4 US Troops Announced Killed
Troops lack Basic Equipment in Iraq
Bush Admin. launches anti-Iran propaganda campaign
The mission of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan is being impeded by lack of armored vehicles and other weapons.
State Dept. figure Nick Burns made a lot of vague and unsubstantiated charges against Iran on Wednesday. Most egregious was his hinting around that the US was "investigating" whether Iranians were involved in the kidnapping and killing of US troops at Karbala recently. Announcing that the US is investigating such a thing is a lazy media way of smearing someone without having to provide any evidence of the charge.
The US announced the killing of 4 US troops on Wednesday. Note that they were killed "north of Baghdad" and "west of Baghdad," i.e. in Sunni Arab areas. Such announcements almost never say the US troops were killed in Shiite areas, such as might be getting Iranian military aid. I conclude that the real problems facing US troops in Iraq are not with Iran, and the innuendoes of officials such as Burns are disingenuous.
There are some reasons to think that the kidnappers at Karbala may have been Sunnis.
1. They busted up a meeting between the US military and Karbala authorities planning for security arrangements to prevent Sunni Arab guerrillas from blowing up the pilgrims in Karbala during Ashura. Why would Shiites want to interfere with those arrangements? More likely Sunnis wanted intelligence on how best to bomb Karbala then, and wanted to send a message to the Shiites that the Americans could not protect them. They probably tortured the Americans to extract what information they could from them about those arrangements.
2. They headed north to Hilla and then Mahawil. They got suspicion from Hilla police (Shiites) which shows that they weren't in cahoots with them. And they killed the US troops in Mahawil and dumped the vehicles there. Mahawil is mixed but a base for Sunni Arab guerrilla operations and part of the Triangle of Death thing. From there they could have gone north to West Baghdad and Sunni havens.
If they had been Iranians why not head east to Kut and thence to Shiite East Baghdad or on to Iran?
The one piece of the puzzle that doesn't fit is that clearly someone on the inside gave them info about the meeting in Karbala. But the Iraqi military had that info and is full of Sunnis, many of whom are double agents.
I don't actually know of any incidents in which Shiite guerrillas in Shiite areas deployed shaped charges to kill American troops. The US casualties I see in the wire services are all in Sunni areas. There are British casualties in the deep south at the hand of Shiites, but those Shiites are anti-Iranian ones like the Garamsha Marsh Arab tribe or the Sadrist splinter group of Mahmoud Hasani al-Sarkhi (which burned down the Iranian consulate in Basra).
Reuters reports on political violence on Wednesday in Iraq. A suicide body used a fuel troop to injure 9 Iraqi soldiers at Muqdadiya in Diyala province. Six bodies showed up in the streets of Falluja. McClatchy reports 3 dead car bombings in Baghdad and a mortar attack on the Sunni Arab neighborhood of Adhamiya.
Tomdispatch.com has Chalmers Johnson on Nemesis and Empire.
posted by Juan Cole @ 2/01/2007 06:30:00 AM
19 Comments:
I can't believe the US government could be so stupid as to plan a war with Iran. Yet there are many signs frighteningly similar to the beginnings of the Iraq invasion :
a propaganda campaign stigmatizing Iran of several things (thus trying to create a favorable opinion to the attack in the American public)
the deployment of new US military forces (especially that ship leading to the straight of Hormuz)
the ultimatum given by the IAEA to Iran to end uranium enrichment for the end of February and the resolution taken against Iran at the UN
the different arrests made in Iraq of Iranians officials and looking like provocation.
the recent tour of Condi Rice in ME, as if she was trying to create a favorable Sunnites alliance against Iran, or at least to get assured their passive support.
Israel leaked plan to drop nuclear bombs on the nuclear facilities of Iran.
The time of year in the end.. February/March looks like a favorable period for a coming invasion.
All those are very threatening signs. May they be wrong ! Bush, Cheney and co should be impeached and judged by an international tribunal, because they are driving the world to chaos and ruins, especially in the ME.
And the Americans should have to pay due compensations, because they reelected Bush a second time.
Johnson clearly explains why it is so essential for the welfare of both the United States and the rest of the world that imperial America should be defeated in humiliating fashion. It was the only way out for Greece in 1974, Argentina in 1981, and of course Germany and Japan in WW2.
Put another way, to the extent that the US experiences success in its imperial adventures, it destroys any hope of being anything but a tyrannical regime both abroad as it has been for a long time, and at home, as is especially clear to the thousands of exiles from New Orleans living in concentration camps like "Renaissance Village" in Baker, Louisiana.
As Pogo said, we have met the enemy, and he is us.
Yep, the serious war-pimpin' is being done by the same media outlets that drummed-up the Iraq war: NY Times, Fox, ABC, Time Mag, and LA Times.
Pat Buchanan speaks the truth about the situation and reveals that Edwards is a war-pimp dispite his rhetoric otherwise, http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54008
Jason Leopold at Truthout provides us with an interesting piece of evidence from the Libby trial he concludes implicates Bush. Cheney's fat hands are certainly all over the affair, http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107Z.shtml
IMO, this trial is very important--way beyond the OJ trial--and isn't getting the close MSM attention and analysis it deserves. Leopold's anaysis is here, http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013107J.shtml
If there's war with Iran, Pelosi and the DLC will be just as guilty as Bush et al for her violating her oath of office, to uphold and defend the constitution, by not using the impeachment process to stop the executive branch murder gang.
