Articles 10.18.2004

The NY Times (free registration required) reports that Special Forces soldiers and Marines in Ramadi captured 17 alleged insurgents in a night raid. The article provides a first-hand account of the situation in Ramadi.
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The NY Times (Free Registration Required) and the Boston Globe have separate articles evaluating the insurgency.
Some points:
- the number of insurgent attacks are down, but U.S. casualties have risen
- U.S. estimates place the number of insurgents at more than 12,000
- there are widely conflicting interpretations of the nature and organization of the insurgents
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Time Magazine carries a lengthy article detailing the recent operations in Fallujah and Ramadi with first-person accounts of some of the operations.
A few pertinent points:
- In the Fallujah mission that began Thursday, 10.14.2004, the 2nd BCT was situated along the southwest edge of the city. A Marine battalion and an Army tank battalion where in other areas.
- This was not a major offensive as many thought, "but rather an attempt to see how the insurgents inside the city would respond."