraqi officials hope a big turnout in the election will undermine the insurgency and improve chances for the United States and its partners to begin reducing troop levels in Iraq next year.