Operation Phantom Phoenix in Iraq is a deadly miss

(NYTimes) "U.S. Attack in Iraq Is No Surprise to Many Insurgents"

But many insurgents still managed to flee the first villages the Americans went into, showing just how difficult it is to trap the elusive militants.....

American planners deliberately kept most Iraqi units in the dark before this one, a tactic that suggests they cannot fully trust the allies who are supposed to pick up more of the fighting as American troops scale back their presence this year.

(AP) "The top U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Wednesday a nationwide operation launched against insurgents was meeting less resistance than expected, but that troops would pursue the militants until they were dead or pushed out of the country."

So, on to Plan B, (AP) "U.S. bombers and jet fighters unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives during a 10-minute airstrike Thursday, flattening what the military called al-Qaida in Iraq safe havens on the southern outskirts of the capital.....

A military statement said two B-1 bombers and four F-16 fighters dropped the bombs on 40 targets in Arab Jabour in 10 strikes."

And, in the operation, (WaPo) Six US troops were killed, four wounded, in a booby trapped house in Diyala. "Most of the 200 fighters they expected to find here appear to have either escaped or successfully blended in with the local population."