US escalates Iraq air war - yet again

Zambaraniyah, Iraq - U.S. warplanes unleashed one of the most intense
airstrikes of the Iraq war Thursday, dropping 40,000 pounds of
explosives in a thunderous 10-minute onslaught on suspected al-Qaida in
Iraq safe havens in Sunni farmlands south of Baghdad.

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.

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-Qaida.

After Thursday's fierce airstrikes, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers advanced
through smoldering citrus groves into areas that were considered
important al-Qaida 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 U.S. soldiers have
been 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 abandoned.

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-Qaida 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."

An AP reporter in Zambaraniyah observed bombing continue until Thursday
evening.

"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.

"The enemy is a 100 yards from where we stand and snipers have taken
position in the houses you see some 200 or 300 yards away," the
40-year-old Massachusetts native said as he stood on a dirt road in
Zambaraniyah, a rural area where farmland is dotted with date palms and
small houses. "I believe they are looking at us now."

Solomon, with the 3rd Infantry Division, said two or three dozen
militants were holding out in the area and that about 30 of them were
killed in recent fighting. He said a force of about 50 men who live in
the area are actively supporting the U.S. and Iraqi forces in policing
the area - part of the "Awakening Council" movement that has brought
Sunnis in alliance with Washington to battle al-Qaida and other groups.

Even before Thursday's massive attack, Solomon said residents were
returning to their homes and that stores and schools were reopening.
"This is a very encouraging," he said, pointing to a family of four
carrying bags brimming with clothes and food supplies.

Despite the apparent success to move quickly into suspected al-Qaida
zones, the overall impact of the current campaign remains unclear.

Before the beginning of the offensive, many militants apparently fled
U.S. and Iraqi forces massing north of Baghdad in Diyala province -
another area around the capital where insurgents continue to hold sway.
The retreat left open the possibility that al-Qaida and its backers
will seek new staging grounds in northern Iraq, where U.S. troop levels
are lower.

Brig. Gen. James Boozer, speaking on CNN, said al-Qaida fighters relied
on Diyala "as a sanctuary, a safe haven where they go refit, rearm and
plan some of their spectacular attacks."

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, lauded the help of the Sunnis
in the awakening council movement in Diyala and Anbar. But he said the
decisive battles against extremists are still to come.

He predicted the crucial showdown could take place in Nineveh, a diverse
area of desert, farmland and mountains bordering Turkey in Iraq's
northwest. It includes Iraq's third-largest city, Mosul.

"We hope the decisive battle would be in Nineveh province, where
terrorism had fled from Baghdad," he said in Baghdad.

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