“We Will Establish, With God’s Help, An Impenetrable Blockade Surrounding Baghdad Like a Bracelet Surrounds a Wrist”

AP:

Iraqi authorities are preparing to launch the largest show of force in the capital since Saddam’s ouster in a bid to curb the rampant insurgency, which has killed more than 650 people since the country’s new government was announced April 28.

More than 40,000 Iraqi police and soldiers, backed by American troops and air support, will set up hundreds of checkpoints, raid houses and search vehicles as part of Operation Lightning, Iraqi’s interior and defense ministers announced Thursday.