In a relatively large scale operation, the U.S. with Iraq forces
struck an insurgent training compound:
Iraqi and American forces killed up to 80 insurgents Tuesday in a fierce battle during a morning raid on what appeared to be the largest guerilla training camp to be discovered in the war, American and Iraqi officials said today. Seven Iraqi policemen were killed and six were wounded.
The number of fighters killed was the most reported in a single battle since the American invasion of the city of Falluja, an insurgent stronghold, last November. The size and location of the camp, with scores of guerrillas living in tents and small buildings in a marshy lakeside encampment in western Iraq, revealed a new strategy among the insurgents, American military officials contended. It is the first time the military has come across insurgents organizing in such numbers in a remote rural location, similar to Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, the officials said.
The good news is that the operation appears to have been very successful militarily.
The not so good news? Two years later, such operations are still necessary - indicative of the fact that our troops will not be able to come home anytime soon. It is hard to imagine the Iraqis being able to mount this type of operation any time soon.