Whose Side Is He On?
Undersecretary Burns appears to be colluding with Sunni politicians linked to the Sunni resistance groups with the bulk of American blood on their hands. He also seems to have put himself in sync with Iranian exiles linked to the MEK terrorist organization.
Would anyone in Congress like to ask him to clarify himself? Perhaps his superiors and associates could add something as well?
I believe that Nixon blamed Cambodia and Laos for his policy failures in Viet Nam.
The worse it got for the US; the more they blamed these third world nations; knowing full well it was China paying for the insurgency.
Records show that Kissanger agreed in 1973 that Viet Nam would go commie with China!
Just as the Saudis recently admitted paying for at least some of the Sunni insurgency (the side killing US soldiers), the mainsteram media must ignore truth and in Orwellian fashion rewrite the truth to what Big Brother wants; the party cannot be telling us lies can they? It must all be Irans fault; right?
I wish someone would post a list of the bad things Iran is doing to the outside world. To make the very short "axis of evil" list, Iran's touble making must be very obvious, but not to me. Was repulsing a US (Reagan, Bush Sr) supported attack by Saddam's Iraq in the 80's one of their bad deeds?
I'm sure that Bush would like Americans to believe that Iran was behind 9/11, the Madrid train bombings, and the London subway bombings. He was pretty affective in making a majority of American believe that Iraq had something to do with them. And the hapless Taliban held the same spotlight.
Surely opening a bank branch in Bagdad and offering one billion in reconstruction aid cannot be in "evil" portfolio.
BBC reports that American spokesmen state they have repeatedly warned Iran against interfering with Iraqi affairs and stated that American forces would take exteme measures against any Iranians captured in Iraq, on the assumption that they are either plotting against the Coalition backed government or conveying weapons.
There is the undertone in this that Iranians captured in Iraq could end up either tortured, executed or permanently lost in the American system of prisons for terrorists.
Most remarkable was the US insistence that these actions are in keeping with UN resolutions allowing a country to engage in self defense. Are we telling the Iranians that Iraq is the 51st state?
I believe that I heard the same interview that you did of Nicholas Burns by Steve Inskeep of NPR. My impression was that it was Inskeep not Burns who was ratcheting up the pitch of anti-Iran hysteria. Burns impressed me as competent. Although I am certain that he will do whatever his bosses tell him, he has been at State for over twenty years.
I also heard Nicholas Burns on BBC and on NPR. In neither interview did he give evidence of Iranian involvement. It was all innuendo and "we believe that. . ." Why can't media interviewers cut through all this crap and demand evidence? Burns is just parroting Bush's PR campaign, just as we saw in the build-up towards Iraq. Simply by saying that Iranians are "our enemies" flummoxes the MSM who eat this garbage up and present it as the truth. I for one reject this militaristic jingoism and want peace with Iran, not war.
Roberto in Utah
IPS Correspondents Dahr Jamail and Ali al-Fadhily report on the recent Najaf battle and what they characterize as Iraqi government lies.
Something isn't right
Brits Backtrack on Claims of Iranian Involvement (Times UK)
Juan, that's over many comments for one day I know, but I fear that the BS is going to be getting even deeper now that Bush is "doubling down" with Gen Petraeus promoting...
"There are four wars going on in Iraq right now," Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said. Turns out he underestimated it by about twenty.
From The Boston Globe:
The messianic Soldiers of Heaven militia that fought US and Iraqi troops in one of the fiercest battles of the war Sunday is among the more than two dozen extremist militias operating across Iraq that are fast becoming a powerful, and hidden, new enemy.
US officials this week expressed concern about the explosion of splinter groups in Iraq, noting that their sheer number makes a political resolution to the ongoing violence in Iraq increasingly difficult. One Defense Department official said in an interview yesterday that the military is tracking at least 28 militias, many of them Shi'ite splinter groups, but knows little about their leadership or command structure.
[via TPM]
It's good to see a blogger take the effort to peel back the curtain on these things. The blogosphere is chockers with paper thin reporting and empty headed rhetoric.
sometimes i think earnest academics and honest analysts are hindered by a priori rationalism ~ for example, the RATIONAL MAN foundation of classical economics, game theory: notions of self-interest and self preservation...
...there is no "clean and tidy" way out of IRAQ, this we know. fwiw, the most rational remedy expressed by many realist Iraqis themselves nowadays goes something like this: we've go to let this thing burn itself out ...as if, "IRAQ is like an out of control forest fire ~ fighting the conflagration directly will only engulf us ~ so withdraw to some perimeter, create a fire-brake containment, and let this thing burn itself out, thus."
as hellish as this sacrifice sounds, in my opinion it is the best rational EXIT STRATEGY.
otoh, there are irrational remedies, too; outside the box of reason, so to speak. it goes something like this: IRAQ, really ~ no longer exists; any sense of nationalism is being overwhelmed by sectarian violence, wholescale breakdown of Law & Order, and the now dysfunctional fabric of civilized society. The irrational solution is to gin up nationalism...
