Iraq Detains 1,000 In Militant Crackdown

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi Makes Surprise Visit With Officials To Promote Elections

(AP)  Nearly 1,000 people have been detained in a sweep to break al Qaeda in Iraq's sway in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, but many of the fighters have fled to nearby areas, where troops are hunting for them, Iraqi officials said Saturday.

Iraq's leaders presented the crackdown as a success so far in depriving the terror network of what has been its most prominent urban stronghold since it lost hold of cities in Iraq's western Anbar province.

But the flight of al Qaeda fighters raises the concern they can regroup elsewhere, as has often happened in the past.

Yassin Majid, an adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said most of the leading insurgents had fled to the outskirts of Mosul or to a neighboring country amid the operations. He did not name the neighboring country. Mosul is about 60 miles from the Syrian and Turkish borders.

"Operations will continue and the Iraqi army will not leave Mosul until security and stability have been accomplished," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq, whose forces are working with the Iraqi troops in the operation, said he didn't believe significant numbers of militants had escaped. He said Iraqi forces have surrounded the city with a circle of berms and checkpoints controlling entry and exits.

But he said some al Qaeda leaders, who directed their Mosul followers from outside the city, may have stayed away from Mosul ahead of the sweep to avoid arrest, he told The Associated Press.

"It's been very successful," he said. "I think the combination of the arrests plus the uncovering of a number of weapons caches will reduce the number of attacks in Mosul."

But he warned insurgents could try to strike back in the coming days with suicide bombings in the city.

The sweep was launched Thursday, after five days of preparatory operations and arrests in the city. U.S.-backed Iraqi police and soldiers have been conducting raids on homes and have fanned out with checkpoints on city streets, though no clashes have been reported in the city, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said 1,068 people have been detained over the past week, but 94 were cleared and have since been released. Hertling said those detained included several high- and mid-level al Qaeda figures, including leaders of cells that organized suicide car bombings and facilitators for foreign fighters entering the country.

The assault on the Sunni al Qaeda in Iraq group was launched in the wake of two other major crackdowns against Shiite militiamen in the southern city of Basra and the Baghdad district of Sadr City in the past two months. Those two sweeps continue but uneasy truces with the powerful Shiite Mahdi Army militia have eased the heavy violence they sparked.

Al-Maliki said Saturday the series of crackdowns would bring a boost to reconciliation efforts, saying it has "reflected positively on the political process."

Al-Bolani told a gathering of some 300 former Saddam Hussein-era officers in Mosul that the army and police would make room for them and that al-Maliki was urging them to return. Many in the crowd cheered the announcement.

Mosul's Sunni Arab population was once a major source of officers for Saddam's army, many of whom were removed because of their ties to his regime in a purge that followed the 2003 U.S. invasion. Their bitterness is believed to have fueled the Sunni-led insurgency.

On Friday, al-Maliki offered amnesty and cash to fighters in Mosul who surrender their weapons within the next 10 days. Al-Bolani said no one has surrendered any weapons yet and warned they had "no other choice" but to comply or face being targeted by security forces in the coming days.

Al-Maliki made a similar offer to Shiite militias in Basra during the sweep there, but few surrendered weapons.


Rep. Pelosi Visits To Promote Elections

The prime minister returned to Baghdad from Mosul - where he has been overseeing the crackdown - to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who made a surprise visit to Iraq on Saturday.

Pelosi, a top Democratic critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, expressed confidence that expected provincial elections will promote national reconciliation.

She welcomed Iraq's progress in passing a budget as well as oil legislation, and a bill paving the way for the provincial elections in the fall that are expected to more equitably redistribute power among local officials.

"We're assured the elections will happen here, they will be transparent, they will be inclusive and they will take Iraq closer to the reconciliation we all want it to have," said Pelosi. She also met with Iraq's parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus, the top American commander in Iraq.

Pelosi, who also traveled to Iraq in January 2007 shortly after the Democrats assumed congressional control, has been a sharp critic of the Bush administration's conduct of the war and has pressed for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country this year.

She also has called for the Iraqi government to contribute more money to the reconstruction of the country.

President Bush's Iraq war funding request failed in the House on Thursday as anti-war Democrats and Republicans unhappy about added domestic funding formed an unlikely coalition to kill, for now, $163 billion to support U.S. troops overseas.

