BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 24, 2007
Fierce Battle In Central Baghdad
U.S., Iraqi Troops Conduct Raids North Of Green Zone, Iraq Says 30 Militants Killed
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Play CBS Video Video Battle For Haifa St. Continues U.S. and Iraqi forces continued their battle for control of Baghdad's Haifa Street. Lara Logan joined a group of American soldiers on the lookout for roadside bombs.
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Video Battle For Baghdad Continues As President Bush called for support for the war in Iraq, U.S. forces faced heavy gunfire in the fight for control of central Baghdad. Lara Logan reports.
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Video Twin Bombs Explode In Baghdad Back-to-back bomb explosions ripped through a Shiite market in Baghdad. Across the river, U.S. soldiers tried to get a Sunni market to function again. Lara Logan reports.
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A U.S. military Apache helicopter flies over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24, 2007. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)
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Smoke rises over the area where U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Jan. 24 2007. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)
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U.S. Blackwater private security helicopters participate in a joint U.S. military operation in Baghdad, Jan. 23, 2007. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
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Soldiers from the 1st Infantry listen to an instructor as they train at Fort Riley, Kan., Jan. 17, 2007. The soldiers from the division's fourth brigade will deploy to Iraq in the next few weeks as part of President Bush's planned troop surge. (AP Photo/Charlie Reidel)
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U.S. troops secure the site as a Humvee burns in the background after being hit by a roadside bomb in Baquoba, Iraq, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Jan. 23, 2007. There were no immediate reports on casualties. (AP Photo/Adam Hadei)
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Interactive New Plan For Iraq Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Interactive American Heroes Profiles of U.S. soldiers who've died in Iraq, a look at the war's toll and pictures of mourning.
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Interactive Iraq: A Turning Point? New Congress, change at the Pentagon, study group report; what does the future hold?
Iraq said 30 militants were killed and 27 captured.
Families were awakened by heavy gunfire and mortars fired by U.S. forces as they tried to help the Iraqi Army and police regain control of Haifa Street, reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.
While the battle raged there, a few miles south in the violent neighborhood of Dora, U.S. troops were engaged in the ongoing battle against roadside bombs — the biggest killer of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, Logan reports.
New details also emerged about the downing of a private U.S. security company helicopter on Tuesday, with U.S. and Iraqi officials saying four of the five Americans who died in the incident were shot execution-style. Violence was unrelenting in Iraq on Wednesday, with at least 69 people killed or found dead, including 33 tortured bodies found in separate locations in Baghdad.
With President Bush pushing his plan to increase troops strength in Iraq, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the latest joint raid was aimed at clearing the Haifa Street area of "terrorists and outlaws" targeting residents. He promised such operations would continue as U.S. and Iraqi troops prepare for a broader security crackdown to stanch the sectarian bloodletting that has turned Baghdad into a battlefield.
At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Iraqi Army and American troops moved into the Sunni stronghold to launch targeted raids in a third bid this month to clear the neighborhood of militants. Armored vehicles massed along Haifa Street, where a median with trees separates four lanes of traffic lined by tall apartment houses built by Saddam Hussein for loyalists and dissidents from other Arab countries, mainly Syria.
The U.S.-Iraqi force faced fierce resistance from insurgents using hand-grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms from the high-rises, the American military said. The explosions were so loud they could be heard across the capital. Black smoke rose from the area, located on the west bank of the Tigris River about a mile north of the Green Zone, site of the U.S. and British embassies as well as the Iraqi government headquarters.
At one point, U.S. and Iraqi forces rushed into an office building on the edge of Haifa Street and told all the employees to go home as they fanned out and sent snipers to the roof, according to Jabbar al-Mashhadani, a Cultural Ministry spokesman.
The U.S. military said the combined force in the operation, dubbed Tomahawk Strike II, detained seven suspected insurgents and seized heavy weapons, including many rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank rounds and 155 mm artillery rounds. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said 30 insurgents were killed and 27 captured, including four Egyptians and a Sudanese.
At least one civilian was killed and seven were wounded, hospital and police officials said.
In other developments:
The military reported separately that an American soldier was killed Wednesday in clashes near the city's center, but officials declined to give more specifics or say whether the death was connected to the Haifa Street fighting. Two U.S. Marines also were reported killed on Tuesday during combat in Anbar province, the military said.
Haifa Street, a major avenue in central Baghdad, was built in the late 1970s and cuts through the neighborhood where Saddam Hussein attended school as a teenager and where he once lived with his maternal uncle and future father-in-law.
