An Iraqi soldier and a 4th Infantry Division Soldier talk after the initial clearing of their area of operation for the mission. No Coalition Soldier patrolled without Iraqi soldiers present.

A Chinook flies in support of Operation Iron Triangle.

More than 200 Terrorist caught! Wheres th news? Oh thats right, no Americans died or were hurt, no civilians were killed or wounded.

Story and photos by
Spc. Cassandra Groce
133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi army and U.S. Soldiers raided a suspected insurgent training camp during Operation Iron Triangle near Lake Thar Thar, southwest of Tikrit May 9.

Nearly 200 Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division, and about 230 Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team assaulted the complex from CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters into the suspected camp after intelligence sources identified the location as the Muthana Chemical Complex.

The nearly 60-square mile complex was a chemical production facility that was closed by the United Nations after the fall of the former regime.

“Insurgents were coming here to train, conduct link-up operations, and moving out to attack coalition forces,” said Capt. Andrew Graham, assistant plans and operations officer, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment.

The combined three-day operation netted more than 200 suspected insurgents.

“We have been finding evidence that this place has been used to train insurgents,” Graham said. “We conducted a detailed search, detained suspicious individuals, and (used) the intelligence that we got from them, which resulted in follow-on operations on day two.”

Searches yielded propaganda materials, rifles and videos. Iraqi soldiers also gathered names of potential threats from the detainees nabbed during the operation.

“We have found some smaller caches and have captured more than 10 men who we found to be part of Tahiwed and Jihad [insurgent groups],” said Lt. Col. Musab Josif, 1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Iraqi Army Division. “The best thing we had during the mission is good cooperation between the Iraqi and American Soldiers. They worked together as one team.”

The partnership between Iraqi army and Coalition forces was one of the many successes of the mission.

“The Iraqi army is becoming more and more competent in the planning and execution of missions,” Graham said. “They are very capable of doing their own tactical operations and reacting to intelligence.”

Why is it when we have 17 Iraqi civilians killed by a terrorist car bomb its news, when you have 1 American killed its news. But when American and Iraqi Troops capture more than 200 terrorist its not mentioned anywhere but m blog and by the military? This is what drives me nuts. 70% of the American public, according to one pll, feel we are losing and should not be in Iraq. 70%!!! That tells me that the vast majority of th American public get their only news from the TV and newspapers that print AP and Rueters and other biased stories. Its sad, with the availablity of news these days, that more Americans don't look more for themselves. More than 200 terrorist caught in one operatio in three days! Thats news! Good news! But shhhhhhh or the public may find ot and ralize they are being brainwashed by the MSM who hates anything good out of the War on Terrorism.