TIKRIT, Iraq - In a tactic reminiscent of
Israeli crackdowns in the West Bank and Gaza, the U.S. military has
begun destroying the homes of suspected guerrilla fighters in Iraq's
Sunni Triangle, evacuating women and children, then leveling their
houses with heavy weaponry.
At least 15 homes have been destroyed in Tikrit as part of what
has been dubbed Operation Ivy Cyclone II, including four leveled on
Sunday by tanks and Apache helicopters that allegedly belonged to
suspects in the Nov. 7 downing of a Black Hawk helicopter that
killed six Americans.
Family members at one of the houses, in the village of al Haweda,
said they were given five minutes to evacuate before soldiers opened
fire.
The destruction of the homes is part of a sharp crackdown on
insurgents in the so-called Sunni Triangle where guerrillas have
downed at least two U.S. helicopters, one a Chinook in Fallujah on
Nov. 2, killing 16 U.S. soldiers, and the other the Nov. 7 downing
of the Black Hawk. On Saturday, two more helicopters crashed, after
one of them may have been fired upon, killing 17.
U.S. forces struck dozens of targets on Monday, killing six
guerrillas and arresting 21 others, the military said. The operation
is expected to continue through Wednesday, said Col. James Hickey,
commander of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division.
Hickey said the four homes were destroyed on Sunday because enemy
fighters lived and met there. Leveling the homes will force the
fighters to find other meeting places, he said.
"Those four people used those houses as sanctuary, and we're not
allowing them to have sanctuary," Hickey said.
"We're going to turn the heat up and complicate their
battlefield," driving them into the desert, he said. "There they
will be exposed and we will have them."
It was unclear whether the decision to destroy the houses was
part of an overall strategy approved in Washington. White House
spokesman Scott McClellan declined to comment specifically,
referring questions about the razings to the Defense Department, but
he praised the military's efforts to get tough with Iraqi
insurgents.
``There are terrorists who are seeking to spread fear and chaos
in Iraq, and we are on the offensive and taking the fight to the
enemy,'' McClellan said. ``Our coalition forces are doing an
outstanding job working with Iraqis to bring these terrorists to
justice.''
Officials at the Department of Defense referred questions to
Central Command in Tampa, which oversees all military operations in
Iraq. Spokesmen there declined to comment.
On Monday, angry residents of al Haweda, where three of the
destroyed homes were, said the tactic will spawn more guerrilla
fighters and perhaps spark an Iraqi uprising similar to the
Palestinian intifada in the West Bank and Gaza.
"This is something Sharon would do," said 41-year-old farmer
Jamel Shahab, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
"What's happening in Iraq is just like Palestine."
Shahab stood amidst the rubble of the former home of 55-year-old
farmer Omar Khalil, who was arrested shortly before the home was
destroyed. The military said Khalil's son, who escaped, is one of
the suspects in the downing of the Black Hawk.
Khalil's wife, Kafey, sat wailing near her wrecked house. "I have
no son. I have no husband. I have no home. I will be a beggar."
Kafey Khalil said military officials first visited the house two
days ago, demanding that her husband turn in her son. He
refused.
Then at about 10 p.m. Sunday, the military returned, she
said.
"They started shouting at us, `Get up! Get out!''' she said.
"They brought a big truck for us. It was so cold we felt like we
were dying. After five minutes they started shooting. We didn't have
time to get anything but blankets. They brought in the tanks and the
helicopters and started bombing."
After the shooting stopped, the women and children were released
and were left at the scene, they said. They were sifting through the
wreckage on Monday, attempting to salvage what few items
remained.
Two other homes nearby were also in shambles. What walls remained
were pierced by tank rounds. A small boy held up what was left of
the family's TV set.
In the backyard of one home, a cow lay dead, its stomach split
open by a large caliber round, its unborn calf half-exposed. A dog
limped nearby, a piece of shrapnel protruding from its body.
Tank tracks had churned up the sandy earth. Spent 5-inch-long
shell casings littered the ground. Boys collected them and displayed
handfuls to journalists.
The Israeli military's practice of demolishing the homes of
families of convicted or suspected terrorists has brought widespread
condemnation from human rights and other governments - including the
United States.
The State Department's 2002 human rights report, released in
March, said such policies "left hundreds of Palestinians not
involved in terror attacks homeless." In September, department
spokesman Richard Boucher criticized Israel for destroying a
seven-story apartment building in Gaza during a raid on a suspected
Hamas militant.
There was no official reaction in Washington.
A State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
suggested Monday that the tactic was not sanctioned in Washington.
"I can't wait to see al-Jazeera's presentation of it," the official
said, referring to a satellite TV network viewed widely throughout
the Middle East.
The military had promised a tough crackdown in response to the
recent surge in American military deaths and has launched two
operations, Operation Iron Hammer around Baghdad and Ivy Cyclone in
the heart of the Sunni Triangle.
Hickey said counterstrikes against fighters around Tikrit have
been continuous, but that Ivy Cyclone Two represents a higher level
of coordination using more advanced weapons.
For example, Sunday night's action included the launching of a
missile from Baghdad, 55 miles away, at the abandoned home of former
Saddam henchman Izzat Ibrahim al Duri, who is No. 6 on the
coalition's most-wanted list. A reporter and photographer from
Knight Ridder were allowed to witness the destruction, which was
completed by laser-guided artillery fire.
Hickey said al Duri's house was destroyed to deny guerrillas a
meeting place, though it was unclear that such high-tech weaponry
was needed to destroy the structure, which appeared completely
looted.
Hickey said soldiers had been instructed to make sure to evacuate
innocent civilians nearby. Near al Duri's house, two men, four
children and two babies were shivering in near-freezing temperatures
in the back of a truck, given just a few minutes to flee their
neighboring farm.
"We know exactly what we're shooting at and why we're shooting
it," Hickey said. "Collateral damage won't be a problem."
Military officials said the targets around Tikrit and Kirkuk also
have included enemy mortar sites and a suspected insurgent training
camp. The camp, on an island in the Little Zab River west of Kirkuk,
was hit Sunday morning by a satellite-guided missile with a
500-pound warhead fired 130 miles from a Baghdad launch site.
Hickey promised no letup in the campaign. He also promised to
deal harshly with weapons violations. "If we see someone with a
weapon," he said, "he becomes a ballistics test," meaning the man is
shot.
"You won't see guns in Tikrit," he said.
(Warren Strobel in Washington contributed to this
report.)
