Operation Imposing Law
| date | February 14th to November 24th, 2007 |
|---|---|
| place | Iraq |
| output | Coalition victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Iraqi rebels |
|
| Commander | |
|
unknown |
|
| losses | |
|
324 fallen (US) |
1,218 fighters killed |
.svg){kind=small}
When Operation Imposing Law , also known as Operation Law and Order , there was a security offensive, jointly organized by coalition forces and Iraqi security forces in Baghdad was carried out. In the course of the plans for the "surge" troop increases, Baghdad was divided into nine security zones, all of which should then be cleared of Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias. In addition, security positions should be set up there for future operations, which should also protect the reconstruction projects. The US commander in Iraq , General David Petraeus , went so far as to say that Iraq would be "damned" if this plan failed. Various American congressmen have described the operation as an important phase of the US presence in Iraq.
Background and planning
On February 10, 2007, General David Petraeus replaced the previous commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq , General Casey. Almost at the same time, Admiral William Fallon also became the new CENTCOM commander. The operation was led by Iraqi General Abboud Qanbar , a veteran of the first two Gulf Wars. However, it was only a compromise solution as the first proposal by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been rejected by the US Army. On the first day of the operation, new checkpoints were set up in Baghdad and more vehicle controls were carried out. In addition, the first patrols began through some parts of the city. The units should advance from district to district in order to curb the violence by the insurgents in the 6 million metropolis. The operation was first referred to as Operation Imposing Law , but the name was later dropped because the acronym OIL was too reminiscent of the criticism by many organizations that the US occupied Iraq only to exploit its oil supplies.
- Planned procedure
At a press conference on February 16, 2007, US General Joseph Fil described the operation as follows:
"This new plan involves three basic parts: clear, control and retain. The first objective within each of the security districts in the Iraqi capital is to clear out extremist elements neighborhood by neighborhood in an effort to protect the population. And after an area is cleared, we're moving to what we call the control operation. Together with our Iraqi counterparts, we'll maintain a full-time presence on the streets, and we'll do this by building and maintaining joint security stations throughout the city. This effort to re-establish the joint security stations is well under way. The number of stations in each district will be determined by the commanders on the ground who control that area. An area moves into the retain phase when the Iraqi security forces are fully responsible for the day-to-day security mission. At this point, coalition forces begin to move out of the neighborhood and into locations where they can respond to requests for assistance as needed. During these three phrases, efforts will be ongoing to stimulate local economies by creating employment opportunities, initiating reconstruction projects and improving the infrastructure. These efforts will be spearheaded by neighborhood advisory councils, district advisory councils and the government of Iraq. "
The operation
As part of the Baghdad Security Plan (BSP) , coalition forces set up positions in key central locations in Baghdad and arrested a number of suspects.
The nine security zones correspond to the respective administrative districts and are as follows: Adhamiyah, Karkh, Karadah (Kharadah), Kadhimyah, Mansour, Sadr City (Thawr), Rasheed, Rusafa and Tisa Nissan.
Also known as Joint Security Sites , these posts are occupied by the Iraqi military and police and are used to control the respective districts. According to a statement by a US general on April 12, 2007, there are already 54 active positions in these positions in Baghdad, and the number should be increased further to 75.
February
On the second day of the operation, US troops and Iraqi units continued to penetrate Sunni strongholds in some parts of Baghdad. In the Doura district there were delays because various car bombs were detonated. In one incident, 4 civilians were killed when an explosive device exploded near a US patrol. Since the operation initially aroused little opposition, the Iraqi Prime Minister already described it as a "brilliant success". There was already a noticeable decrease in violence in Baghdad, but the US generals were still very cautious in their assessment in this early phase of the operation, as the long-term effects could not yet be assessed.
On February 17, a spokesman for the Iraqi government announced that the number of robberies and murders in Baghdad had already fallen by 80%. He added that significantly fewer bodies were found each day than before. It used to be up to 50 a day, now only about 20 in 48 hours.
The first serious attack since the operation began on February 18, killing 63 people in an explosion in a busy market. In the next few days, the insurgents carried out further counter-attacks, including one US checkpoint destroyed in an attack, killing two US soldiers and injuring 29.