...re-ignite the IRAN vs. IRAQ WAR, et voila! "IRAQ" becomes again; discovers or "sees" itself as a nation again ~ rising up from the ashes as if a re-born Phoenix ~ Sunni:Shi'ite Civil War becomes something more akin to Sunni/Arab STATEs versus the Shi'ite/Persian STATE.
The irrational man/President thinks, "OK, we don't know how to deal with asymmetric military chaos, or manage a NeoColonial Occupation ~ but we DO know how to destroy a STATE...
...War is the solution to War, thus."
I found you on the blogroll of a professor I admire who also honors me as her friend.
Seeing your post was refreshing. I've had a horrid couple of days in the blog world because I stood up for a mom I don't know when another mom called her a traitor. Apparently if we aren't behind the war 100% then we are traitors, liars, hypocrites and pathetic not to mention a certain b word that was used.
I'm not into name calling. I'm proud of both of my sons...one a war veteran and one newly enlisted in the Marines. I also have a female cousin in Iraq right now.
We've had four years of war and I'm scared that what's "broke" isn't being fixed. Thank you for taking a stand.
Why the fuss about Burns? It's General Ray Odierno who is claiming he has traced IED, rocket, and bomb material serial numbers back to Iranian manufacturers. Yellowcake Ledeen has concurred, so it must be true. Right? Of course, anyone who really does know is wise to keep their mouth shut--or be outted.
Professor Cole,
With GWB and the GOP firmly in the hands of "end-times" enthusiasts and the Dems working to placate their AIPAC minders here are some possible Iran war scenarios:
A CNS Research Story by Sammy Salama and Karen Ruster cautiously lists the possible consequences. The story, published August 12, 2004 is well researched and far from wide-eyed alarmist views
Claude Salhani, the foreign editor and a political analyst with United Press International in Washington went a step further and gave us in his September 13, 2004 article Four Day War the Armageddon version of possible events.
CA State U of Sacramento Prof. Joseph A. Palermo concludes in the Huffington Post that things will turn from horrific to catastrophic in the Middle East. But Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye, and other "end times" enthusiasts will be creaming themselves with visions of the apocalypse.
Jerry Eagan kindly writes:
====
Basra -- The spokeswoman of the coalition forces in Basra, Kitty Brown, said that all British bases in Basra received massive shelling by Katyusha rocket and mortar shells last night and this morning causing damages in one of the bases. captain kitty refused to name that base." I wanted to point out that this slender sentence may give way more info than you might realize. The use of the term Katyusha rockets means an escalation in the arms used by the insurgents. If these are Shiite insurgents, then these weapons carry quite a punch.
That the source was a British spokeswoman means that the Brits who released this info knew exactly what they were saying. Katyusha's, if you recall, were used extensively by Hizbullah in Lebanon. I doubt sincerely that any of these were in the Iraqi Army inventory that survived multiple searches for four years. They are larger and can be various millimeters in size. I think there might be some in the 230mm range, which would be VERY large weapons. Technically, I don't think they're considered mortars. The report says both mortars and Katyushas were used. That's serious. I bet the Brits can't wait to get the hell out of that base and Iraq. *And, this IS another item of interest in Bush's escalation. Who, exactly, is going to take the Brits place in Basra? It doesn't sound to me like Basra is what I would call Occupation friendly if the British base is being shelled heavily as late as yesterday. If that's the case, how does one expect the Iraqis to stand against insurgents so well armed? There is, in effect, a large gap in occupation coverage wherever the Brits leave. And, if the insurgents are so strong as to shell a large British base, it's not likely, at all, that those sectors will be covered by American units. So, it would seem to be the equivalent of a zone of the country the U.S. may just have to concede to the insurgency. Regardless of where their loyalties lie, the insurgents in those areas may have virtual control on the ground, and that could mean they could be arranging that area for "partition" to one part of Iraq that leans heavily towards Iran. I don't know if you keep notes of this, but if Basra was hit with Katyushas, I wonder if it was the first time?
Could those who shelled the base be, in any way, connected with the Mahdi Army? Reports have been made which say that some insurgents in Baghdad have already begun relocating, to get out of the way of the American escalation. But, if they are so combative as to possess mortars and Katyusha rockets, ignoring them in favor of controlling Baghdad may have serious repercussions as the Brits leave, and the Iraqi Government is expected to take up the slack.
There are several other interesting items in the "escalation" of the President which bear watching.
Upwards of 30 outposts sited inside Baghdad are supposed to be operational in the "surge." If this is true, can you imagine 30 outposts, situated, like, say, police stations, in New York City? Or any other large city, for that matter? They are not clean sites where there are large perimeters around them, where huge blast walls can be constructed. If the U.S. Army does that, then it is problematic that they can all be constructed in Iraq without the construction crews themselves taking serious hits. If those outposts go up, then they have to be supplied. It should be noted that three choppers were shot down in close proximity (time wise, not geographically) with one another. One was the most formidable chopper in anyone's inventory: an Apache. That was serious. The other was a Blackhawk with 12 on board. All were killed. The question worth knowing, if you read Arab papers AFTER the shoot-downs: were they all with shoulder-fired missiles? I know one was alleged to be from machine gun fire. Probably a heavy machine gun, like a .50 caliber.
