Crackdown Starts Getting Results
Yesterday, the Iraqi government began a security operation in Baghdad designed to regain control of the capitol. Iraqi troops and police wearing new, distinctive uniforms hit the streets and began getting results almost at once.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iraqi troops Wednesday uncovered a kidnapping ring, seized weapons — including three rockets — and defused two roadside bombs after beginning a security clampdown on the often lawless streets of Baghdad.
In the first day of the new government's push to restore order in the capital, Iraqi troops also enforced a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. and issued a weapons ban for civilians.
Four insurgents were detained at one checkpoint after three people emerged from a car "screaming for help," said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
"We found eight people that had been kidnapped now for four days that we were able to return back under control of the Iraqi government," Caldwell said. "They worked for an electrical company down south of Baghdad."
Iraq's ministries of Defense and Interior would not give specific numbers on how many troops were stationed across the city Wednesday, but it appeared to be fewer than the 70,000 that the Interior Ministry initially said it would deploy. (Watch the violence that inspired the Baghdad crackdown — 1:56)
Hours after the operation began, President Bush said at a news conference in Washington that 26,000 Iraqi troops and 23,000 Iraqi police will be backed by about 7,200 U.S.-led coalition troops.
"This operation is a joint effort to restore security and rule of law to high-risk areas in the capital city," Bush said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has promised to deploy Iraqi forces to quell a spike in violence and sectarian strife in recent months.
This is the largest operation carried out in Baghdad since Iraq gained its sovereignty in June 2004, said Maj. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharrawi, commander of the forces deployed by the Interior Ministry.
Authorities will beef up the operation in coming days while making efforts not to disrupt the lives of civilians, said Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani.
Asked Wednesday if the Iraqi military and police soon would be able to snuff out the insurgency on their own, Caldwell replied, "I'm not sure they're going to be able to crush anything anytime soon, but they're getting stronger and better each and every day."
This is off to a promising start. OF course, the Washington Post coverage of this focuses on the inconvenience the security measures are causing. They also quote an Iraqi man who says he could care less about convenience if the Iraqi government can stabilize the situation. The crackdown has already freed hostages and defused at least one roadside bomb, while casualties appear to be falling (although it's pretty early on and a bit hard to tell where that is going).
