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U.S. Crackdown Is Timed to Upcoming Elections

Jan-23-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

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By Louise Roug and Patrick J. McDonnell, LA Times

MOSUL, Iraq-- U.S. forces have been mounting aggressive raids, patrols and other operations to crack down on insurgents in Sunni Muslim enclaves throughout northern and central Iraq in advance of next weekend's scheduled national elections.

Hundreds of suspected insurgents have been arrested, and large caches of arms have been seized as U.S. forces have targeted alleged bombmakers and other elements of the armed rebellion.

The large-scale roundups have contributed to a surge in prisoners in Abu Ghraib and other U.S. lockups, where almost 8,000 detainees are being held -- a new high.

The crackdown has been designed to foil major strikes that could disrupt Iraq's watershed vote, slated for Jan. 30.

"We want to eliminate as many of these guys as possible to stabilize things for the election," said Capt. Sean Kuehl, assistant intelligence officer for the 2nd battalion, 5th Marine regiment, 1st Marine Division, which is based in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Nowhere are the results of the crackdown more dramatic than in this northern city of almost 2 million, which was on the brink of complete lawlessness a month ago. Once a model city of the U.S. occupation, Mosul has since become a breeding ground of the insurgency. [...]

In the past month, U.S. troop strength in Mosul has been increased by one-third; the Iraqi military presence has been doubled. The combined U.S. and Iraqi forces have implemented a forceful policy of "boots on the ground" -- more raids, more foot patrols, enhanced policing of the city -- that has reduced attacks dramatically. Some 300 suspected militants have been arrested this month here. Many others have been killed.

"We're dismantling a lot of them," said Col. Robert Brown, commander of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division.

Among those arrested recently are 11 Iraqi insurgents suspected of involvement in the beheadings of abductees, Interior Minister Falah al-Nakib said this weekend.


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