Again, if -- big if -- technicians or technically savvy Iranians ARE inside Iraq, assisting in tweaking shoulder-fired missiles so that they can avoid American electronic counter measures, one missile at a time, the U.S. has to respond in kind, with new counter-measures. Some counter measures aren't electronic, but changes in how the choppers fly. But each alteration in flying tactics could make resupply of those 30 outposts difficult.
Finally, the sand storm season begins, what, June? All American reinforcements are to be in place in June, I believe.
All Brits who are leaving will be long gone by June.
The sandstorm season could be one more time when insurgents can strike these outposts and do severe damage.
In my own opinion, with 30 outposts scattered throughout Baghdad, without the protection they would have if they were much larger bases, could be the opening insurgents and al-Qaedists are looking for to try and make a mass casualty event happen. I'd say that if there were a Marine Barracks incident, as happened in Beirut in the 80s, under Reagan; or, Khobar Towers, where an 18-wheel tractor trailer were packed with many thousands of pounds of explosives, that might be the significant snapping point for the American public STILL supporting our idiot President.
I'd also guess that it is a given that al-Qaedist wahabists or salafists will try and do a major Shiite target, with many casualties, in the dark hope of expanding the sectarian violence another notch. It is reprehensible, but let's face it: Bush drives people nutty. I am sure there are many Iraqis who carry his name on their family blood feud list by now. If he's not available, maybe some GI is.
I'd guess that there must be some smoke emitting from the various insurgent groups that drives Bush's warnings about Iranian interference. The TV news has shown Iranian weapons (probably unexploded ordnance) which had Persian writing ... manufacture dates, etc. That kind of sloppiness would be easy to remedy, and I'd guess if al Quds is involved, they've been reprimanded to do so.
But, if the munitions shown are available elsewhere on the black market, then the Iranians could say, gosh, we'll have to do a better job of policing where all of that stuff goes!
And, aren't there many thousands of Iraqis who went to Iran when Saddam persecuted them? How many have returned as true Iraqi citizens who are now agents of al Quds or The Revolutionary Guards?
These may seem like nitpicky items, but each is a detail that means some American is going to die needlessly, now.
Needlessly, because this entire war is needless, but the escalation is doubly needless. What a shame for the families of those Americans, and just as poignant, what a shame for the thousands of Iraqis who are going to die fighting these American escalation forces.
Jerry Eagan
A kind reader with deep experience in Iraq writes that Sunni Arab guerrillas are perfectly capable of having pulled off the Karbala attack in which US troops were kidnapped. He sends along some open source reports about Sunni Arab guerrilla operations in the past. He sends along the reports with occasional comments:
======
Direct Action and Infiltration Attacks in Iraq
14FEB04 Direct Action Assault v IP Station and ICDC HQ, Fallujah
Guerrillas shouting "God is great" staged a brazen assault on the main police station here on Saturday, blasting their way inside, killing at least 15 police officers and freeing dozens of prisoners. The attack on the police station was unusually bold and sophisticated, with the insurgents advancing from four sides, firing heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The assault was coupled with a simultaneous attack on an Iraqi civil defense headquarters about a mile away, intended to hold that center in check while the prison break unfolded. In all, the insurgents numbered 30 to 50, operating with heavy firepower in morning light. The goal of the raid, which lasted several minutes, was unclear, but there were indications that it was intended to free a small group held inside. American officials estimated that 70 prisoners had escaped, most of them common criminals, although the Iraqis put the figure higher. One police officer said the attackers had taken 18 prisoners with them. The attack began at 8 a.m., when many of the officers were at breakfast. The assailants threaded through the barricade wall and barbed wire that ringed the area.[1][1]
The gunmen also attacked the local mayor's office, about a half mile away, police said.[2][2]
Guerrillas shouting "God is great" launched a bold daylight assault Saturday on an Iraqi police station and a security compound west of Baghdad, meeting little resistance as they gunned down policemen and freed prisoners in a battle that killed 23 people, police said. Most of the dead were police. At least 37 people, all but six of them police, were wounded in the assault, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in Baghdad. One shop owner across the street from the compound said he and his neighbors had been told by guerrillas not to open Saturday morning because an attack was imminent. Around 25 attackers, some masked, surrounded the police station and stormed the building, going from room to room and throwing hand grenades, survivors said. At the same time, another group of attackers, shouting Islamic slogans "God is great" and "There is no god but Allah," opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns on the nearby, heavily protected compound of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Iraqi security forces, firing from the concrete and sand barricades in front of the compound, battled the attackers for a half-hour in the streets. Police Lt. Col. Jalal Sabri said 21 people were killed, almost all police. Among the dead were four attackers, two of whom carried Lebanese passports, he said. Two other attackers were captured, and the rest escaped. Around 87 prisoners were freed, the Interior Ministry said. Hamed called the attack "well organized," saying some gunmen pinned down the defense corps forces while others stormed the nearby police station where the prisoners were freed. No American forces could be seen in the battle. Of the 33 wounded, 25 were policemen, said Adel Ali, the hospital's deputy director. Hamed of the defense corps said no members of that force were killed or wounded.[3][3]
Some 70 guerrillas carried out a textbook military raid, leaving some 23 dead, most of them Iraqi ICDC officers, and 30 injured. The assailants, clad in New Iraqi Army officers’ uniforms, reached their targets in three cars and on several motorcycles. Snipers were posted on surrounding rooftops, enabling the guerilla force to fire automatic weapons and rockets from four directions. No coalition troops were in sight, only US military aircraft overhead. The mayoral compound was hit by mortar fire, rockets and petrol bombs. Petrol bombs were also hurled at wounded victims outside the ICDC station before the guerrillas yelling “God is great!” stormed the building, lobbed grenades into room after room and freed some 100 detainees. The entire episode took no more than an hour.[4][4]
Police officer Ali Mahdi was inside the compound when the raid started. "The teams were about to change shifts and they attacked as we were preparing to take our weapons. It took us by surprise," he said. The group of up 50 masked gunmen who carried out the raid had several lines of attack, back-up vehicles, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy explosives, completely outgunning the police officers and their Kalashnikovs. Mahdi and several of his colleagues guarding the bullet-riddled police station also reckoned that simultaneous attacks on a nearby building for the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) and the mayor's office were a diversion. "We are trained policemen but we need the Americans to give us weapons to defend ourselves. We are not allowed more than 14 bullets per magazine when our attackers have RPGs and better rifles," he complained.[5][5]
COMMENT: This attack is especially important for the following:
§ There is reporting that indicates that some of the attackers may have been dressed in uniforms of the New Iraqi Army.
