Following a large-scale offensive in Fallujah, about 5,000 U.S.,
British and Iraqi troops launched an offensive Tuesday, designed to
quell a recent increase in violence among insurgent forces in
several towns south of Baghdad.
The series of raids and house searches was the third large-scale
military operation this month, aimed at suppressing Iraq’s
Sunni Muslim insurgency ahead of crucial elections set for Jan.
30.
The motivation behind the attacks, said Ron Bee, the director of
special projects of the Middle Eastern program at the UC Institute
on Global Conflict and Cooperation, “is to reduce the
likelihood of violence during those elections.”
“I think we can expect some violence because this is a
turning point for Iraqi democracy,” he said.
The United States needs to suppress the insurgents early
because, as Bee said, Iraqi soldiers will be protecting the polling
places on election day rather than American soldiers.
Car bombings, rocket attacks and ambushes have surged in recent
weeks ““ likely in part due to guerrillas who slipped out of
the militant stronghold of Fallujah, some commanders said.
Despite the series of offensives, violence continued unabated.
Masked gunmen shot to death a Sunni cleric Tuesday in the second
such attack against a member of the influential Association of
Muslim Scholars. This association has called for a boycott of the
national elections.
The cleric, Sheik Ghalib Ali al-Zuhairi, was killed as he left a
mosque after dawn prayers in the town of Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north
of Baghdad, police said.
His assassination occurred a day after another prominent Sunni
cleric was killed in the northern city of Mosul ““ Sheik Faidh
Mohamed Amin al-Faidhi, who was the brother of the
association’s spokesman. It was unclear whether the two
attacks were related.
The proposed boycott has raised concern that the election will
not be seen as legitimate by Sunnis in Iraq. Sunnis make up about
20 percent of the population, but only certain factions are
threatening boycott ““ an estimated 5 percent of the total
population.
“Most Iraqis will go to the polls anyway, and I would
expect a significant number of Sunnis to go as well,” Bee
said.
The joint military operation kicked off with early morning raids
in the town of Jabella, 50 miles south of Baghdad, as Iraqi and
American troops, backed by jets and helicopters, swarmed into the
region known as the “triangle of death.”
The assault follows the massive offensive against Fallujah, in
which at least 54 U.S. troops were killed and 425 wounded.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said that recently, other
countries in the Middle East had not contributed enough to the
effort to stem insurgent violence, and an international conference
held Tuesday called on other nations to step up their efforts in
support.
In the wake of that operation, insurgent attacks throughout
central and northern Iraq increased dramatically. Earlier this
month, northern Mosul witnessed a mass insurgent uprising, and some
2,400 U.S. and Iraqi troops were sent in to retake control.
Since the Fallujah offensive began Nov. 8, approximately 850
U.S. service members have been wounded throughout Iraq, bringing
the total for the entire war over 9,000, the Pentagon said
Tuesday.
Despite the casualties, the offensive in Fallujah was
successful, Bee said.
“The insurgents have been moved out of their refuge,
(coalition forces) discovered lots of ammunition, explosives and
weaponry, and have dispersed, if not killed or captured, those
responsible for many terrorist incidents,” he said.
Furthermore, Bee believes the war in Iraq is over, though
violence may continue in some areas.
“The war in Iraq is essentially over (but) the war on
terror is not; the war on insurgency is not over in Iraq,” he
said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.