In Other Developments:

On Saturday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up near an office for a U.S.-allied Sunni group, then a suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi police patrol heading to the scene in the Diyala provincial capital of Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad.

Police said at least 15 people were wounded in the attacks, including two children.

[prinzowhales]

That is quite a Rambo-esque pose...its the first time I have seen an Iraqi Army action figure....Looks like it was taken from the safety of a military post.

Usually one surrounds a city, then sweeps it for suspects and scoops up any trying to flee. It looks like they missed the al CIAda leaders and rounded up some deadheads--who apparently weren''t familiar with the whole ''holy warrior'' concept of fighting to the death...I rather expect many of these ''fighters'' will be the Iraqi equivalent to our own ''morons in Miami'' who lived in a wharehouse until an FBI provocateur convinced them to be al Qaeda.

[prinzowhales]

One has to wonder how they identifies the "fighters"...and why ''leaders'' would leave them to their fates when they are said to have suspected the assault was coming...its a punch that has been telegaphed now for weeks.

[randynason]

I''m sure these militants are REALLY militants and not old men, women and children. Who are the real terrorists, here?!!

[cfin5]

Be interesting to see if she starts badmouthin'' like she just got done telling us about "protocol" against it. Never heard her say boo about it when Carter does it.

[underdogus]

sounds like "propaganda" to me.....

[euge005]

If there were any intention of actually winning this confict there would be a mass hanging of these terrorists. It (the war effort) is just for show to cover up the actions of the oil lobby in the outright thieft of billions in Iraqi ol. Blood for oil and Chaney would not lose a moment of (burbon induced)sleep.

[boatdocster]

"The top 12 Americas enemies"

Posted by BagdadsHere at 07:17 PM : May 17, 2008

You missed 2 key folks- GW Bush and D Cheney

[it_oldtimer]

1000 militants? LOL! Far too little, and far too late.

[glock4me]

I guess there are no democrats in Iraq to undermine the proper course of action. About time those guys started taking care of thier own country.

What is that belt-fed weapon that Iraqi soldier has? Does anybody know? Maybe after the SCOTUS gets the Second Amendment straight I can buy one of those with my economic stimulus money.

[antoniof123]

Looks like Sadam is back this is how he started first 1,000 then 10,000 then military rule.

Way to go GOP you got rid of one only to replace him with another.

Oh an Bagdad you are the real enemy of America. You want everyone to think like you so in that said I guess you would be pretty lonely. My guess is you are.

[downsteamjim]

Nancy Pelosi is there to take over for Saddam.

downsteamjim wrote:

"Nancy Pelosi is there to take over for Saddam."

They don''t need another Saddam, not when GW Bush, ******** Cheney and the other neo-con pieces of excrement have been doing Saddam''s job for him.

[truthyness]

I can prove that the Republicans are making fools out of the Blacks.

The stuff that Obama admitted to in the two books he

wrote is enough to lose him the election. But has

anyone heard anything about either of these writings

by a major National Television Station????

NO! Because they are setting on it until Hillary is

out of the picture and Obama will lose the Presidency

by the largest margine yet. And anyone who can''''''''t

see that and continues to believe otherwise after

reading those two books are being FOOLISH!!!!

[christian735]

Nancy Pelosi is there to take over for Saddam.


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Posted by downsteamjim at 09:49 PM : May 17, 2008


LOL!!! Good one :)

[christian735]

Nothing better to say except the same old bigotry towards Christians I see fibonacci. Just another day at the office for you. Whatever makes you feel better right? Obviously nothing else is feeding that void inside of you, so your only resort is to come on an internet forum and try to bait Christians into your silly little games.

Then you wake up the next day and you''re still as empty inside as you were the day before. What a coward. But I do feel sorry for you. I really do

[mcvet]

We sent 30,000 MORE American Troops, VERY tired American Troops into this quagmire. The reason according to a President who has YET to tell us the truth about ANYTHING? They were going to ALLOW the Government of Iraq to make the moves necessary to form a Government. They were going to hold down the violence so Political Solutions could be found. 30,000 MORE American''s are stuck in this Quagmire and THEY AREN''T COMING HOME PEOPLE! You can sit there and make all the excuses you want, try to defend the policy to kingdom come but THEY AREN''T coming home. FIVE years from now you''ll be able to just rerun the same headlines you ran five years ago. NOTHING has changed, NOTHING has gotten any better. The resistence has simply squated down, KNOWING the puppet leaders installed by the US can not do anything about them. THEY LIVE THERE PEOPLE... they are NOT going away and THEY, the PEOPLE of Iraq, must solve this problem. WE can not solve it for them and we can NOT take sides without being the odd man out. WHEN the Corrupt and very EVIL creature a few still call a President started hearing "Voice''s from God" we should have IMMEDIATELY removed the Ditator from office. SIEG HEIL BUSH

