The BBC has an article calld How US assault grabbed global attention about the recent air assault in Iraq. It talks about how this got a lot of media attention and what the military did to encourage that. It started out with 1,500 men and by the second day was scaled down to 900 having had no resistance, "no clashes with insurgents, no casualties were reported."
"They detained 48 people, of whom 17 were freed without delay. Officials said they did not believe they had captured any significant insurgent leaders. Any leaders there must have seen the forces coming, and escaped," said one senior Iraqi security source."
It talk about the military using the phrase "largest air assault operation" and how that just meant a lot of helicopters used for transportation, not air strikes. They also describe the unusual info and access given to the media beforehand. The article ends with:
"The reasons for it being given such high-profile publicity are clearly open to speculation. The operation came at a time when support at home for President Bush and his campaign in Iraq is running very low, and when the international media were preparing to focus on the third anniversary of the war, just three days later."
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