Operation Phantom Strike
A Corps offensive to prevent al Qaeda, Sunni, and Shi’a insurgent elements from reconstituting their forces in Baghdad, its belts, or elsewhere.
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Feeds
Operation Marne Avalanche
A division-level operation to clear the Highway Eight - Euphrates River corridor south of Baghdad during Operation Phantom Thunder.
Operation Marne Torch I
A division-level operation to clear the areas along the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad during Operation Phantom Thunder.
Operation Fardh Al-Qanoon
An operation to secure the population of Baghdad by targeting al Qaeda, Sunni insurgent, and Shi'a extremist elements.
Operation Together Forward II
The follow-on operation to Together Forward I aimed at improving Baghdad’s security conditions.
Courses, Seminars, and Lectures
The ISW educational program will offer courses that meet in the evenings, seminars that meet on weekends, and afternoon or evening lectures on basic and advanced topics in the study of military operations. Participants will be able to understand the most important military concepts and to follow the discussion of military options intelligently. ISW will host its first two seminars in the spring of 2008 in Washington, DC.
Southwest
The southwestern belt runs from Fallujah down the Euphrates River corridor, through Sadr al-Yusufiyah, Yusufiyah, east to Mahmudiyah and south to Iskandariyah.
Southeast
The southeastern belt wraps around the capital in an arc running from Nahrawan east of Baghdad, south through Jisr Diyala down to Salman Pak, and east through Arab Jabour and Hawr Rajab to the city of Mahmudiyah. Most of the area is rural farmland, crisscrossed by irrigation canals that limit mobility and facilitate the creation of insurgent refuges.
Northeast
The northeastern belt runs from the Tarmiyah area in the Tigris River Valley, east through Khalis and Baqubah and south to Nahrawan east of Baghdad. It controls the road networks that link Baghdad with the eastern shore of the Tigris River Valley, as well the Diyala River Valley and a key border crossing with Iran. Consequently, both al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Jaysh al-Mahdi, and associated Iranian-backed Special Groups have competed to control the area.