On February 24, the Iraqi Prime Minister announced that over 400 insurgents had already been killed. However, this contradicted a statement by an Iraqi general who had previously spoken of 42 dead and 246 prisoners. On the same day, insurgents raided a checkpoint, killing eight Iraqi police officers. There were also two car bomb attacks.
A day later, a female suicide bomber killed 41 people on the premises of Mustansiriyah University, and rockets hit a Shiite district, killing more than 12 people. The leader of the Mahdi army, Muqtada al-Sadr , which was also the target of the operation, said that the attacks would continue and that the security offensive was doomed to fail.
On February 25, there was heavy fighting between the Iraqi army and insurgents, with 13 Iraqi soldiers and 11 insurgents killed. However, a further 219 suspects were arrested.
The next day, the insurgents again demonstrated their power when a bomb exploded under the lectern where the Iraqi vice president was delivering a speech. The bomb only missed him by about a minute; he had just finished his speech. However, 10 civilians died in the explosion.
March
On March 3, 2007, an Iraqi general was kidnapped by insurgents. He should take over the post of Iraqi Defense Minister in the next few months. He had already been a general in Saddam Hussein's time. However, he was released a day later when Iraqi troops stormed the house where he was being held.
On March 4, US troops and Iraqi forces entered the Sadr City district , the stronghold of the Mahdi Army, for the first time .
On March 5, a suicide bomber killed 38 people and injured 105 others in a book market.
On March 7, the Pentagon announced that it would be sending an additional 2,200 MPs to Baghdad to deal with the increasing number of prisoners. On the same day, 12 police officers and 10 civilians were killed in an attack on a police station.
On March 8, General Petraeus announced that there was no purely military solution to the insurgents' problem. He went on to say that a political solution must also be sought and that the process of stabilizing peace will take months.
On March 14, the Iraqi military announced that 265 civilians had been killed since the operation began in Baghdad. In the month before the operation it was over 1,440. In addition, there was a noticeable reduction in attacks and kidnappings. Mortar attacks would have been reduced by 50%, but booby traps would still be used very intensively. All in all, however, the statistics show the effectiveness of the operation.
By March 17, a total of 15 security stations, which were jointly occupied by US troops and Iraqis, had been set up. Another 15 stations are planned. However, one of the stations was destroyed shortly after the operation began, and three others were besieged by insurgents. There were newspaper reports about the dangerous situation in these bases. The following day, several artillery shells were fired at the Iraqi Prime Minister's office, which nearly killed the Prime Minister and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon .
On March 23, the deputy prime minister was seriously injured in a suicide attack on a mosque. It is believed that this attack, as well as the attempt on the Vice President last month, involved insiders .
A major car bomb attack was carried out on a police station in Baghdad on March 24 , killing 33 police officers. Heavy fighting broke out the next day, killing another 12 Iraqi security forces. 6 insurgents were killed. On the same day, strong mortar attacks began on the so-called Green Zone . These are the most precise and strongest attacks on the Green Zone since the beginning of the war. An American soldier and a mercenary were killed and another 15 people were injured, some seriously.
Until the end of March, the insurgents were still able to inflict heavy losses on the coalition forces and the Iraqi security forces, although the Iraqi side repeatedly stressed the success of the operation and the improvement in the security situation. In the previous 6 months, an average of around 3 US soldiers had been killed every day. In addition, around 2,400 civilians and 300 Iraqi soldiers were killed across the country in March. However, over 1000 insurgents were captured and large quantities of weapons were seized. According to the government, thousands of civilians from refugee camps have already returned to Baghdad because the security situation had improved. In addition, significantly fewer families would leave the capital each day, instead of 350 only around 25 per day. However, the situation is presented somewhat differently in an article in the Newsweek newspaper : so far only a few have returned, and most of them only because of a cash payment of 250,000 dinars offered by the government .
At that time, only 40% of the reinforcements had arrived in Iraq. The US High Command announced that while the number of death squad attacks has decreased, car bomb and booby traps are still high. US General William Caldwell said he was disappointed with the continuing violence, even though the security offensive had been going on for eight weeks.
April
In April there was further heavy fighting between US forces and the insurgents in Baghdad. The Shiite leader Muktada al-Sadr called on his militia to stop attacks on Iraqi security forces and instead step up attacks on foreign troops. By April 9, 22 US soldiers had been killed in Baghdad and 43 in Iraq.
