US, Iraqi Forces Report "Significant Progress" Against Uninhabited Patch of Desert

In an effort to gain ground against stubbonly persistent insurgent forces, US and Iraqi security forces have launched massive airstrikes against a 500 square meter patch of uninhabited desert, in the largest airborne bombing operation since the initial invasion.

Reports from the field corroborate the Pentagon's report of "significant progress." According to US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, bombs are striking targets with a high degree of accuracy and there has been "massive loss of habitability" in the affected area, with minimal collateral damage. Coalition and insurgent casualties have been minimal.

According to Rumsfeld, the attack is part of a coordinated strategy to eliminate possible insurgent strongholds or potential strongholds and to build confidence among troops. Future plans call for attacks against adjacent areas, and to expand in scope until all uninhabited areas of Iraq have been rendered inhospitable to insurgents.

Commanders are said to be cautiously optimistic that ground troops will soon be able to move into the bombed-out zone without unreasonable difficulty.