[On Sept. 19, at least 40 people were killed in a series of suicide
bombings in Baghdad, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said two car bombs exploded in the Iraqi
capital within minutes during rush hour.]
On Sept. 15, U.S. troops participated in a major counter-insurgency
operation against Al Qaida-aligned forces in Faluja. U.S. forces have also
attacked insurgents in Baghdad and Diyala following the end of combat
op
erations on Sept. 1.
"So our troops were there," Buchanan said. "They were fired upon. They
returned fire. And they performed appropriately throughout."
Officials said Iraq and the U.S. military would continue joint CI
operations. Over the last six months, they said 36 out of the top 44 Al
Qaida operatives hae been killed or captured.
"We believe that's had a significant degradation on their network and on
their ability to recruit, on their ability to get out and garner finances,
and on their ability to provide command and control," Buchanan said.
Officials said the Iraq military initiates all missions and decides on
the participation of its U.S. counterpart. They said U.S. support,
particularly to the Iraq Army's 11th Division, has included air
reconnaissance, situational awareness and combat.
"For example, they help them with intelligence integration," Buchanan
said. "They help them work to improve their ability to fuse intelligence
over several different disciplines rather than just relying on one
discipline like human intelligence."
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