It has been the site of repeated clashes, including a major battle on Jan. 9, just three days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced his new security plan for pacifying Baghdad. Fighting broke out again about a week later.
A bronze statue of Iraq's late King Faisal on horseback sits at one end of the broad avenue. During a visit to the neighborhood after the 1991 Gulf war, residents complained to Saddam about their poverty, prompting him to order homes demolished and new apartment complexes built.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 22 Comments
- Mbievtea, is that your own dumb fuzzy feelgood bullsh*t or is it a Sean Hannity quote?
- Reply to this comment
- mbievtea
feeling a bit strident, eh? Yelling tends to be the tool of the one least able to reason a point. Most of us in the U S who are less enthusiastic about the polciies, especially regarding Iraq of the object of your awe. You might want to specify the specific fascists you are sure will lose. Do you mean the bush/cheney fascists or the foreign fascists? A convincing argument can be easily made for labelling either group with the term fascist. dumbya and little dickey c could have taken their foreign policy from adolph's record with some names changed.
This administration has an across the board honesty problem. With regard to Iraq it has been especially dishonest, especially incompetent or the more likely option of both exceptionally dishonest and incompetent.
In case bill orally's verse of the day is his "what about clinton?" I'll save us both some time and answer now, that when clinton lied, nobody died because of His lie. - Reply to this comment
- LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THE ISLAMIC FACISTS AND ENEMIES OF FREEDOM ... WE ARE GOING TO COME AFTER YOU. WE ARE GOING TO FIND YOU AND FIGHT YOU. YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT THE PURSUIT OF FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS THAT CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD DESPITE OBSTACLES. THE FACISTS ARE GOING TO LOSE. IT WILL TAKE EFFORT AND IT WILL TAKE GUTS ... THANK YOU PRESIDENT BUSH FOR BEING OUR PRESIDENT AT THIS CRITICAL MOMENT IN HISTORY!
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- So where ARE the spineless DEMOCRATS?
They HAVE the power to end this disaster! This needless horrific WAR IF TERROR started by the NeoCons with the complicit Democrats and corporate medial.
But the Democrats won't stop this War. And their hands are becoming more bloodstained every day. - Reply to this comment
- donez3:
"Hate Our Way of Life"??
Gee, where have I heard that propaganda before. Don't be such a chump, sucking up little phrases like that into your little brain. It's a bit more complex.
For example, if the US were Oil Rich, but militarily weak, and a Moslem superpower invaded, starting a War that took the lives of your family memebers or friends, sent people off to prisons like Ahbu Grahib without charges, set up permanent military bases... and suppose this superpower had a track record of meddling in third world countries (you know the overthrowing democracies, installing and supporting friendly brutal dictators (like Saddam), raping the natural resources of your country,...).
Well, how would you feel about it? - Reply to this comment
- JAIL BUSH JAIL CHENEY
JOIN the ANTI-WAR PROTEST SATURDAY in WASHINGTON DC
CBS won't give it coverage, as they have ignored the anti-war movement since pre-Invasion days (too bad for America). - Reply to this comment
- Notblue, Osama is laughing his balls off at our little quagmire adventure in Iraq. Best terrorist recruiting tool ever.
- Reply to this comment
- If I could have my wish I would wish:
That all the people would finally realize that all the prophets and all the holy men said that violence was wrong and that all the people in all the world would suddenly believe it and put down all things that could be used and were being used as weapons and walk away from it, all at the same time so no one would be saying you first.
Dream on. - Reply to this comment
- Bluestardad, that image of an American soldier being beheaded is why we fight these radicals, hello! Do you think for one minute the Islamic barbarians will stop if we leave them alone? by leaving them alone, which seems to be your only strategy, is a strategy the terrorists are banking on.
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- If the Bush crowd had not been so preoccupied with looting as much money out of Iraq as possible instead of gearing up for the insurgency that was sure to follow our occupation we might not be in this mess. The Bush team fired or retired every high ranking military officer who disagreed with their plan and the numbers of troops it would take. Bush still likes to "play" Army I guess. Cheney didn't blink once during the state of union address. I'm thinking he's an android.
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- educates and superdem,
I like your comments.
I read the Newsweek article last week about the war. They quoted some survey (Pew maybe?) that 90% of Iraqis view the United States as an occupying power.
At the start of the war, our leaders said the real battle was for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people. It sounds like an overwhelming loss.