§ The attack utilized mortars, RPGs, machine guns, snipers, and small arms and grenades for CQB/room clearing.
§ Three sites were attacked simultaneously. It would appear that the Mayor’s office may have been attacked as a diversionary tactic or to draw off reinforcements while an element attacked and pinned down ICDC personnel within their walled compound to cover the assault team which stormed and overran the Iraqi police station and released the prisoners held within. Also, other reporting indicates that blocking positions were set up on the avenues of approach, one of which engaged and drove off a US Army QRF.
§ This was a well planned, coordinated, and executed assault. It is likely that the group rehearsed this assault, at least at the team/element level. It is also probable that there may be training camps within Iraq or in close proximity to its borders.
§ The insurgents have successfully demonstrated all the capabilities necessary to breech a CP and assault to penetrate a CPA compound. On 11DEC03, a suicide car bomber was able to sneak a bomb hidden inside a truck full of furniture into Camp Champion in Ar Ramadi.
26MAR04 Ambush v Marines, Fallujah
As many as 16 people, including a United States marine, were killed in a series of gun battles on Friday. In the fighting on Friday, the attackers showed sophistication and ease of movement, despite the assertions of American officers that they are close to defeating the insurgency led by members of Saddam Hussein's fallen government and are dealing with a smaller number of foreign-led Islamic terrorists. The fighting broke out when more than 300 marines entered a neighborhood on foot and were fired on by Iraqis. "The insurgents had the Americans surrounded, and they had the advantage, because they knew the neighborhood and the Americans did not," said Omar Ali, an Iraqi cameraman for the APTN television network, who was standing next to the ABC cameraman when he was killed. "When the Americans called for the reinforcements, the insurgents withdrew." "When the Americans came into the neighborhood, the guerrillas attacked them with mortars and RPGs," said Qasim Ubaid, an electrician who lives in the neighborhood. "The Americans were surrounded."[6][6]
06APR04 Ambush v Marines, Ar Ramadi
The fighting here started as a series of well-coordinated Iraqi ambushes of routine Marine patrols. It turned into a day of nonstop, house-to- house, roof-to-roof fighting with Marines at times surrounded and holding on desperately; leaving the bodies of Iraqi attackers lying mangled in the dust, one with its head gone, but still clad in a vintage U.S.-made flak jacket. At least 12 Marines were killed, and 30 others injured. Ten of those killed were in Echo Company, which was the first unit attacked in Ramadi. The ambushes were launched in bright daylight by what appeared to be four well-armed and coordinated groups of attackers in units of 10 to 15. The patrolling Marines were slammed by AK-47s, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. The attackers appeared acquainted with the Marines' patterns of patrol. The coalition forces responded with massive fire, armor and air support. Fighting raged around one street corner in particular and extended to other areas.[7][7]
In the mid-day hours of April 6, Marines from 3rd Platoon were patrolling the streets of Ar Ramadi when they began to receive fire. "We had heard that Golf Company had been hit earlier," a 2nd Squad team leader, said. "A few minutes later we heard that the guys from 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon had also been hit." Otey described the first few seconds of the attack. "I remember when we got to our objective I started to hear 'tink, tink, tink,'" Otey, 24-year old from Louisville, Ken. "I was like, 'Man, we're being shot at. Get out of the vehicle.'" The squad returned fire for about 15 minutes. They then raided the house from where the shooting was coming. "After we were done, we loaded back up and were heading back to base," Otey explained. "But then on the way back we got ambushed." The squad's convoy was split, and two Humvee were under heavy small-arms fire Otey immediately jumped out of the unarmored vehicle and sought cover behind a concrete wall. The rest of the Marines remained inside the vehicle and returned fire. "Our vehicle was going to help (Otey's) Humvee, but we didn't make it in time," Cpl. Marcus D. Waechter added. No one is sure what happened in the moments before the other vehicles returned to Otey's Humvee. Time and events are jumbled among the survivors and recollections sometimes don't match up from on Marine to another. One thing is certain. By the time reinforcement arrived, all but one passenger in the truck was dead. The sole survivor was Otey who was still laying down fire from behind the wall. "When we got to the scene, we saw a Humvee canted on the side of the road with the windshield shattered. There were dead bodies all over the place and the closer I got to the vehicle I could see it was covered in blood." "We all took cover. There was firing coming from all directions," Otey said. "They were shooting AK-47s, RPK machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades." After a fierce fight, the squad was able to gain control of the situation but not before losing most of their own Marines. The remaining Marines were divided up amongst the other two squads in 3rd Platoon. The company continued to fight all over Ar Ramadi for several more hours before returning to the camp.[8][8]
17APR04 Ambush v Marines, Husaybah
Five US Marines were reportedly killed and nine wounded in one of the fiercest battles between US troops and Iraqi insurgents near the Syrian border. According to the report, nearly 300 Iraqi insurgents from Fallujah and Ramadi launched an offensive early against Marines in an outpost right next to the border city of Husaybah. They first set off a road-side bomb to lure Americans out of their base and then fired 24 mortars as the Marines responded to the attack.[9][9]