[mcvet]

Nothing better to say except the same old bigotry towards Christians I see fibonacci. Just another day at the office for you. Whatever makes you feel better right? Obviously nothing else is feeding that void inside of you, so your only resort is to come on an internet forum and try to bait Christians into your silly little games.

Then you wake up the next day and you''''re still as empty inside as you were the day before. What a coward. But I do feel sorry for you. I really do


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Posted by Christian735 at 05:42 AM : May 18, 2008
+ report abuse

Sparky you freaks have swallowed so much snake oil NO ONE can bait you. YOU have swallowed so many lies the truth is something you wouldn''t know if it hit you right between the eyes. Have you gone to the site with the 935 LIES told by Bush. They are all there, documented and laid out. Care to look at them and tell me ONE, just one of them that in fact was truth? IF you are correct about this War, then ALL of them should be TRUTH...they are NOT! NINE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE TIMES in TWO years WE the PEOPLE were LIED to by the Bush Administration, starting a War the WAS NOT NECESSARY, killing THOUSANDS that was NOT NECESSARY! NINE HUNDRED THIRTY FIVE LIES!! Please don''t call yourself a Christian if you can''t address those LIES!! If you continue to support a LIAR who is responsible for ALL that blood!! SIEG HEIL BUSH!!!

[brianbwb-2009]

When you read that 1,000 people have been "detained", that is not a "militant crackdown".

That is "eliminating the opposition" party.

[petro49l]

Bin Laden and Zawahiri must be a couple of atheists. Those two homos hate women and society. Is Sunday the right time to plan the murders of innocent civilians throughout Iraq?

[prinzowhales]

During the Clinton presidency, "ethnic cleansing" became the buzz phrase to describe the Albanian parades leaving the Serbian province of Kosovo... 100,000 Albanians dead was one figure given in the propaganda buildup towards war. When it was over, the dead had all but vanished...back into the imaginations of the propagandists who gave them unnatural life and death.

In Canada there are 50,000 native American children who were "disappeared" from so-called "Residential Schools. Where is the cry and passion to bomb Canada? Well?...I''m waiting....

Where are all of the outraged committees?...the impassioned calls for intervention?...investigation?
The UN human rights specialists?....

http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=3748

Indeed...real mass graves don''t seem to generate the attention that reports of them do..

[prinzowhales]

If, as Fearless Leader claims, illegal drugs are part and parcel of terrorism, then the drug labs at a kosher meat-packing plant must surely be of interest in the war on terrorism Organized criminal elements like La Kosher Nostra have long been left alone...
This one had rabbis to certify the output and employed 80% illegals.

Rabbis have been at the center of child molestation cases, drug smuggling and scams to rip off the federal government--such as that of Clinton''s buddies in New Square, New York--an Orthodox Jewish town whose leaders scammed millions and won the pardon of the Clintons....And how can we ever forget the New York diamond merchant who was trying to assist terrorists in bringing a SAM into the country.

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/108541.html

It was just a coincidence...a lucky break...that a Mossad cell hiding behind a moving company front had set up cameras to film the attack on the WTC before it happened...their purpose--as one of the Israelis bragged on Israeli TV--was to "document the event".
No surprise at all that they were released and allowed to scamper back to Israel despite failing lie detector tests. Israelis sure do love us...so much so that they filmed themselves celebrating the destruction of the WTC.

