U.S. military conducts major operation in restive Iraqi town

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. military conducts major operation in restive Iraqi town

ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, December 17, 2003
(12-17) 06:55 PST SAMARRA, Iraq (AP) --

Backed by armored vehicles and Apache helicopters, U.S. troops conducted door-to-door searches during a massive, pre-dawn raid Wednesday that was designed to stamp out guerrilla resistance in the restive town of Samarra. At least a dozen people were detained.

The 4th Infantry Division, based in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, launched Operation Ivy Blizzard before dawn following an earlier raid in the area in which U.S. soldiers snared a suspected rebel leader and 78 other people.

Insurgents in and around Samarra, a predominantly Sunni town of 200,000 north of Baghdad, repeatedly have ambushed U.S. troops, and anti-U.S. resentment persists after Saddam's capture on Saturday.
(snip)

(snip) "Samarra has been a little bit of a thorn in our side," said U.S. Army Col. Nate Sassaman. "It hasn't come along as quickly as other cities in the rebuilding of Iraq. This operation is designed to bring them up to speed." (snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/17/international0727EST0479.DTL

[saigon68]

1. READ WAHT THE U.S. MILITARY (ARMY) says

Search and Destroy

Among the most important differences between the war in Viet­nam and earlier wars was the effect of U.S. military operations on the people in the theater. In earlier wars, U.S. commanders were charged with the humane treatment of civilians and with minimizing the impact of their units' operations on the people. In Vietnam this obligation became more important than in any previous war. Winning over the hearts and minds of the people was fundamental to the U.S. effort; therefore, U.S. commanders were necessarily involved in helping the people to achieve a new life.

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/Vietnam/tactical/chapter15.htm

REDUX---DEJA VU????