The heaviest fighting in the operation erupted on April 10 when US forces encountered heavily armed insurgents in the Fadhil neighborhood . During some routine house searches , the fighting escalated. Combat helicopters called for support had to turn back due to the strong defensive fire and could only briefly intervene in the fighting. 4 Iraqi soldiers, 16 insurgents and one child were killed in the course of the day. 16 US soldiers were wounded and several helicopters were badly damaged.
Two days later, a suicide bomber and his explosives truck destroyed an important bridge in the Waziriyah district . The bridge had previously been the primary route for all US troops heading north from Baghdad. The Tigris was now impassable at this point. On the same day, another suicide bomber managed to break into the Green Zone and blow himself up in the Iraqi parliament. One MP was killed and another seven seriously injured.
In the second month of the operation, figures were published on April 12th according to which the number of civilians killed in Baghdad fell from 2,871 in the two months before the operation to 1,586. However, there were more murder and car bombing attacks over the next 12 days. Car bombs alone have killed 540 civilians since the operation began in Baghdad. At the same time, the number of deaths outside of Baghdad rose as the insurgents increasingly had to withdraw from the city. However, the total numbers for Iraq fell by about 20% during the first two months of the operation.
On April 16, cabinet members belonging to the Mahdi army withdrew from the government on the orders of al-Sadr because the security situation remained poor and a timetable for the American withdrawal had still not been established. The Maliki government said it would not let it down and elect new representatives to unite the Iraqi people.
On April 18, there was a series of 5 car bomb attacks, which exploded mainly in Shiite parts of Baghdad. 198 people died and another 251 were injured. The deadliest attack in this series occurred in a market in the Shiite Sadriyah district, where 140 people were killed. On the orders of the Iraqi Prime Minister, the colonel responsible for this district was placed under arrest. 240 people were killed that day, according to the Associated Press , the highest number of casualties since the statistic was introduced in May 2005.
On April 25, the UN reported that despite the initial successes, the number of civilians killed and violence in Baghdad had not decreased.
300 Iraqi security forces, around 100 US soldiers and around a dozen British soldiers were killed in Iraq during this month.
Fight in the province of Babil
In mid-April, the fighting spread south into the so-called "triangle of death". Heavy fighting broke out there, with 20 US soldiers killed and three more captured over the course of a month. The prisoners were executed a short time later.
May and June
On May 2, another US brigade with 3,700 soldiers arrived in Baghdad for reinforcement.
A day later, several missiles hit the Green Zone, killing four Filipino employees. On the same day, the commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division , Colonel BD Farris was wounded by firearms while examining a protective wall that had been built around a Sunni neighborhood.
From May 1 to May 11, 234 bodies were found in Baghdad and the surrounding area, 70.8% more than in the same period of the previous month. It became apparent that the death squads were now operating more intensely after withdrawing in February.
On May 18, US troops were involved in fighting in which Azahr al-Dulaimi was killed. He was the mastermind behind a raid in Karbala in January 2007 when five US soldiers were killed. Four of you were executed after brief imprisonment.
In Iraq, 2,155 civilians died in May, 30% more than the previous month, about the same number as in March. Furthermore, 335 Iraqi security forces and 125 coalition soldiers died. All but three were US soldiers.
On May 23, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that the surge in troops would peak in the summer. He expected the insurgents to step up their attacks in order to persuade US troops to retreat .
Towards the end of the month it became known that the US military was in contact with some insurgent groups in order to negotiate a ceasefire . In addition, the military said that the successes of the "surge" will probably only be apparent after September. The military had previously stated that they would be able to see in September whether the operation was going well.
The US offensive came to a standstill in June . The number of civilians killed and violence in general continued to rise. According to a study by the US military, the insurgents had brought almost all previously liberated targets back under their control. The US troops and the Iraqi military would only be able to protect and permanently control the population in 146 of the 457 neighborhoods in Baghdad. Thus only about a third of the capital was under the control of the coalition. The coalition commanders blamed the high number of desertions and mutinies in the Iraqi army. It was suspected that many security forces would also secretly collaborate with the Mahdi Army and launch attacks on US troops.
