Iraqi forces in "triangle of death" talk tough (Reporters see Different)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.reuters.co.in/locales/c_newsArticle.jsp;:42a47b33:31d9cc87f58a28dc?type=worldNews&localeKey=en_IN&storyID=8708074

Iraqi security forces said on Monday they had driven some insurgents out of Baghdad to towns south of the capital and now hoped to capture them there before they could regroup.

Security officials said Operation Lightning, described as the biggest offensive since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, had pushed guerrillas into an area known as the "triangle of death" because of its high rate of insurgent attacks.

"There's a security vacuum in this area, we must fill it to prevent terrorists from operating inside Baghdad. This must be done while the operation is continuing in the city," said Colonel Hamed Elwan, head of the police station in Musayyib, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad.

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But reporters and photographers touring the capital have seen no substantial new troop deployments or checkpoints. Ordinary Iraqis, desperate for stability, have mixed views on the operation's chances of success.

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Detainees have complained of beatings and other abuses by Iraqi security forces during interrogations.

[MrPrax]

1. Another Assessment of Operation BS

reported over the weekend:

Offensive unfairly targets us, Sunnis say

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A campaign against insurgents by Iraqi forces has sparked a backlash from some of the country's Sunni Muslim leaders and could complicate efforts to enlist more Sunnis in running Iraq's new government, drafting a democratic constitution and battling the insurgency.

Iraqi officials last week described the operation as a one-week offensive by 40,000 Iraqi security forces along with U.S. troops that would cordon Baghdad and sweep out insurgents. Yesterday, with the operation still under way, Sunni leaders said their neighborhoods have been unfairly targeted.

<snip>
"The government should concentrate on building national trust between the people and the security forces in order to achieve cooperation. But the security forces are sabotaging this relationship through their random raids," said Hazim Ali, a political-science professor at Baghdad University. "If they use excessive force, it will lead to excessive violence. So far, it has not solved any problems."

The sweep of Baghdad, which U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called "an important signpost" on the way to assessing what the newly trained Iraqi forces can do, hasn't gone according to the plan the Iraqi government announced more than a week ago.

Knight Ridder correspondents found all 23 routes leading out of the city were never closed and new checkpoints were manned sporadically. It's unclear whether all of the 40,000 police and military forces the government planned to use took part. And the only neighborhoods that encountered a heavy police presence were Sunni-dominated.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002299717_iraq04.html