U.S. troops, Iraqis fail to nab al-Qaida suspect in raid on farm

[unhappycamper]

An Iraqi Army officer, along with Capt. Tom Smith and his interpreter, questions a woman during a raid Thursday on a farm that was believed to be harboring an al Qaida operative. The raid produced no captures despite evidence the wanted man had recently been on the property.


U.S. troops, Iraqis fail to nab al-Qaida suspect in raid on farm
By Travis J. Tritten, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Monday, December 22, 2008

MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq — The only traces of the al-Qaida suspect and his bodyguards were sandals and a plate of partially eaten rice.

It was evidence that Iraqi and U.S. soldiers might have just missed the fleeing jihadi, one of the most wanted in Mahmudiyah.

The Iraqis and a platoon from 1st Battalion, 63rd Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, pulled up in a cloud of dust at midday Thursday and rushed the cluster of ramshackle farm buildings with guns raised.

But they found no men. The al-Qaida target had slipped through the net again, disappearing into the expanse of fields, canals and vegetation that make up this rural region.

Only a group of women, wrapped in scarves and robes, were at the farm. They said the absent male residents were farmers and students.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59561

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. well, that is good news in that

we did not kill women and children, I guess.