Why do we need to give war a chance? What goal can we accomplish? The only peace we can bring by bloodshed is the stillness of the grave. I doubt that we can kill enough people to bring peace with the sword.
So I am sorry but I have no patience to invest in a surge in killing. - Reply to this comment
- Wait unit one U.S. Soldier is shown on Video Pleading for their lives while someone cuts off their head! Then you will see how the American People deal with our Elected Officials that have sent us to this war and supported this surge after we voted for withdrawl.
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- I agree with alot of the post on here imo they should protect the borders and let them fight it out.
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- Bring the troops home in an orderly fashion. No more combat roles for US. Saddam kept the lid on by being ruthless. There is no hope for Democracy. What are we fighting for? We are fighting because Bush/Cheney/Gates do not understand the nature of a civil war. There is no way to win militarily. There is a slim chance diplomacy could work.
Remember the Vietnam song, "Two more soldiers died today."
Impeach the White House. - Reply to this comment
- The Israelis have been trying to suppress the Palestinians for nearly sixty years. How's that going for them ? Killing their leaders, raiding their safehouses, supporting the most cooperative factions - still an impossible mess. Instead of learning anything from that - much less trying to solve it - Bush got America into the very same mess, trying to suppress the Iraqi majority. It's not working, it will never work. So what if they slaughter each other the moment we leave ? We can't hold back that ocean of hatred. We need to leave, let it happen, and pick up the pieces if possible afterwards. The world may be appalled but it's on THEM, not us. Saddam was preventing it all, but then, we HUNG him.
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- GetSerious1 Can't they find you something to do in the republican office other than these Blogs, you are not up to the job sonny. Go Make The Coffee.
And Oh! ask the Brits in Basra if the Iraq security forces have been infiltrated. You Muppet. - Reply to this comment
- leliac states "but I also feel that it would be wrong to abandon the Iraqi people at this point and it would be a waste of the sacrafices made by our miltiary and their families"
Bush had a nice dream but it was only a dream. It was the Iraqi people who abandoned the US first. You may argue that the insurgents, whether Sunni or Shiite, are only a small percentage of the population, but its clear the majority of Iraqis see the US forces as unwelcome invaders. Increasing the troop levels without a withdrawal strategy will only make things worse, like throwing gasoline on a fire. The Iraqis will have to work things out themselves and unless some hard decisions are made, it will continue to be bloody. Unfortunatley the only potentially peaceful solution I can see would involve partion of the country (Shiite, Sunni, Kurd). This is what happened to India after the British left and to Yugoslavia after Tito's death. - Reply to this comment
- wow! Another prediction from an 'expert': bluestardad!!
Ya know, I watch alot of football and I watch alot of 'Experts' predict who will win each game. They are wrong a very significant amount of the time.
Why do I mention this?
Well, Bluestardad likes to present him/herself as an expert on all things, especially the war in Iraq. See, he isn't just 'predicting' we will lose, he is insisting that he 'KNOWS' this new strategy won't work. He is 'PREDICTING' that soldiers will be kidnapped as a result of working with Iraq military. There is NO basis for this prediction except for his continuous pessimism. Sure it sounds like it could be true, and it is certainly a possibility, but it is NOT a forgone absolute. - Reply to this comment
- Bluestardad
Sir, you need your head examined. I support getting our troops out of Iraq - It can't happen overnight and there is no way I am responsible for their deaths. - Reply to this comment
- In response to bluestardad...yes, there are some infiltrators. My husband (during his second deployment) was on a MiTT team and more than once, when he sent his soldiers behind the wire for r&r, he was the only American on the IA(Iraqi Army) side. He took the time to know his IA soldiers as people and he cared about and for them and because of that, he was protected by his IA soldiers. The biggest mistake soldiers make is not really caring about the Iraq soldiers as people. They are no different than us. For example, if you treat me as an inferior or someone that you talk to only when you absolutly have to, I won't worry much about your well being, but if you treat me as a person and care about me, I will treat you the same way. They are no different. My husband and I are proud of the way his IA soldiers learned and took responsibility for their area, which is a northern city often in the news. The MiTT approach gives our troops the opportunity to establish trust and be more effective teachers. I know what you are feeling with a loved one in harms way and I pray for the safe return of your son or daughter. I hope that the mission can be sucessfully accomplished and our people can come home...but I also feel that it would be wrong to abandon the Iraqi people at this point and it would be a waste of the sacrafices made by our miltiary and their families.
Respectfully, lc - Reply to this comment
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