BAGHDAD, Iraq — Soldiers arrested 18 people in a deadlymissile barrage last month that Deputy Defense Secretary PaulWolfowitz narrowly escaped, officials said Sunday. United Stateswarplanes bombed near a center of Iraqi resistance, and themilitary said it was intensifying the fight against insurgentsafter increasingly bloody attacks.
The U.S. command also announced the death of another soldier,killed late Saturday when his vehicle struck a land mine inBaghdad. A senior Iraqi official warned that mounting violence maydelay steps toward a new constitution, considered a major conditionfor returning the country to full Iraqi rule.
Lt. Col. George Krivo, spokesman for the U.S. command, said the18 suspects were arrested in Baghdad by the 1st Armored Divisionbut gave no further details. The missile attack Oct. 27 against theAl-Rasheed Hotel killed a U.S. colonel and injured 18 others.
Wolfowitz, one of the architects of the Iraq war, was staying inthe hotel but escaped injury. The barrage was part of a series ofescalated attacks over the past two weeks, including the downing ofa Chinook helicopter Nov. 2 in Fallujah in which 16 soldiers werekilled and 21 injured.
The downing of the Chinook and the crash Friday of a Black Hawkhelicopter in Tikrit made the first week of November the bloodiestfor American forces since President Bush declared an end to majorcombat May 1.
With the start of the holy month of Ramadan on Oct. 27 in Iraq,U.S. forces lifted curfews in Baghdad and Tikrit and scaled downnighttime raids to avoid angering ordinary Iraqis at a time ofheightened religious sentiment.
But after the wave of attacks that began around the start ofRamadan, the military now appears to be returning to a more robustoperation.
The military has launched a new, massive response tactic aimedat taking the fight to the insurgents, officials said. Krivo saidthere was a ''new focus'' in the north and west of Baghdad to findareas where Saddam loyalists ''and other noncompliant forces areoperating.''
''We have picked up the intensity of our offensive operationsand this is specifically manifested with the larger numbers oftroops in the 82nd Airborne and other forces to the west,'' Krivosaid, without giving details on the numbers of troops.
''We are on offensive operations,'' a U.S. officer said oncondition of anonymity. ''You can expect to see an increase in thelevel of intensity and the amount of activity that is occurring,especially in those 'challenging' areas.''
''Part of warfare is coercion and affecting the hearts and mindsof the enemy and certainly a show of force is a tool that can beused by commander,'' the official said.
As part of the new tactic, U.S. jets dropped three 500-poundbombs in the Tikrit area and blasted at least three buildings earlySaturday after the Black Hawk crashed -- apparently due to hostilefire.
Late Saturday, U.S. F-16 jets dropped three 500-pound bombs inthe Fallujah area after a series of ambushes wounded threeparatroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division, the militarysaid.
In the northern city of Mosul, a senior U.S. commander blamedthe attacks on a ''marriage of convenience'' between members of theformer regime, criminals and foreign fighters.
''There are former regime members who want to disrupt thesuccesses achieved here in the north,'' Maj. Gen. David Petraeus,commander of the 101st Airborne Division, said. There are also''criminals ... who are willing to be guns for hire,'' as well as''some foreigners who have come in small numbers and have beeninvolved in this as well.''
In Baghdad, meanwhile, three mortars exploded late Sunday inBaghdad's Karrada district, damaging a house but causing noinjuries, police said. One officer speculated the target was theTechnology University a short distance away.
A U.S. patrol came under small arms fire late Sunday in thecapital's Kamal Jumblatt Square. There were no casualties and theU.S. troops drove away immediately without shooting back.
Also Sunday, Iraq's interim foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari,said he expected the Iraqi government to meet a U.N. SecurityCouncil deadline of Dec. 15 for submitting a timetable for a newIraqi constitution and national elections.
''However, those timetables depend on the security situation,and if the security deteriorates, we will not be able to adhere tosuch commitments,'' Zebari said after a meeting with SpanishForeign Minister Ana Palacio.
A new constitution would enable Iraqis to govern themselves andhasten the day when American and other coalition forces could leavethe country in the hands of a stable and democratically electedadministration.
The United States and its coalition partners consider adoptionof the new constitution and national elections as key steps in thereestablishment of a sovereign Iraq.
However, the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council has notdecided how to chose the delegates to a constitutional conventionthat will write the document. Leaders of the majority Shiite Muslimcommunity want the delegates chosen in a national election,something U.S. officials believe would take too long.
Other proposals have included the Governing Council selectingdelegates from a list of nominees submitted by regional and localleaders.
In Tikrit, a U.S. official said Sunday that an American majorgeneral was aboard a military helicopter that flew with the BlackHawk that crashed there last week, killing six soldiers. The BlackHawk was apparently shot down by insurgents.
The helicopter carrying the general, whom the military refusedto identify, landed safely, according to Maj. Josslyn Aberle,spokeswoman of the 4th Infantry Division.
The Black Hawk helicopter, however, burst into flames Friday andplummeted into a grassy field on the eastern bank of the TigrisRiver, military officials said, citing witnesses. Two of the deadwere from the Department of the Army headquarters at the Pentagon,the military said.
~Associated Press correspondents Mariam Fam in Mosul, JimGomez in Tikrit and Bassem Mroue in Baghdad contributed to thisreport.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
