Operation Avalanche was disagreement between the Allies as to what the next step should be. Winston Churchill in particular wanted to invade Italy, which he called the "underbelly of Europe" (commonly misquoted as "soft underbelly"). Popular support in Italy for the war was declining, and he believed an invasion would remove Italy, and thus the influence of the Italian Navy ("Regia Marina") in the Mediterranean Sea, opening it to Allied traffic. This would make it much easier to supply Allied forces in the Middle East and Far East, and increase British and American supplies to the Soviet Union. In addition, it would
Operation Marne Avalanche operation, Marne Torch, which began 16 June 2007. Operation Marne Torch resulted in more than 1,152 structures cleared, 83 suspected insurgents killed, 278 suspected insurgents detained, 51 weapons caches found, 51 boats destroyed and 872 Iraqi citizens entered in a biometric identification system. Operation Marne Avalanche Operation Marne Avalanche was a US military operation that occurred in southern Baghdad in July 2007 as part of Operation Phantom Thunder. The goal of the offensive operation was to stop southern Baghdad from being used as a haven and to prevent the movement of weapons, munitions and insurgent activity into Baghdad. The operation’s