Background
According to Lt General Raymond Odierno, the goal of the operation was to provide security for the nine major cities in Iraq, with an emphasis on securing Baghdad. The operation built on the previous two major operations, Operation Phantom Thunder and Operation Phantom Strike, which were launched at the conclusion of the US troop build-up in June 2007, in order to eliminate insurgent safe havens throughout the Baghdad Belts and secure the population of Baghdad.
"Working closely with the Iraqi Security Forces, we will continue to pursue al-Qaeda and other extremists wherever they attempt to take sanctuary. will synchronize lethal and non-lethal effects to exploit recent security gains and disrupt terrorist support zones and enemy command and control... a series of joint Iraqi and Coalition division and brigade level operations to pursue and neutralize remaining al-Qaeda in Iraq and other extremists., the non-lethal aspects of this operation are designed to improve delivery of essential services, economic development and local governance capacity.”
—Lt General Raymond Odierno, Commanding General, Multi-National Corps-Iraq
Read more about this topic: Operation Phantom Phoenix
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