http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1174448,00.html

Quote :

"On Scene: How Operation Swarmer Fizzled Not a shot was fired, or a leader nabbed, in a major offensive that failed to live up to its advance billing Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer. Iraqi soldiers in newly painted humvees, green and red Iraqi flags stenciled on the tailgates, had just finished searching the farm populated by a half-dozen skinny cows and a woman kneading freshly risen dough and slapping it to the walls of a mud oven. The press, flown in from Baghdad to this agricultural gridiron northeast of Samarra, huddled around the Iraqi officials and U.S. Army commanders who explained that the "largest air assault since 2003" in Iraq using over 50 helicopters to put 1500 Iraqi and U.S. troops on the ground had netted 48 suspected insurgents, 17 of which had already been cleared and released. The area, explained the officials, has long been suspected of being used as a base for insurgents operating in and around Samarra, the city north of Baghdad where the bombing of a sacred shrine recently sparked a wave of sectarian violence. But contrary to what many many television networks erroneously reported, the operation was by no means the largest use of airpower since the start of the war. ("Air Assault" is a military term that refers specifically to transporting troops into an area.) In fact, there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance, said the U.S. and Iraqi commanders. The operation, which doubled the population of the flat farmland in one single airlift, was initiated by intelligence from Iraq security forces, says Lt Col Skip Johnson commander of the 187 Battallion, 3rd Combat Brigade of the 101st Airborne. "They have the lead," he said to reporters at the second stop of the tour. But by Friday afternoon, the major targets seemed to have slipped through their fingers. Iraqi Army General Abdul Jabar says that Samarra-based insurgent leader Hamad el Taki of Mohammad’s Army was thought to be in the area, and Iraqi intelligence officers were still working to compare known voice recordings and photographs with the prisoners in custody. With the Interior Ministry's Samarra commando battalion, the soldiers had found some 300 individual pieces of weaponry like mortars, rockets and plastic explosives in six different locations inside the sparsely populated farming community of over 50 square miles and about 1,500 residents. The raids also uncovered high-powered cordless telephones used as detonators in homemade bombs, medical supplies and insurgent training manuals. Before loading up into the helicopters for a return trip to Baghdad, Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman’s freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day."

[Edited on March 18, 2006 at 3:34 PM. Reason : ...]

3/18/2006 3:08:04 PM

source?

3/18/2006 3:18:05 PM

point?

3/18/2006 3:19:12 PM

^

3/18/2006 3:21:11 PM

Quote :

"Iraqi Army General Abdul Jabar says that Samarra-based insurgent leader Hamad el Taki of Mohammad’s Army was thought to be in the area, and Iraqi intelligence officers were still working to compare known voice recordings and photographs with the prisoners in custody. With the Interior Ministry's Samarra commando battalion, the soldiers had found some 300 individual pieces of weaponry like mortars, rockets and plastic explosives in six different locations inside the sparsely populated farming community of over 50 square miles and about 1,500 residents. The raids also uncovered high-powered cordless telephones used as detonators in homemade bombs, medical supplies and insurgent training manuals. "

Quote :

"For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day."

How is none of that stuff worthwhile?

3/18/2006 3:31:35 PM

That's like the old "Why do you hate freedom" question, just as worth ignoring.

The article doesn't say it wasn't worthwhile. What it says is that this "largest air assault since Shock & Awe" wasn't anything special and no more effective than the routine patrols already taking place in Iraq. IOW - the whole thing was a show.

[Edited on March 18, 2006 at 3:36 PM. Reason : ...]

3/18/2006 3:34:20 PM

the media were the ones who dubbed it as such. the military nor white house had any intentions of labeling it anythin other than a routine patrol-like operation.

3/18/2006 3:39:51 PM

Thats not worth ignoring. The article clearly states what the operation achieved, then says that it achieved nothing.

How is a series of large weapons caches not worthwhile?

3/18/2006 3:41:58 PM

It is worth ignoring because nowhere in that article does it say that finding weapons caches isn't worthwhile. It says it was a photo-op.

Do you really need this spelled out to you?

The same effect is achieved routinely by patrols that don't require 50 choppers, thousands of troops, and "the largest air assault since Shock & Awe." Those patrols don't receive nearly the press that this operation did. The publicity is what wasn't worthwhile. You're trying unsuccessfully to reframe the debate with your question...

[Edited on March 18, 2006 at 3:57 PM. Reason : goddamn NCAA tourney + soap box]

3/18/2006 3:51:55 PM

Quote :

"You're trying unsuccessfully to reframe the debate with your question..."

No, I'm just questioning a poorly written article.

Quote :

"It is worth ignoring because nowhere in that article does it say that finding weapons caches isn't worthwhile."

Are you sure about that? It says that they found weapons caches. Then it says that they didn't find anything worthwhile.

[Edited on March 18, 2006 at 4:07 PM. Reason : .]

3/18/2006 4:06:48 PM

And which of those received the press coverage this did?

