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U.S. Bombs Rain South Of Baghdad

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The Washington Post

Published: January 11, 2008

BAGHDAD - In the span of 10 minutes Thursday, American warplanes dropped as much explosive south of Baghdad as they usually do in a month, a thundering barrage of more than 40,000 pounds of bombs intended to blow up stashes of insurgent weapons.

The B-1 bombers and F-16 fighter jets dropped 38 bombs in the opening minutes of the operation, which was aimed at three main areas of Arab Jubour, a rural district on the outskirts of the capital that became a focal point of the U.S. military troop buildup last year.

"This is al-Qaida in Iraq, one of their last safe havens in our area of operations," said Sgt. 1st Class Randal Maynard, a U.S. military spokesman, "and we're going in, choking them out from our region."

The bombing campaign, which targeted caches of roadside bombs first identified by surveillance drones, was the most intensive aerial bombardment in the southern region.

It came as part of the military's overall offensive, Phantom Phoenix, under way now in several parts of the country. While ground forces continued to pursue insurgents in Diyala province north of Baghdad, the warplanes tried to clear the southern territory of the bombs that have regularly destroyed U.S. armored vehicles.

"These were some big IEDs buried in the ground," Maynard said, using the military abbreviation for improvised explosive device.

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