US says nets Iraq guerrilla chiefs in Tikrit raids

[NNN0LHI]

Remember the days when actual reporters used to report on this stuff from first hand accounts and interviews with witnesses? Now everything reported is what the US says. The press has been told don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of Iraq, and they just said okeedokee and started reporting on Kobe 24/7. Don

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAC681922.htm

TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. forces in Saddam Hussein's home town said they seized three suspected guerrilla leaders on Thursday in overnight raids that included sealing off a street with tanks and briefly detaining dozens of men.

One man arrested after 39 men were turned out of a workers hostel, handcuffed and questioned by soldiers in the street may have been a "national level fedayeen leader", funding and arming resistance to the U.S. occupation beyond Tikrit itself, raid commander Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell said. snip

U.S. troops say they are seeking a balance between capturing or killing those who are attacking them and alienating the local population with strong-arm tactics.

"We went in with a lot of force," Russell said. "As we cast a wide net for sharks, we catch dolphins too. And we apologise."

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[indictrichardperle]

1. "may have been"

yea right. I read there are now at least 5000 Iraqi's imprisoned by the "liberators" now.

I agree, the Kobe "oj trial" distraction is Rove's wet dream, all kinds of mischief can be done under the radar .....now that idiot muricans are glued to the Kobe trial.

As the Kobe trial heats up, how many muricans will notice the body bags coming back from Iraq ?

[ozymandius]

2. And so are we to deduce that the attacks will end here?

If this is what anyone thinks...

Why do I get the nagging feeling that these "leaders" had planned for this contingency (especially if they happened to be in one place at the same damned time) by tapping lieutenants beforehand? This is just my opinion of course: these Iraqis are not stupid. I predict that guerilla attacks will continue with some semblance of regularity. Netting some "bogeymen" does not mean a damned thing.

[NNN0LHI]

3. My opinion is that for the past few days the military has put the carrot..

...away, and are now only using the stick with the Iraqis. As in cracking down on everyone very hard and with large numbers of forces. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I remember hearing about the military doing this exact same stuff in Vietnam. Sometimes they got the right guys. Other times they did not. Some of the innocent Iraqis who are affected by these crackdowns will get over it. Others will not.

Don

[MidwestTransplant]

4. Haven't they been saying there is no organized resistance?

n/t