BAGHDAD, Jan. 10, 2008
Massive U.S. Airstrike Hits Baghdad
40,000 Pounds Of Bombs Dropped In Just 10 Minutes Targeting Al Qaeda Safehavens
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Play CBS Video Video Operation Marne Thunderbolt "Operation Marne Thunderbolt" is the U.S. military's biggest air strike in more than a year, targeting Al-Qaeda south of Baghdad. Mark Strassmann reports from the frontline.
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CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann was on the frontlines with the U.S. troops.He watched in real time from a tactical operation center as the bombs fell in what's called "Operation Marne Thunderbolt."
It's the Third Infantry Division's assault against al Qaeda targets south of Baghdad, part of a nationwide U.S. offensive that began this week, Strassmann reports.
The mighty barrage - recalling the Pentagon's "shock and awe" raids during the 2003 invasion - appeared to mark a significant escalation in a countrywide offensive launched this week to try to cripple remaining insurgent strongholds.
But it also fits into the endgame strategy of last year's U.S. troop buildup, which seeks to regain control of Baghdad and surrounding areas as a buffer zone for the capital. U.S. commanders are now attempting to subdue the last insurgent footholds around Baghdad before the Pentagon faces a possible reduction in troop strength.
Hours after the massive bombs fell, U.S. soldiers set foot in tough terrain outside Baghdad, an area where they haven't gone in a year.
"The air strikes we saw today were about one kilometer from here," said Lt. Col. Mark Solomon.
Strassmann asked him: "From where we are, how much further until we get into dicey territory?"
"About 100 meters," Solomon said.
The area's now secured, but it's not safe. When you walk around, it's only in the Bradley tank tracks, or the humvee tire tracks, Strassmann reports. Anywhere else could be right on top of pressure-plate IEDs - a minefield left behind by insurgents.
Some of the additional 30,000 troops have been pulled out and the remainder are expected to depart by June, military officials have told The Associated Press. With insurgents still holding pockets south of the capital in the north - including areas around the key northern city of Mosul - the military apparently wants to take the remaining four months or so to use the expanded military muscle against al Qaeda.
After Thursday's fierce airstrikes, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers advanced through smoldering citrus groves into areas that were considered important al Qaeda enclaves around Arab Jabour, southeast of Baghdad. An Iraq officer said the soldiers discovered two houses used to torture kidnap victims and arrested at least 12 suspected insurgents.
Little initial resistance was reported. At least nine American soldiers were killed since the offensive began Tuesday - the deadliest days for American forces since last fall.
In the farming village of Zambaraniyah, on the outskirts of Arab Jabour about nine miles southeast of the capital, scenes of neglect and devastation were testimony to years of fighting between militants and U.S. and Iraqi troops. Most of the land is torched or left fallow along small roads that were once laced with booby traps and bombs. Fields are strewn with trash and the blackened hulks of cars. Many buildings are pockmarked by gunfire, and most homes are Maj. Alayne Conway, a spokeswoman for troops in central Iraq, said the amount of ordnance dropped in 10 minutes nearly exceeded what had been used in that region in any month since last June.
Conway said the air attack "was one of the largest airstrikes since the onset of the war" in March 2003.
A military statement said two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighters hit 40 targets in Arab Jabour in 10 strikes. Al Qaeda fighters are believed to control Arab Jabour, a Sunni district lined with citrus groves.
"Thirty-eight bombs were dropped within the first 10 minutes, with a total tonnage of 40,000 pounds," the statement said.
The Iraqi army officer, whose unit is in the Arab Jabour area, said the airstrikes began at 8 a.m. and set several groves ablaze and destroyed two houses used by gunmen. He said soldiers confiscated documents and weapons including AK-47s.
The army officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. But Sheik Mahmoud Kamil Shebib, a local Sunni leader who has turned against al-Qaida in Iraq, independently gave a similar account.
Moahmoud Chiad, who lives on the edge of Arab Jabour, said he was surprised to see many U.S.-Iraqi checkpoints with Iraqi security forces. The Iraqis used loudspeakers to order residents to stay home.
"After this, we saw U.S. helicopters hovering over the area while the sounds of jet fighters were also heard," he said. "Minutes later, there was the sounds of big explosions. We saw fire and smoke coming out from some groves. Then, the gunfire crackled in the groves, but it ended by noon."
"This is about as far as our offensive has come to at this point," U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mark Solomon told a small group of reporters on a six-hour tour.
In other developments:
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama tells how her role as the First Lady has changed her perspective.
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What the *** is this? Can you not work your keyboard?
Twenty tons of bombs to destroy two houses?
Russia reneged on contracts with BP oil UK for new Siberian wells and also renegotiated contracts for existing BP production wells in Russia for less money. BP was not happy and teamed up with US oil interests for the Caspian Pipeline deal now under construction.
Reuters UK December 30, 2007 Reports: "Bin Laden says U.S. seeks to exploit Iraqi Oil". OBL states: "America seeks, alongside it''''s agents in the region, to create an allied government...that would accept in advance the presence of major U.S. bases in Iraq and give the Americans all they wish of Iraqi Oil.
mention or video of yesterday''s MASSIVE bombing.
Was it hype to shove the nine killed into the
background? Did they bomb empty lots?
Was it a real bombing and they didn''t want to
show evidence of dead citizens?
A MASSIVE BOMBING one day, highlighting our
weather news the very next day.
I say they bombed empty lots.
juwboy
Indeed they have.
Tyrants and fascists throughout history have always believed that the indiscriminate destruction of civilian populations was good.
Adolph Hitler was an especially fervent fan of it.
While our founding fathers, and Americans, have always felt it was evil.
I guess you just have to pick your side.
ST
"The depth of human compassion may be measured by how often they forgive their gods."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
During WWII, under the leadership of Arthur "Bomber" Harries, numerous German cities were carpet-bombed by the USAF and RAF and essentially razed out of existence by the firestorms that followed. Square-headed Nazis were sucked down into the melted tar of road surfaces and found dead in a congealed pool of their own melted bodyfat -- just what they deserved -- burnt in their own personal ovens.
Seriously, during the "World at War" series, Albert Speer, Hitler''s head of armaments production said that if the carpet-bombing had taken place in about half-a-dozen more German cities, the war would have been over because Germany wouldn''t have been able to continue supplying its troops.
However, Harries''s airplanes were diverted to the preparations for D-Day.
Just think about it!
If Bomber Harries could have continued what he was doing, we wouldn''t have needed to mount an invasion of Europe (we could have just walked in). Thousands of lives would have been saved and the Soviet advance might have halted about 1000 miles east of its eventual final position, leaving Eastern European countries free instead of falling under Communist domination.
Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot"
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
Keithle1
Numbness cannot erase the smell of burning flesh, but unfortunately none of the Candidates running for "President" have any intention of restoring our Constitution, the rule of law, or ending the war.
Even Obama is just one giant fluffy pillow, devoid of all substance.
ST
"The wishes of a wagging tongue cannot protect the innocent, or call upon the legitimacy of law."
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
SearingTruth
A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com
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