Samarra Road Show

Want to know what "Operation Swarmer" was really all about? As a few suspected:

Four Black Hawk helicopters landed in a wheat field and dropped off a television crew, three photographers, three print reporters and three Iraqi government officials right into the middle of Operation Swarmer.

...there were no airstrikes and no leading insurgents were nabbed in an operation that some skeptical military analysts described as little more than a photo op. What’s more, there were no shots fired at all and the units had met no resistance.

48 "insurgents" were detained, 17 of whom have already been released for not actually being insurgents. The locals appear to have been quite accomodating:

Before loading up into the helicopters for a return trip to Baghdad, Iraqi and American soldiers and some reporters helped themselves to the woman’s freshly baked bread, tearing bits off and chewing it as they wandered among the cows. For most of them, it was the only thing worthwhile they’d found all day.

Another day, another photo op. With freshly baked bread.