Lance Cpl. Dustin Myshrall knew things were going to be bad from the moment he responded to the call for help from his fellow Marines. "There was nobody on Market Street (the city's busiest thoroughfare)," said Myshrall, 22, of Baton Rouge, La. "We were flying through the alleys and there weren't any of the little kids like you normally see. Marines beat back the offensive by what was reported to be hundreds of Iraqis from another area who had slipped into this city just 300 yards east of the Syrian border. According to Marine intelligence, nearly 300 Iraqi mujahideen fighters from Fallujah and Ramadi launched the offensive in an outpost next to Husaybah, first setting off a roadside bomb to lure Marines out of their base and then firing 24 mortars as the Marines responded to the first attack. At least nine Marines were wounded and more than 20 Iraqi fighters were captured in the 14-hour battle. Marines awoke Saturday to the flurry of mortar rounds following the roadside bomb. According to the Marines, the insurgents apparently ignited the bomb as a decoy. A Marine unit responding to the bomb pulled in front of the former Ba’ath Party headquarters here at around 8:30 a.m. local time and were met by rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire. The unit radioed for help, and a second group of Marines trying to reach them were hit by heavy mortar fire as they traveled along their normal route into the city. Once the second group of Marines arrived in the city, they were strafed by small arms and machine gun fire from insurgents hiding in homes along their route. All of the slain Marines were killed in the first 90 minutes of the battle, when they went to clear a house and were ambushed by Iraqis hiding in the building. The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Matthew Lopez, said he believed he was able to crush the enemy forces by calling in reinforcements from the rest of his 1,000-plus man unit at Camp Al Qaim. By 2:30 p.m., Marines had begun sweeping through the city and closing down exit routes. "Tell the Marines `be careful,' because there are a lot of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) on the East End Road," one commander told the other officers over the radio. By 3 p.m., the entire battalion was either engaged in the fight or preparing to relieve those who were already fighting. By 4:30 p.m., Marines had called in the first Cobra gunships, which strafed a number of enemy positions and backed ground units that were converging on enemy sites. By 6 p.m., Marines had the insurgents on the run.[10][10]
26APR04 Ambush v Marines, Fallujah
Two Marines were killed and at least 13 more wounded in Fallujah on Monday in a bloody street battle fought close enough that the combatants tossed grenades and fired pistols at each other, officials said. "It was total chaos," said one of the medics who pulled wounded men out of buildings and streets during the worst of the fighting. "It was just gunshots everywhere." The midday fighting quickly escalated from an isolated ambush into a full-scale battle in which Marine Cobra helicopters raked a mostly abandoned Fallujah neighborhood with missile and machine-gun fire and a tank brought the towering minaret of a prominent mosque crashing to the ground. The battle began as several recent battles have: after Marines left their lines to move deeper into the city. According to 1st Sgt. Bill Skiles, a platoon of about 40 Marines advanced about 200 yards beyond their lines before dawn Monday to clear buildings of snipers. After the troops sneaked into their positions, the insurgents surrounded them on three sides, Skiles said, and opened fire on the houses in which the Marines were hiding, getting close enough to toss grenades through the windows.
He said the Marines were also pinned down by rebel snipers shooting from several buildings, including a nearby mosque that was later demolished by tank fire. "They waited a few hours after we went in and then they attacked," said a stunned and angry Skiles several hours after the fighting Monday, staring off and shaking his head slowly from side to side as he repeated his words: "They waited, and then they attacked." Duty and Skiles said most of the Marines killed or wounded Monday were hit with shrapnel from grenades tossed by rebels into open windows. At least two of the Marines were also shot, said Duty, whose boots were black with the blood of his comrades as he recounted the fight. Duty said he had to fire his pistol at gunmen just to get into the building where Marines lay bleeding, still fighting off insurgents, some of whom were only 10 yards away. "I walk into a place like that - everyone's down - and you just don't know where to start," he said. Skiles said the day brought the number of Marines wounded to 40 in the 140-man infantry company since they arrived in Fallujah in March. Four have been killed.[11][11]
COMMENT: The above ambushes are very similar in nature to tactics used by the Chechens in Groznyy against the Russians; ambushes followed by an active offense through a dispersed defense. Although it is unlikely that such tactics would be used in an outright assault on the green zone, it is likely that they would be employed to cover the withdrawal by assaulting forces, to ambush and block any responding Coalition forces from locations other than the green zone (see below), or by insurgent forces that remain behind in the green zone to further harass the Coalition there. These examples also demonstrate an insurgent force that is well trained, competent, and disciplined.