Another indication that the success of Operation Law and Order was short-lived was a new report by the US Department of Defense , according to which the number of civilians killed daily was higher than before the operation. Around 100 Iraqi civilians were killed every day in June. In addition, around 1,000 insurgent attacks were counted per week, the majority of which were directed against US troops. In this respect, the previous goals of troop increase had not been achieved, which, according to the Department of Defense, would lead to further resistance in the US Congress against the increase.
Operation Phantom Thunder
Main article: Operation Phantom Thunder
US troops and the Iraqi army started further operations in the north and south of Baghdad to catch insurgents who were fleeing and to conquer their areas of retreat. The US troops wanted to take advantage of the arrival of the last additional brigade as part of the "surge" and start a major offensive. In the north, an operation began against al-Qaeda positions near Bakuba in Diyala province , where the fighting had been going on for months. In the south, the operation was directed against the Salman Pak region and against Arab Jabour . Arab Jabour is considered an important hub for insurgents who want to enter Baghdad. At the end of the first day of Operation Marne Torch , two US soldiers and around 30 insurgents had died. About 200 people were arrested by coalition forces. The Operation Phantom Thunder ended on 14 August. Large areas around Baghdad have been brought under the control of the coalition. However, the heavy fighting in Baghdad itself continued.
September
At the end of September 2007, the US military issued two reports depicting the success of Operation Law and Order . On September 20, US General Raymond Odierno announced that the operation had reduced violence in Baghdad by around 50%. The number of suicide attacks had also fallen to a new low. In addition, another report was published on September 30th, which revealed a dramatic drop in the number of US Army casualties . However, even these reports could not undermine the resistance to the controversial increase in troops. In addition, as of September 21, 2007, the insurgents still had about 46% of Baghdad under their control.
Assassination attempt on the Polish ambassador
On October 3, the Polish ambassador was the target of an assassination attempt. General Edward Pietrzyk was on his way to the embassy in his convoy when he was caught in a well-prepared ambush. The convoy was first attacked with three bombs hidden by the roadside, then the insurgents opened fire. In the course of the battle, the ambassador suffered burns on 20% of his skin surface, including his face and arms. A Polish soldier and two civilians died in the attack and a further eleven people were injured. Finally, helicopters from the security company Blackwater Worldwide arrived and evacuated the ambassador and the rest of the staff. A total of three armored vehicles were destroyed in the attack.
Results
In November 2007, the Iraqi troops spokesman announced that the fall in violence would allow the government to reopen 10 streets that had previously been closed for security reasons. He also said that the government will soon end the nine-month operation. At the same time, the Iraqi Prime Minister spoke of clear successes against the violence in Baghdad.
On November 24, 2007 it was announced that 5,000 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division , could be withdrawn from Diyala Province. This effectively ended the so-called "surge" of the US troops and Operation Imposing Law in Baghdad.
At the start of the operation in February, coalition forces had only about 20% of Baghdad under their control. After months of heavy street fighting, the city became safer and the coalition now controlled about 55% of the city. The daily murders could almost be stopped completely, at the beginning around 30 bodies were found in Baghdad every day, in November only six. In August the coalition only controlled 40% of the capital, but with the armistice declared by the Mahdi army and other groups, the situation could be turned in the coalition's favor. At the end of the operation, only a small area in southern Baghdad was in the hands of al-Qaeda , and in the northeast the Mahdi army continued to control the Sadr City district . But although the operation was now officially over, there were further attacks by the insurgents. On November 23, the day before the end of the operation, a bomb exploded in a market, killing 15 civilians. It was the worst attack in two months, as the heavy fighting had virtually ceased in September. A total of around 7,500 civilians were killed during Operation Imposing Law in Baghdad, and around 1,200 insurgents were also killed. The coalition lost more than 870 soldiers, including 324 members of the US Army. More than 1,000 US soldiers were wounded in the course of the operation. The intensity of the fighting is also evident from the fact that four coalition generals had to be recorded as losses: the Iraqi brigadier general Kamal Thair was killed on July 24 in the Kadmiya district, and an American, an Iraqi and a Polish general were injured.
Web links
- news.bbc.co.uk (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ weeklystandard.com
- ↑ Violence in Baghdad: USA are planning military strategy change. In: Spiegel Online . October 20, 2006, accessed June 10, 2018 .