Wooow, Thems Amerkins shur is one shaap rootin tootin fighten teama marauders

Thems Amerkins sho suprized em!!

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"Families flee

The soldiers discovered that many families had fled Husaybah during the
past several weeks, having been tipped off about the offensive ahead of
time or having assumed that one was likely in the stronghold, The Times
reported."

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US Iraq offensive meets resistance
by
Sunday 06 November 2005 9:19 AM GMT

The assault is known as Operation Steel Curtain

A major offensive by about 3500 US and Iraqi troops near the Syrian
border has met resistance, with two American soldiers reportedly
wounded.

Coalition forces, supported by tanks and fighter jets dropping
500-pound bombs, met more resistance than expected from fighters in the
town of Husaybah on Saturday, the opening day of the offensive, and
only managed to take control of several blocks by nightfall, according
to The New York Times, which had a reporter embedded with US forces.

Two US service members were wounded by sporadic enemy fire down
alleyways as US-led forces advanced in the town house by house,
searching each one, The Times reported on Sunday.

"We met more resistance than I expected," US Captain Conlon Carabine of
Indian Company of the Third Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment, told The
Times.

The coalition forces sometimes found it hard to spot fighters hiding in
the town's 4000 homes and called in support from Abrams tanks and
fighter jets, The Times said.

Families flee

The soldiers discovered that many families had fled Husaybah during the
past several weeks, having been tipped off about the offensive ahead of
time or having assumed that one was likely in the stronghold, The Times
reported.

Many families fled the town of
Husaybah before the attack
The US military issued a statement on Saturday saying that coalition
forces met limited resistance that day and that no deaths were reported
among soldiers, fighters or civilians.

The "Operation Steel Curtain" offensive in Husaybah is aimed at sealing
off a main route for foreign fighters entering Iraq and was seen as a
key to controlling the volatile Euphrates River valley of western Iraq
and dislodging al-Qaida in Iraq.

The US-led operation, which included about 1000 Iraqi soldiers, will
serve as a test of their capability to battle fighters opposed to the
US-led invasion of Iraq as well as the Iraqi government.

Explosions

When the offensive began early on Saturday, thunderous explosions shook
Husaybah as US marines and Iraqi scouts, recruited from pro-government
tribes from the area, fought their way into the western neighbourhoods
of the town, 320km northwest of Baghdad, residents said.


The US military said three soldiers
were killed in Iraq
As the fighting continued, US-led forces encountered sporadic
resistance, mostly small-arms fire and roadside bombs, the US command
statement said.

Iraqi soldiers established temporary lodging in a vacant area of
Husaybah to provide shelter and food for about 400 local residents, the
military said.

US commanders hope the Husaybah offensive will restore control of
western Anbar province ahead of Iraq's parliamentary election on 15
December and enable Sunni Arabs there to vote.

Civilians endangered

However, some Sunni Arab politicians and tribal leaders said the
Husaybah operation was endangering civilians in the overwhelmingly
Sunni area and could lead to greater instability throughout Sunni
sections of the country.

"We call all humanitarians and those who carry peace to the world to
intervene to stop the repeated bloodshed in the western parts of Iraq"

Sheik Osama Jadaan
Sunni tribal leader
"We call all humanitarians and those who carry peace to the world to
intervene to stop the repeated bloodshed in the western parts of Iraq,"
said Sheikh Osama Jadaan, a Sunni tribal leader.

"And we say to the American occupiers to get out and leave Iraq to the
Iraqis.'

Husaybah, a poor Sunni Arab town of about 30,000 people, is the first
stop in a network of communities that the US military suspects al-Qaida
of using to smuggle fighters, weapons and explosives from Syria down
the Euphrates valley to Baghdad and other cities.

Many Husaybah residents are believed to have fled the town after weeks
of fighting between Iraqi tribes that support the anti-American
fighters and those who back the government.

Most Sunni Arabs boycotted the 30 January election of Iraq's current
interim parliament, but many members of the minority voted in the 15
October referendum that adopted the country's new constitution.

Many Sunnis also plan to vote in the 15 December ballot, hoping to
increase the low number of seats they control in the National Assembly
now dominated by Shias and Kurds.

US soldiers killed

The US military said three of its soldiers were killed in other areas
of Iraq.

One soldier was killed on Friday by small-arms fire south of Baghdad,
and another died the same day when the vehicle in his patrol was hit by
a mine near Habaniyah, 80km west of the capital.

The third soldier was killed on Saturday in a traffic accident in
southern Iraq.

Those deaths raised to at least 2045 the number of US service members
who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003,
according to an Associated Press count.

According to the UK-based Iraq Body Count, the number of Iraqi
civilians killed since March 2003 is more than 26,000.

AP
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CEA0F753-0D70-4DF8-9FA2-A2A3C89F2E97.htm

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