12SEP Ambush on Haifa St., Baghdad
A Bradley fighting vehicle rushing down Haifa Street, a major traffic artery near the Green Zone, to assist a U.S. patrol was disabled by a car bomb about 6:50 a.m., the U.S. military said. Two Bradley crewmen were wounded by the bomb and four were injured by grenades and small-arms fire as they fled the vehicle, the military said. Jubilant fighters, curiosity seekers and young boys swarmed around the burning vehicle, dancing, cheering and hurling firebombs. Several young men placed a black and yellow banner of Tawhid and Jihad in the barrel of the Bradley's main gun. Fearing the crowd would loot the vehicle of weapons and ammunition, American soldiers called for air support, and as U.S. Army helicopters flew over the burning Bradley "they received small-arms fire from the insurgents in vicinity of the vehicle," a military statement said. The helicopters "fired upon the anti-Iraqi forces and the Bradley preventing the loss of sensitive equipment and weapons," the statement said. "An unknown number of insurgents and Iraq civilians were wounded or killed in the incident." Iraq's Health Ministry said 13 people were killed and 61 wounded on Haifa Street, though it was unclear how many were killed by the helicopter strike. Scattered shoes, pools of fresh blood and debris littered the street.[12][12]
A Multi-National Force Bradley Fighting Vehicle was destroyed during an attack this morning at approximately 6:50 on Haifa Street near the International Zone in Baghdad. The Bradley and its crew were en route to assist a small unit under fire when it was hit by a car bomb and was rendered inoperable. Two of the Bradley crewmen were wounded in the attack. While evacuating the vehicle, the crewmembers came under attack by hand grenades, rocket propelled grenades and small-arms fire, further wounding four more Soldiers. Soldiers kept an eye on the vehicle from a safe distance ensuring that sensitive equipment and weapons were not taken. Air support was called, and as the helicopters flew over the burning Bradley they received small-arms fire from the insurgents in vicinity of the vehicle. Air assets fired upon the anti-Iraqi forces and the Bradley preventing the loss of sensitive equipment and weapons.[13][13]
COMMENT: It is hard to say here whether the Bradley was the actual target and lured out or if insurgents were waiting as part of a security element to ambush any QRF from the green zone. It is also worth noting that in addition to the above, the following was going on at or near the same time:
A three hour rocket/mortar barrage with an estimated 60 blinds impacting within the green zone. Several live rounds impacted within the Iraqi Governing Council Complex.
VBIED attack v CP 2 to the green zone.
3 x found VBIEDs.
VBIED attack v an Iraqi Police Patrol.
VBIED attack v Abu Ghraib Prison.
VBIED/Assassination v Iraqi Ministry of Interior official.
VBIED attack v UID mosque.
VBIED attack v Coalition convoy.
09-11NOV04 City-Wide Assault Against Mosul
For three tense days last month, it seemed as if the northern city of Mosul would fall into the hands of insurgents. A majority of the city’s 5,000 U.S.-trained police officers deserted or joined the insurgents, helping them take over eight of the 10 police stations in Mosul. The local government headquarters was almost overrun. The uprising, from Nov. 9-11, received little attention at the time because most of the world’s media was focused on the U.S. offensive to retake the western city of Fallujah.
This rebellion six weeks ago foreshadowed some of the same questions facing the U.S. military after insurgents attacked a dining area at a U.S. base in Mosul killing 22 people. How has the insurgency become so well entrenched in Mosul, and how has it infiltrated the police and nearly all other branches of the Iraqi government? And, how was it able to penetrate U.S. security?
Kurdish leaders were so concerned that insurgents would overrun Mosul last month that they were ready to send 8,000 militia fighters to the city, according to a senior Kurdish official. The Kurds were worried that guerrillas would be able to launch an attack from Mosul against Irbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
At the height of the rebellion on Nov. 10, Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, called Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, the top U.S. military commander in northern Iraq. “Barzani urged the Americans to close all the bridges and roads leading into the city,” said the official, who asked not to be named. “Otherwise, Barzani told General Ham that 8,000 fighters would be dispatched to Mosul.”
Within an hour of that call, the official said, U.S. forces had closed the city’s five bridges and main roads. The military also rushed in reinforcements.
By Nov. 12, the insurgents had retreated, but not before blowing up three police stations and ransacking five others. The intensity of the fighting, and the speed with which rebels were able to take over key government installations, highlighted how well organized the insurgency had become in Iraq’s third largest city.
