Articles 12.5.2004

The Desert Strike FRG page has an article on "Operation Turkey Thunder," an ambitious effort to provide a warm Thanksgiving day meal to the 1-503rd Infantry at Combat Outpost, Ramadi, which does not have large-scale cooking facilities. The 1-9th Infantry provided support for the convoy of food, including several M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M-1 Abrams Tanks.
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The associated Press has an update on the situation around Iraq, including one incident in Ramadi: "Mortars rounds fired toward a U.S. military base in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, missed their mark Sunday and landed on a residential area, killing an Iraqi woman and a child, hospital officials said."
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The UPI picked up on a story from Middle East Newsline that claims "U.S. military forces in Iraq have set their sights on the city of Ramadi, under the control of Sunni insurgents." The article claims U.S. Forces would "assault insurgency strongholds in the western city of Ramadi". The article is centered on a quote from Gen. George Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq. The quote first appeared in a DoD News release. In the context of the DoD story, Gen. Casey is discussing security with the quote in question, not an offensive.

(blog author's note: I try hard to stay away from commentary, but in this case the UPI/Middle East Newsline story doesn't seem to give any new evidence for an impending large-scale assault on Ramadi beyond the current and previously reported efforts.)
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Other stories from the region:
- Boston Globe (reg req'd): Returning Fallujans will face clampdown
- Associated Press: Fallujans pose challenge to Iraq Gov't