Monday, November 10, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
BAGHDAD — The U.S. military has orders to accelerate its counter-insurgency offensive in Iraq.
Officials said the Defense Department has directed the U.S. military in Iraq to intensify operations against Al Qaida and Shi'ite insurgents. They said the administration wants to ensure that Iraq becomes stabilized by the time President George Bush leaves office in January 2009.
"The idea is to achieve a strategic change in Iraq before the next president enters office," an official said. "We want him to see that he has inherited a stable Iraq and need not rush into any decision regarding troop levels."
[On Nov. 10, a triple suicide bombing killed at least 28 people in central Baghdad. Officials said the attack was comprised of two suicide car bombings followed by an Al Qaida agent who blew himself up in the crowd of responding police and ambulances.]
Officials said U.S. and Iraqi operations against Al Qaida were taking place around Baghdad and Mosul, two leading strongholds of the Sunni insurgency. On Nov. 5, two Al Qaida operatives were killed in a U.S. air strike. One of the insurgents was said to be a network leader in the Mosul area.
At the same time, the U.S. military reported the capture of 15 Al Qaida suspects. One of the detainees was identified as an expert in improvised explosive devices in Baghdad connected to the insurgency leadership.
"During another round of devastating blows to Al Qaida in Iraq networks, coalition forces captured 22 suspects Friday [Nov. 7] and Saturday [Nov. 8] throughout Iraq," a U.S. military statement said.
Officials said the Pentagon has ordered the advancement of a U.S. troop reduction in Iraq. They said the military intends to deploy 14 combat brigades in Iraq by the end of November 2008, nearly two months ahead of schedule.