New weapon to take out Islamonazis & new operation to kill em in Iraq

BAGHDAD — The newest addition to the U.S. Army’s artillery arsenal was successfully fired recently during Operation Restoring Rights in Tall Afar, Iraq, and Operation Sayaid in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province.

Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 13th Field Artillery Regiment used the Guided Multiple-Launch Rocket System to fire eight guided rockets from a distance of more than 50 kilometers at two insurgent strongholds in Tall Afar Sept. 9 and 10, killing 48 insurgents, said Maj. Jeremy McGuire, deputy of operations, Force Field Artillery, Multi-National Corps - Iraq. Battery A, 3/13 FAR fired another six rockets Sept. 11, destroying the Mish’al Bridge and preventing its use for insurgent forces in the Al Anbar province in western Iraq, McGuire added.

Production of the GMLRS began more than 18 months ago at Fort Sill, Okla., and 3rd Bn., 13th FAR has been training with the system since June 2004. It was designed to reduce the amount of collateral damage in combat, giving commanders on the ground the ability to take out a terrorist or insurgent target accurately and effectively without creating the excess damage other artillery and air-dropped munitions may cause, McGuire said.

When the system was used in Tall Afar Sept. 9 and 10, damage to surrounding buildings was almost non-existent and the target’s destruction was absolute, said Capt. Robert J. Hannah, 3rd Bn., 13th FAR.

“This system is something the artillery community has been working on for some time,” McGuire said. “It was tested in the continental United States, and now we’ve demonstrated in Iraq that we’re extremely effective with it.

“We can be accurate, we can be lethal, and we can also have a very low collateral damage estimate. We can engage the target without compromising the safety of the civilians nearby and also take out the terrorists or insurgencies that engage our forces.”

Operation Restoring Rights’ senior U.S. officer, Col. H. R. McMaster, commander, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, weighed in on the combat effectiveness of the new system. “The GMLRS proved itself in combat in Tall Afar and provided the regiment with tremendous capability. It not only was able to hit enemy positions with a great deal of precision but was able to limit collateral damage.”

The physical and psychological effect the system had on the enemy in Tall Afar — who was trying to either successfully defend against an attack or goad the Coalition into destroying large portions of the city — was extremely valuable, McMaster said.

“This [system] allows ground commanders to precisely attack small targets — even in an urban environment — with even lower collateral damage than precision bombs used by the U.S. Air Force,” said Hannah.

If the aircraft are unable to support a mission because of communication or weather issues, ground commanders will still have access to the new GMLRS system, which provides the same capabilities as the air power, McGuire said.

Before sending ground troops into Tall Afar during Operation Restoring Rights, there were a number of buildings that needed to be destroyed in preparation. Two separate targets were successfully destroyed by the guided MLRS system. The missiles were fired from an area more than 50 kilometers away. The targets were two housing complexes that had been fortified and were known to contain at least 40 insurgents, McGuire said.

“Each of the targets was pre-planned,” said Maj. James Daniels, Regimental Fire Support Officer, 13th FAR. “Before we fire on a target, we have to prove the structure is linked to the insurgency, using intelligence from units in the field that have been engaged from the structure, or have made contact with the terrorists around the structure.”

Troops on the ground engaging the enemy will also benefit from the missile system’s small blast radius and effectiveness, improving their survivability and safety. The troops will be able to maneuver closer toward their aggressors to maintain a better visual of their targets, said Sgt. 1st Class Paul Luketich, senior fire control non-commissioned officer, FFA, MNC-I.

“Basically, it’s a safer munition for our troops and nearby civilians, but a more deadly munition for the insurgents,” Luketich said. “It’s the best munition in the arsenal today.”

The intent of Coalition Forces in combat situations is not to demolish an entire city block to eliminate a single insurgent or group of terrorists. Their intent is to purge the country of insurgency to help stabilize security and improve the quality of life for the citizens of Iraq, McGuire said.

This new missile system helps that cause dramatically. Commanders on the ground will have another option to engage the enemy with, allowing them to make better-informed decisions focused on the safety of innocent civilians as well as effectively countering Iraq’s insurgency, McGuire said.

“We’re engaging terrorists who are reckless and have no regard for civilian life, as they have demonstrated day in and day out,” McGuire said. “It’s very difficult for us to make the population believe that our choice is the best.

“It’s very important that we’ve come up with this weapon. It will help the commanders make the call that will not only accomplish the mission and keep the population safe, but rid the country of terrorists as well.”
** Anything that can blow the shit out of fascist Islamonazis and cut down on the people getting caught in the crossfire is a good thing, especially as it will help stop the BBC banging on about those nasty gun ho Americans.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 1,000 U.S. service members launched an offensive in western Iraq near the Syrian border on Saturday aimed at insurgents from Al-Qaida in Iraq, this country's most feared militant group, the military said.

The operation against "a known terrorist sanctuary" began in the town of Sadah in the western province of Anbar, about eight miles from the Iraq-Syria border, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The offensive also was aimed at stopping foreign insurgents from entering the country from Syria and at improving security in the area before Iraq's Oct. 15 national referendum on the country's draft constitution, the military said.

No civilian or military casualties were immediately reported, and the U.S. military declined to say whether Iraqi forces were taking part in the operation.

Elsewhere, the U.S. military released about 500 Iraqi detainees from the notorious Abu Ghraib prison out the outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday, completing its plan to free a total of more than 1,000 this week in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The releases began Monday with the freeing of more than 500 detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, which gained international notoriety after a number of U.S. military personnel were charged with humiliating and assaulting detainees at the facility.

The Abu Ghraib actions, made at the request of Iraq's government, also appeared to be part of its effort to persuade Iraqis to vote in the Oct. 15 national referendum, especially the country's minority Sunnis.

Many of them oppose the constitution, saying it would give Kurds living in the north and majority Shiites in the south too much independence and control over Iraq's oil wealth, and leave Sunnis isolated in the central and western Iraq.

On Thursday and Friday, Sunni insurgents hit two Shiite towns _ Balad and Hillah _ with brutal bombings that killed more than 110 people, apparently aimed at scaring Shiites away from the crucial constitutional vote. The car bomb attacks seemed staged to kill or maim as many civilians as possible, tearing through busy markets and commercial streets.

On Saturday, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni political group, condemned Balad and Hillah attacks, saying "such sinful acts only serve the schemes of the occupiers" by widening the gap between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiites. The party urged Iraqis "to stop the violence and solve their problems by words, not weapons."

Insurgents have vowed to derail the referendum, and the recent surge of violence has killed at least 200 people _ including 13 U.S. service members _ in the past six days.

That includes a drive-by shooting by suspected insurgents in Baghdad on Saturday that killed Iraqi army Lt. Col. Hatam Baani Mohammed Al-Rubaiee while as he traveling to work in the morning, said police Maj. Falah Al-Mohammadawi.

The Sunni-led al-Qaida in Iraq, the most feared insurgent group, has declared "all-out war" on Shiites, and since a Shiite-majority government took power in Iraq on April 28, suicide bombers have killed at least 1,345 people, according to an Associated Press count.

On Saturday in the western town of Sadah, about 1,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors from Regimental Combat Team-2 began the U.S. military offensive, which was named "Operation Kabda Bil Hadid," or "Operation Iron Fist" in English.

It is aimed at rooting out Al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents and disrupting their support systems in and around the town near the Syrian border, the military said.

In recent months, the insurgents have established a base in Sadah and used it to launch attacks against Iraqi civilians and U.S. and Iraqi in the area, the statement said.

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