Operation Imposing Law
During these three phrases, efforts will be ongoing to stimulate local economies by creating employment opportunities, initiating reconstruction projects and improving the infrastructure.On 12 April 2007, MG William Caldwell IV announced that fifty-four of the 75 outposts and stations were operating in the capital, and the number could rise to 102."[24] There was a steep decline in violence during the first few days, but American generals were more cautious about making judgments on its success early on, stating that the results will be seen over the course of months.On the same day the Prime Minister gave the statement, insurgents stormed a checkpoint near Baghdad International Airport, killing eight policemen.[33] On 7 March, the Pentagon issued an order that an extra 2,200 military police be sent to Baghdad because of the growing number of captured insurgents.He went on to say that a political solution was necessary in addition to the enhanced security operation in Iraq, and that the process of establishing peace would take months.Also they stated that there was significant reduction in assassinations and kidnappings, and the mortar attacks were down by 50 percent but roadside and car bombings remain at a high level.[35] The subsequent day several artillery rounds were fired into Al Malaki's office nearly striking the prime minister and the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.By the end of March, despite claims by the Iraqi government that the situation was improving in Baghdad and the rest of the country as a result of the operation, Sunni insurgents continued to inflict massive casualties on Iraqi security forces and civilians, as well as U.S. forces with a constant rate of three soldiers dying per day for the past six months.U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell expressed disappointment at the high level of violence in Iraq despite a drop in the overall death toll in Baghdad during the U.S.-Iraqi security sweep that had entered its eighth week.[40] Two days later an insurgent suicide truck bomb attack destroyed the main bridge in north Baghdad's Waziriyah district.The bridge spanning over the Tigris River had been the primary transit point for United States vehicles operating in north Baghdad.[41] On the same day insurgents managed to penetrate the extensive security and fortifications of U.S.-protected Green Zone and detonate a suicide bomb in the Iraqi parliament.On 18 April, five massive car bombs, including two suicide bombers, exploded in mostly Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad killing 198 people and wounding 251 others.Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered the arrest of the Iraqi army colonel who was in charge of security in the area around the Sadriyah market.[45] By the end of April more than 300 members of the Iraqi security forces, around 100 U.S. soldiers and around a dozen British servicemen were reported to have been killed in the whole country during that month.[47] Also, on the same day, Colonel B.D.Farris, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, was wounded by small arms fire and taken out of action while conducting a survey of the barrier being built around a Sunni neighborhood on 1 May.[51] Mid-April operations expanded south to the so-called "Triangle of Death" in Babil province that borders the southern part of Baghdad.[55] U.S. and Iraqi forces launched attacks on Baghdad's northern and southern flanks mid-June to clear out Sunni insurgents, al-Qaida fighters and Shiite militiamen who had fled the capital and Anbar during the four-month-old security operation.Operation Phantom Thunder ended on 14 August with large swathes of insurgent held territory in the south, west, and east of Baghdad coming under coalition control.On 20 September, the number 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, announced that Operation Law and Order had reduced violence in Baghdad by 50%.In the ensuing firefight the general was wounded with minor burns over 20 percent of his body, including his head and right arm and leg.These words came at the same time when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that violence decreasing in the capital was a sign of declining sectarian bloodshed.Also, the sectarian fighting was diminished a great deal, with an average of 6 bodies being found in the city at the end of the operation, in contrast to at least 30 at the beginning in February.The U.S. and Iraqi military were still only managing to hold 40 percent of Baghdad in August when the tide turned after the Mahdi Army declared a cease-fire and large numbers of Sunni insurgent groups switched sides towards the Coalition.
Battle of Baghdad (2006–2008)Iraq WarOperation Phantom ThunderDora sectionBaghdadUnited StatesUnited KingdomPolandAwakening movements in IraqIslamic State of IraqOther Iraqi InsurgentsAbboud QanbarDavid PetraeusJames CowanOutlineTimelineInvasion (2003)Umm QasrAl Faw1st BasraNasiriyahRaid on KarbalaHaditha Dam1st NajafNorthern DelayViking HammerSamawah1st KarbalaAl KutHillahKarbala GapDebecka PassPost-invasion insurgency (2003–2006)Al AnbarKilling of Qusay & Uday Hussein1st RamadanLatifiyaCapture of Saddam HusseinSpring 2004City HallIron Saber1st FallujahSadr City1st RamadiGood FridayHusaybahDanny Boy2nd NajafCIMIC-HouseSamarra2nd FallujahLake ThartharAl Qa'imHadithaSteel CurtainTal Afar2nd RamadiTogether ForwardDiwaniyaCivil war (2006–2008)2nd RamadanSinbadAmarahDiyalaHaifa StreetKarbala Raid3rd NajafU.K. basesBlack EagleBaghdad beltsAlljahBaqubahDonkey IslandShurta NasirPhantom Strike2nd KarbalaPhantom PhoenixInsurgency (2008–2011)2008 Day of AshuraNinevehSpring 20082nd Basra2008 al-Qaeda OffensiveAugurs of ProsperityAbu KamalPalm GroveCamp AshrafUS withdrawal violenceList of bombings during the Iraq War1st Baghdad2nd Baghdad3rd Baghdad1st Nasiriyah‡ 1st Erbil‡ Ashoura1st Mosul4th Baghdad5th BaghdadKarbala & Najaf1st BaqubahSuwaira bombing‡ 1st Al Hillah2nd Erbil‡ Musayyib6th Baghdad‡ 7th Baghdad1st BaladKhanaqin‡ Karbala-Ramadi1st Samarra8th Baghdad9th Baghdad‡ 10th Baghdad11th Baghdad12th Baghdad‡ 13th Baghdad14th Baghdad15th Baghdad‡ 2nd Al Hillah‡ 1st Tal Afar16th Baghdad17th Baghdad2nd & 3rd Karbala2nd Mosul‡ 18th BaghdadMakhmour