And btw...I know these types of operations are routine. That's the whole point of the article. Why the coverage for such a non-event?

3/18/2006 4:08:12 PM

Beats me. I was simply questioning the article.

3/18/2006 4:10:44 PM

Quote :

"With the Interior Ministry's Samarra commando battalion, the soldiers had found some 300 individual pieces of weaponry like mortars, rockets and plastic explosives in six different locations inside the sparsely populated farming community of over 50 square miles and about 1,500 residents. The raids also uncovered high-powered cordless telephones used as detonators in homemade bombs, medical supplies and insurgent training manuals."

Quote :

"For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day."

That last part does not refer to the bombs and shit that they found.

Quote :

"Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman’s freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day."

It's probably little more than a nit-pick, but it just felt like you were deliberately trying to take the sentence out of context.

3/18/2006 4:17:14 PM

Alright. Then let me spell it out for you.

There were 1500 Iraqi and American troops in the operation. There were "some 300 individual pieces of weaponry" found in "six different locations." I'm wagering it didn't take 6 roving patrols of 250 troops to each find 50 weapons somewhere; some troops found a weapons cache, but the large majority of them didn't find shit. So FOR THOSE TROOPS, THE WOMAN'S BREAD WAS THE ONLY THING WORTHWHILE THEY'D FOUND ALL DAY. Hence the "For most of them,..." prefacing the statement.

3/18/2006 4:18:39 PM

^ no shit.

It just sounded to me like a deliberate attempt to downplay the achievements of the operation. Obviously when you have 1500 troops searching an area, not all of them are going to find something. However, that doesn't mean that the majority of the troops were unneccesary or that the operation was a failure, as the article implies.

3/18/2006 4:31:26 PM

Christ.

The Wolf Web. Where people who have never served in the military stand by to give you their expert military opinion and analysis.

(Not directed towards all of you)

[Edited on March 18, 2006 at 4:32 PM. Reason : .]

3/18/2006 4:32:15 PM

hence the term "armchair general"

3/18/2006 4:41:25 PM

No kidding.

3/18/2006 4:55:38 PM

this is what i suspected. all politics.

3/18/2006 6:46:52 PM

from Operation Iraqi Freedom...

Quote :

"Initial reports indicate six caches have been uncovered containing mortar rounds and rockets of various calibers, bomb-making materials, land mines and rocket propelled grenades. "The Iraqi forces, their [intelligence], their tips, are really what drove the operation," said Maj. Tom Bryant, a spokesman for the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. “The operation shows the rising capabilities of Iraqi forces, whose performance … is the key to reducing U.S. troop levels in the nearly three-year-old conflict,“ Zebari said. "This is a good exercise and indicates that this strategy is working to build Iraqi troops to be sufficient.”.."

from Military.Com:

Quote :

"But Gen. John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, sought to downplay the uniqueness of the raid. "I wouldn't characterize this as being anything that's a big departure from normal or from the need to prosecute a target that we think was lucrative enough to commit this much force to go get," Abizaid said. In recent months U.S. forces have routinely used helicopters to insert troops during operations against insurgent strongholds, especially in the Euphrates River valley between Baghdad and the Syrian border. "

Just some other sources' take on the event. The editors at TIME hardly want any good news coming out of Iraq.

3/18/2006 10:40:09 PM

Quote :

"In recent months U.S. forces have routinely used helicopters to insert troops during operations against insurgent strongholds, especially in the Euphrates River valley between Baghdad and the Syrian border."

Is the growing use of helicopters in response to the IED threat or is it purely tactical?

3/19/2006 4:43:45 PM

Quote :

"Maverick: The Wolf WebTime Magazine. Where people who have never served in the military stand by to give you their expert military opinion and analysis."

T

You obviously can't tell the difference between questioning media coverage and questioning military ops. Instead of pretending to have a point next time, why don't you just post "I REALLY DON'T LIKE GAMECAT AND FEEL THE NEED TO INANELY TROLL WHAT HE'S POSTED HERE."

I mean what fucking insight would a stint in the military have provided me in this case? Please. Enlighten me.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4817762.stm

The BBC is obviously as perplexed about the media coverage as Time Magazine.

Quote :

"But the massive press coverage was not just the result of a semantic misunderstanding. Unusually, high-quality photographs and video footage of the initial deployment were made available to the press towards the end of Day One of what was billed as a campaign that would last several days. Some international media were given unusually swift military embeds to the area."

[Edited on March 19, 2006 at 7:14 PM. Reason : ...]

3/19/2006 7:09:18 PM

You'll find this shocking, but I really don't discuss tactics on an internet message board.

The logical decuction was actually simple and obvious, I just don't like putting all the pieces together for the entire world to read.

[Edited on March 19, 2006 at 7:44 PM. Reason : .]

3/19/2006 7:43:48 PM

You'll find it shocking that I really don't find your copout surprising at all.

3/20/2006 12:04:30 AM