Troops Raid Hospital and Seal Off City in Hunt For Terror Chief

[chlamor]

May 07, 2005

Troops raid hospital and seal off city in hunt for terror chief
From James Hider in Baghdad


AMERICAN soldiers have sealed off the restive city of Ramadi in western Iraq after troops raided its hospital in search of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The raid came after an apparent intelligence report that Iraq’s leading terrorist may be ill.

Residents of the violent Sunni Triangle city, 70 miles west of Baghdad, told The Times that US forces were reinforcing their positions around the city, prohibiting vehicles from entering and allowing passage only by foot through a single checkpoint. The nightly curfew has been brought forward from 10pm to 8pm.

The measures have prompted speculation that US troops are preparing an operation to hunt down al-Zarqawi and other insurgents. “It seems like it’s going to be another Fallujah,” one worried resident said, referring to the US assault on the nearby city last year.

Samir al-Obeidi, an administrator at Ramadi’s hospital, said that American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen raided the hospital on April 28, terrifying patients. “They came after the curfew without prior notice. They started searching all the wards, for men and women. Lots of people were horrified. They didn’t know what was happening,” he said.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1601032,00.html

[uppityperson]

1. Best line of the article "Al-Zarqawi apparently escaped on foot"

Getting closer, ready to turn another corner, bringing democracy through the locked doors of a hospital.

[LynnTheDem]

4. rotflmao!!! *SNORT*

Well THAT was a waste of an entire can of soda.

On the plus side, I won't have to worry about any nose hairs for a few years.

[daleo]

2. Perhaps this explains the Zarqawi reports.

If Bush wants to 'teach Ramadi a lesson', like he did with Fallujah, a pile of Zarqawi propaganda will make it go down better to a lot of Americans. Along the lines of - "Yes, the town had to be destroyed but it was acceptable because of the high stakes target we were after."

[chlamor]

3. falluja redux n/t