[underdogus]

ja dja liddle chwishtun bwain
Posted by fibonacci....is a foreigner

[underdogus]

"The top 12 Americas enemies"

1 - Feelfree1 (JAILED)

2 - j-whitman

3 - hungry1968 (JAILED)

4 - Iceman1960 (JAILED)

5 %u2013 FloyZepp (CUT&RAN)

6 - MCVet

7 - IRAN

8 - CHINA

9 - Muqtada Al-Sadr

10 - Hugo Chavez

11 - IOWEIGN

12 - Prinzowhales



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by BagdadsHere

[prinzowhales]

And, before Zio-Nazi elements in Washington decide to false-flag attack us again, lets recall the carnage that was stopped--not by Mexican police--by a delegation of sugar workers visiting San Lazaro, the Mexican Congress building, when they grew suspicious of a Mossad colonel and his Israeli henchman who were taking pictures and acting suspicious, confronted them, found they had guns and explosives and turned them over to security...of course, they were not held for long, Israel''s Zionazi collaborators in Fox''s government released them. The October 10, 2001 plot was to get Mexico angry at Islamists with a false flag attack...just like at the WTC...

[prinzowhales]

When Israeli Intelligence is enjoying life in Austria or murdering Americans in New York or trying to murder Mexicans at the Palacio Legislativo de San Lazaro...they are murdering New Zealanders in South East Asia to steal their passports. What would the world do without Israel?

[underdogus]

BagdadsHere..Mcvet became an inmate at a psycho ward.

[demslie]

"The top 12 Americas enemies"

1 - Feelfree1 (JAILED)

2 - j-whitman

3 - hungry1968 (JAILED)

4 - Iceman1960 (JAILED)

5 %u2013 FloyZepp (CUT&RAN)

6 - MCVet

7 - IRAN

8 - CHINA

9 - Muqtada Al-Sadr

10 - Hugo Chavez

11 - IOWEIGN

12 - Prinzowhales

Posted by BagdadsHere

I agree 100% but you forgot brianbwb.

When you read that 1,000 people have been "detained", that is not a "militant crackdown".
That is "eliminating the opposition" party.

Posted by brianbwb

Isn''t it amazing that our troop have been saying for two years now that IRAN has been suppling Weapons, Money and Trianing that has killed thousands of women, children and American soldiers but, the only time Anti-American Democrats like brianbwb get mad is when their friends the terrorists are attacked or jailed. So you don''t need a list. Angry Hateful Democrats are the enemy of America.

[prinzowhales]

demslie--Our troops have been saying nothing of the kind. The Washington Regime cancelled a propaganda event recently when it turned out that none of the "Iranian" weapons they were going to show came from Iran. You and the other ennablers of Israeli terrorists should be ashamed of your lies that have already cost over 4000 Americans their lives in Iraq. Now you want more to die in another war based on lies and BS.

[prinzowhales]

Israeli terrorists have been arrested and deported from this country by the hundreds. See Carl Cameron''s series of reports for FOX news on the arrest and deportation of the Israeli ''art students'' who were trying to infiltrate US government offices and the homes of high-ranking officials.

Read the reports of Israelis captured with plans to nuclear plants and in vans with traces of explosives detected.

Where will the next false flag attack occur?

[ajaxtheleast]

"FIVE DAYS OF PREPARITORY OPERATIONS"

That would be:

four days of creating four creative

press releases, the fifth day choosing

the most creative press release and

jumping in their loud speaker trucks with:

"HERE WE COME READY OR NOT!"

(Five days advance warning must have
resulted in their detaining some
very ''high value'' BRIGHT militants.)

[zykracosmos]

Good for Iraq. The stronger the central government gets, the quicker we can leave.

[j-whitman]

jamesm12341,,,, Stop licking Bush''s butt... It has everything to do with Bush ----- Our Iran Contra idiots are still developing their own intelligence in Iraq & feeding it to both them & us.

Here we are trying to set an example for Iraq''s goverment & we claim the right to hold Iraq''s indefinatly & refuse to prosecute our own contractors and reward them with more contracts..

[j-whitman]

jamesm1234,,, Bush''s policie''s in Iraq aren''t anything to write home about as an example of leadership to follow

It''s the same as you spanking your monkey in front of your childen & telling the not too hair will grow in their palms

[j-whitman]

jamesm12341,,,, In fact none of the Bush - McBush policies are worth a squat --- It''s More of the Same

[prinzowhales]

In the white slavery rackets all roads lead to Dyncorps and Israel...just as Ecstasy is an Israeli drug speciality. Despite end user agreements, IDF copters are in the service of the drug cartels in Columbia and IDF forces provided a body guard for Bush41''s former partner in narcotics trafficking, Manuel Noreiga.

http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3166377,00.html

[prinzowhales]

What did Ms. Palfrey and her employee know that got them killed?