American Cleansing in Iraq

The American command decided to take measures to prevent attacks on US forces

According to the scanty information that comes from Iraq, both the American command and the American political administration did not expect the things that are currently happening there. Apparently, a series of attacks on American servicemen in Iraq has made the US-led administration pay attention to those events. The threat to lose control over the country seems to be absolutely real, since a large-scale military operation has been launched in Iraq. Thousands of soldiers, tens of planes, helicopters and military boats take part in "Operation Peninsula Strike." The operation is being conducted near the town of Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad. A spokesman for the American command said that the goal of the operation was to cease attacks on US Army soldiers in Baghdad and on its outskirts. More than 400 suspects have already been detained in the raid, two Iraqi men have been killed in a skirmish.

Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, does not stand aside, as usual. Making a speech in front of the members of the American foreign policy council, Chalabi started talking about his favorite subject - Saddam Hussein's whereabouts. As the Iraqi official said, the former Iraqi dictator might be hiding in the places, where Americans were conducting the "Peninsula Strike" operation. Yet, it seems that Americans do not believe Chalabi. Pentagon officials say that they do not have the true information on Saddam's whereabouts.

It is hard to say, which effect the current operation might produce in Iraq. One does not know for sure, if all arrested suspects participated in subversive activities against US forces. In fact, the "Operation Peninsula Strike" reminds of what they call "cleansing" procedures in Chechnya.