U.S. cracks down on insurgent base

? Thousands of U.S. soldiers backed by armored vehicles, helicopter gunships and F-16 fighters swooped down early Wednesday on this ancient city north of Baghdad, seeking to restore control to a community that had become an insurgent stronghold and a brazen challenge to coalition authority.

Some 3,000 troops began rumbling into the historic city hours before daybreak, blasting down doors and sealing off entrances and exits in one of the largest U.S. displays of force in recent months — and an unusual armed sweep into an entire city of 200,000 people.

“We are very much in control of the city right now,” declared Col. Frederick Rudesheim, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team. “Our presence will dictate whatever actions occur in the city.”

Initial casualties were reported to be light — a few residents wounded and no one killed. Despite the expectation of a major battle, there were no large firefights in the early going and little damage to the city.

The operation, dubbed Ivy Blizzard, was described by U.S. military officials as a robust response to an audacious insurgent force in Samarra that has mounted coordinated ambushes on U.S. convoys and also targeted civilians and police working for the U.S.-led coalition.

In late November, for example, dozens of combatants in Samarra opened fire on U.S. troops accompanying two money exchange convoys. The ensuing combat lasted hours and resulted in the death of 54 insurgents, according to the U.S. military, making it one of the bloodiest incidents since major combat in Iraq ended on May 1. Officials and residents of Samarra disputed the U.S. account and said fewer than 10 were killed, mostly civilians.

“Samarra has been a bit of a thorn in our side,” Lt. Col. Nate Sassaman, who heads an infantry battalion, said Wednesday. “It hasn’t come along as quickly as other cities in the rebuilding of Iraq. This operation is designed to bring them up to speed.”

The large-scale offensive was in the planning stages long before the capture on Saturday of deposed President Saddam Hussein a few miles to the north near Tikrit.

Wednesday’s operation is part of a broader U.S. plan that began weeks ago to take the offensive and use its superior arms against the stubborn insurgency that has cost many U.S. lives and slowed reconstruction plans.

Elsewhere in the so-called Sunni Triangle area outside Baghdad, U.S. forces have also bombed buildings deemed enemy strongholds, searched thousands of homes and encircled several entire villages with concertina wire.

“There’s a tremendous satisfaction in conducting this operation on the heels of the capture of Saddam,” Rudesheim said. “It offers hope to the people of Samarra, who have really been starved for the kind of stability that they deserve.”

The major foray, on the heels of Saddam’s capture, appeared to underscore the fact that the war goes on despite the deposed leader’s detention.

U.S. forces arrived with the names and addresses of purported insurgent bomb makers, weapons dealers, recruiters and other operatives, and immediately headed to their homes. About 30 suspected insurgents were taken into custody, officials say.

Samarra was also suspected as a base for foreign fighters, but none was taken into custody in the early part of the operation, officials said.

Indeed, the lack of firefights came as something of a surprise for U.S. soldiers, who were told to be ready for major combat.

“They hyped this place like it was the Wild West,” said Staff Sgt. Tom Walker, 29, while on an infantry patrol Wednesday afternoon.

“We heard there were two factions of foreign fighters, and Fedayeen Saddam,” Walker added, referring to a pro-Saddam paramilitary group heavily involved in the insurgency. “We haven’t seen it yet. Maybe later in the week.”