Surge is going great...

[Lanya]

DAMBUSTERS 2
EXCLUSIVE Tornados of famous 617 bomber squadron blitz rebels in Basra
By Rupert Hamer Defence Corresondent 12/08/2007

RAF Tornado RAF Tornado (pic:DPL)

   

Raf war planes have dramatically stepped up bombing raids over Iraq in a desperate bid to relieve Britain's besieged troops.

Tornado pilots from the famous 617 "Dambusters" Squadron have dropped "dozens" of laser-guided bombs on insurgent positions.

The massive escalation in air strikes follows the withdrawal of British troops from two out of three bases in Basra.

Now 500 troops left in the south of the city are under siege and get ambushed as soon as they leave their base.

Tornado GR4 bombers are flying almost constantly to keep the rebels at bay and protect Britain's dwindling force levels.

And military chiefs are sending a further two bombers to Iraq amid fears that levels of violence will increase even further.

In November the last remaining British base in the city, Basra Palace, will be handed back to the Iraqi security forces.

After that virtually all the remaining 5,000 soldiers will be based outside the city at Basra Air Station - which is now being attacked up to four times a day.

Tornado pilot Flight Lieutenant Gav Fryer revealed that the number of bombs dropped in the last four weeks has been double those dropped in the previous three years.

"Some missions have been preplanned strikes on weapons caches and others in support of troops who are under attack," he said. "The focus is on the Basra and Baghdad areas."

Writing in an RAF magazine, Flt Lt Fryer told how on one occasion he had flown over Baghdad for eight hours - and was then diverted to Basra to defend troops under fire there. He then had to refuel before continuing to fly over Basra for another two hours.

Home base for 617 Squadron is RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. In World War II, under the leadership of Guy Gibson, the squadron famously dropped Barnes Wallis's "bouncing bombs" to destroy damns protecting Germany's Ruhr Valley.

Nowadays the pilots fly Tornados instead of Lancasters and are armed with Sidewinder missiles and "bunker buster" bombs.

The increased workload on the pilots and crews comes as the scale of violence against British troops in Basra reaches its highest level yet. Four British soldiers were killed last week, among them 20-year-old Warrior armoured vehicle driver Pte Craig Barber of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Welsh.

Last night an RAF spokesman said: "The RAF is contributing to the Iraq coalition forces' operations in Iraq - either in reaction to insurgent forces or in support of the operations mounted to counter violence and terrorism."

He insisted that civilian casualties are being kept to a minimum. "Our aircraft use the latest technology to minimise unnecessary damage and greatly reduce civilian risk," he said.

TORNADO GR4

Max Speed: 1,511mph.

Max Altitude: 50,000ft.

Crew: Two.

First British jet to use high-tech Storm Shadow bomb in 2003 in Iraq. Also armed with sidewinder missiles and Paveway "bunker buster" bombs.

AVRO LANCASTER

Max Speed: 287mph.

Max Altitude: 24,500 feet.

Crew: Seven.

Most successful RAF bomber in World War Two and mainstay of British raids. Famously used in attacks featured in The Dambusters movie.
http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/sunday/2007/08/12/dambusters-2-98487-19613168/

[Plane]

This sounds like a rough day for the guys on the receveing end of all that Tornado attention.

[Christians4LessGvt]

Coalition, Iraqi forces launch Operation Phantom Strike
August 13, 2007

Operation designed to uproot al Qaeda and Iranian-backed terror groups

With one month left before General David Petraeus? report to Congress on the status of progress in Iraq, Iraqi and Coalition forces have launched the next phase of security operations designed to pursue al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Iranian?backed Special Groups terror cells and the rogue Mahdi Army elements. Operation Phantom Strike was launched today, and ?consists of simultaneous operations throughout Iraq focused on pursuing remaining AQI terrorists and Iranian-supported extremist elements.?

Operation Phantom Strike follows Operations Fardh Al-Qanoon (the Baghdad Security Plan) and Phantom Thunder, which pushed Coalition and Iraqi security forces into areas previously unsecured, as well as ejected terror groups from safe havens in Baghdad, and Northern Babil, eastern Anbar, Salahadin and Diyala provinces. During this time, Iraqi and Coalition forces conducted daily, intelligence driven raids against al Qaeda in Iraq and the Iranian-backed cells nationwide, with a heavy emphasis on cells in Baghdad, Diyala, and central and northern Iraq.

