Operation Arrowhead In Iraq A Major Success

Another bit of positive news you won't hear the MSM tell you. Arrowhead was a major clearing operation that wrapped up last week in Baghdad. Among some of the successes are ...

American Forces Press Service:

Preventing 3,200 roadside bombs, jailing 42 terrorists, and seizing enough weapons and explosives to outfit an enemy infantry battalion.

Operation Arrowhead was just over a month old, and yielded that much success. You'd think a month long campaign that prevented 3,200 IED's would be big news for the MSM, but if it doesn't explode it isn't worth reporting I guess.

Col. Townsend tallied the operation's gains: three confirmed terrorists killed in close combat, 161 suspects detained for questioning, with 42 of them placed in long-term detention. Two kidnap victims were rescued, after being found chained in empty houses. "Both had been tortured and would surely have been executed eventually," Col. Townsend said.

The most impressive yield of the operation came in terms of 92 weapons caches found during the operation, he said. The troops captured and destroyed 356 small arms, mortars and or rocket-propelled grenades, 147 explosive munitions, three car bombs, two suicide vests, and 143 completed or partial roadside bombs.

They also captured a roadside bomb electronics factory. That wasn't the greatest success of the operation, however.

Col. Townsend cited signs of that progress. Killings and mortar attacks in the district have "dropped off significantly" and Iraqis are moving on with their day-to-day lives. They're cleaning trash and sewage from the streets, reopening markets and moving about on the streets in greater numbers.

They're also taking a stand against violence, he reported, providing more leads through phone and e-mail tip lines.

We lost two soldiers, and one Iraqi soldier, in the operation. Our losses were, of course, reported by our media, but the three terrorists killed, 161 suspects detained, and the 3,200 IED's prevented never made headlines.