The Baghdad Security Plan and Phantom Thunder can be considered shaping operations for Phantom Strike. Once Iraqi and Coalition forces moved into previous no-go zones, they have established local security forces and intelligence networks able to pinpoint the makeup and location of the Sunni and Shia extremist groups. Phantom Strike will be a largely intelligence driven operation.

Signs of Phantom Strike could be seen in the Multinational Forces Iraq press releases issued over the past week. Prior to the past week, there were one or two press releases a day on raids against al Qaeda and the Iranian-backed Shia extremists. Over the past week, multiple press releases announcing numerous raids were issued. Iraqi and Coalition forces were clearly ramping up operations based on intelligence gains.

While the scope of the operation has yet to be disclosed, Operation Phantom Strike will likely focus on securing several key areas. One critical area is north and east of Baqubah in Diyala province, where al Qaeda in Iraq has conducted vicious attacks against small villages in an effort to stir up sectarian violence. Security forces will also strike in the Hamrin mountains, a region that stretches from Diyala to Kirkuk where al Qaeda is believed to be basing operations. Iraqi and Coalition forces have been striking hard at al Qaeda cells in Kirkuk and Mosul in the north. Iraqi and Coalition forces will also look to consolidate gains in Northern Babil.

Operations against the Shia extremists will be more difficult. Iraqi and Coalition forces have conducted an aggressive campaign to weed out individual Special Groups and Mahdi Army cells in Baghdad (particularly Sadr City), Diwaniyah, Amara, Najaf and elsewhere in the south. However it is unclear how aggressive the Iraqi government will be against the Mahdi Army. If the gloves are off, large battles may take place in Diwaniyah, Amara, Najaf, Kufa, Sadr City, Basra and throughout the south.

http://billroggio.com/archives/2007/08/coalition_iraqi_forc.php

[Michael Tee]

<<This sounds like a rough day for the guys on the receveing end of all that Tornado attention.>>

They can take it, plane.  Your side'll be the one that breaks first.  Despite all the fancy weaponry.  What they have that you don't, you can't buy at the arms bazaar.  It's called balls.

[sirs]

Gotta admire the apparent infatuation Tee has for those who openly and purposely target men women and children, be they in mosques or markets, whererever they can inflict the greatest amount of civilian death possible.  Gotta love his apparent infatuation with those who kill in the name of their God, along as they take some Americans along with them.  Oh, and let's not forget his absolute admiration of their hiding among civilians  Yea, great balls

[Michael Tee]

<<Gotta admire the apparent infatuation Tee has for those who openly and purposely target men women and children, be they in mosques or markets, whererever they can inflict the greatest amount of civilian death possible. >>

Oh, please stop with this hypocritical weeping and wailing over civilian casualties.  The FACT of the matter is that most of them could not have and would not have occurred had Bush not decided to invade Iraq and then to stay until they "got democracy," i.e. accepted a subservient government that would take its orders from Washington and/or Tel Aviv.  Never mind the 500,000 Iraqi children killed by the U.S.-inspired boycott prior to the invasion.  The mystery is who sirs thinks is still fooled by his ridiculous shedding of crocodile tears for the "poor civilian" casualties.  The vast majority of the dead and mangled Iraqis can thank George W. Bush for their plight, and nobody else.

<<Gotta love his apparent infatuation with those who kill in the name of their God . . .>>

Yeah, how stupid, compared to Americans, who kill in the name of "democracy" and hide the name of their real god, "oil" about as well as Bush can hide his smirk.

<< . . .  along as they take some Americans along with them.>>

Oh, yeah, the God-damn NERVE they have to kill the invaders of their homeland.  Just who do those dumb rag-heads think they are?

<<  Oh, and let's not forget his absolute admiration of their hiding among civilians >>

Uh, HIDING among civilians?  They LIVE there, or did you forget?  They are among THEIR people, not YOUR people.  I really gotta laugh, because every time the U.S. bombs the shit out of a civilian target, they automatically claim that the guerrillas were "hiding among" the target people.  Well, if they were "hiding" there, seems like somebody found them, what I'd like to know is, once they were found, who exactly put a gun to the Americans' heads and forced them to bomb a house in which guerrillas were sheltering amongst innocent civilians?  Typical chickenshit American excuses, "they MADE me do it."   Never once, never once taking responsibility for their own actions.  Always someone else's fault.  Bullshit.  Again the excuse has fooled nobody, except maybe sirs.

<< Yea, great balls>>

We'll see.