“Many police commanders and the director of police in Mosul were cooperating with the terrorists,” said Sadi Ahmed Pire, head of security operations in Mosul for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the other major Kurdish party in Iraq. “In one day, November 9, they gave them control of two-thirds of the police stations in the city.”[15][1]
COMMENT: This three day onslaught shares many characteristics with those aptly demonstrated with great success in Afghanistan, particularly the use of sympathizers, infiltrators, coercion, and the swarming of numerous targets from within while security elements were pre-positioned to conduct ambushes on any responding Coalition forces. The fact that Kurdish authorities were so concerned about losing control of the city understates just how effective the insurgents’ plan was; not to mention how ill prepared Coalition leaders were to deal with such an attack. Had the Peshmerga been called in to secure Mosul, it would likely have led to the opening stages of a civil war in the north. In response, 1,200 troops from the Stryker Brigade were diverted from Fallujah and rushed back to Mosul to shore up the counter-offensive there. In the end, the insurgents disappeared back into the city with a great deal of Iraqi Police equipment: uniforms, weapons, vehicles, radios, and body armor.
11DEC04 Ambush in Mosul
A VBIED detonated on a CF element 11DEC04 in Mosul. The VBIED attack was followed by RPG, IDF and SAF from four different locations. Eight coalition soldiers were wounded on when insurgents attacked their convoy with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The patrol was first hit by a car bomb and then came under concentrated fire. The soldiers called in air support, which dropped a 500 pound bomb on the attackers, the US Army said in a statement. The statement said the number of casualties among the attackers was unknown, adding that there were no reports of civilian casualties. It said the soldiers were on their way to secure a cache of illegal weapons and munitions in western Mosul, adding that the wounds of the eight soldiers were not life-threatening.[16][1]
COMMENT: The fact that close air support was called in is an indicator of the number of attackers and ferocity of the ambush.
19DEC04 Assassination of Three Election Officials- Haifa St., Baghdad
A series of pictures taken by an AP photographer show three pistol-wielding gunmen, who had earlier stopped a car carrying the election officials and dragged them into the middle of Haifa Street in the midst of morning traffic. Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission said in a statement that about 30 militants hurling hand grenades and firing machine guns attacked the car carrying five of its employees as they were driving to work. Three employees were dragged from their cars and shot dead. Two men escaped unhurt. In the dramatic photo sequence one of the captives is shown lying on his side on the pavement, while a second is on his knees nearby in the street. The gunmen casually display their handguns as they shoot the two men. Both of the victims shown in the sequence wore traditional Arab headscarfs. In contrast, the attackers were bareheaded and apparently unafraid to show their faces. The entire sequence shows only two of the three victims lying dead after they were shot at close range. The final photo of the sequence shows a man standing near one of the bodies waving for help, as a U.S. Apache helicopter appears above the crime scene after the gunmen apparently melted away into the crowd. The Baghdad street executions preceded by just hours car bombings in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in which at least 60 people were killed and more than 120 were wounded.[17][2]
A police official said that the ferocity of the clashes prevented the police from nearing the area. The attackers set fire to the Election vehicle, and wandered through the streets firing weapons into the air. The key here is the 30 guerrillas. After individual suicide bombers, and IEDs, now a rebel force of 30 in broad daylight, the American military should begin to expect guerrilla attacks numbering 100 and 500 rebels soon.[18][3]
The attack on the election officials in Baghdad had implications that, in some ways, were almost as threatening as the bombings. The attackers struck less than a mile from the Green Zone compound in central Baghdad that is the nerve center for the Americans here, and for the interim Iraqi government. They also showed, again, that Haifa Street, one of the city's main boulevards, is practically enemy-held territory.[19][4]
There were no police or US forces anywhere in the area. The police source said units were unable to get to the scene.[20][5]
COMMENT: Again, it would appear that blocking security elements were used to secure a wider perimeter beyond the kill zone and prevent any response from Iraqi security forces and possibly Coalition forces as well.
21DEC04 infiltration Suicide Bombing, Mosul
An explosion ripped through a mess tent at a military base in Mosul where hundreds of U.S. soldiers had just sat down to lunch Tuesday, and officials said 24 people were killed and more than 60 wounded. The dead included U.S. military personnel, U.S. contractors, foreign national contractors and Iraqi army, said Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, commander of Task Force Olympia in Mosul. Jeremy Redmon, a reporter embedded with the troops in Mosul, said the dead included two soldiers who had just sat down to eat at Forward Operating Base Marez. He reported 64 were wounded, and civilians may have been among them, he said. The force knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats as a fireball enveloped the top of the tent and shrapnel sprayed into the area. Scores of troops crammed into concrete bomb shelters, while others wandered around in a daze and collapsed. A huge hole was blown in the roof of the tent, and puddles of blood, lunch trays and overturned tables and chairs covered the floor, Redmon reported.[21][6]
Regardless of what some may say, these are not stupid people. Any attack with casualties will naturally mean that eventually a very large number of care givers will be concentrated in one location. They took full advantage of that. In the middle of the mayhem the first mortar round hit about 100 to 200 meters away. Everyone started shouting to get the wounded into the hospital which is solid concrete and much safer than being in the open. Soon, the next mortar hit quite a bit closer than the first as they "walked" their rounds toward their intended target...us. Everyone began to rush toward the building. I stood at the door shoving as many people inside as I could. Just before heading in myself, the last one hit directly on top of the hospital. I was standing next to the building so was shielded from any flying shrapnel. In fact, the building, being built as a bunker took the hit with little effect. However, I couldn't have been more than 10 to 15 meters from the point of impact and brother did I feel the shock. I ducked low and quickly moved as far inside as I could.[22][7]
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that from investigations into Tuesday's blast in a mess tent on the base, "it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker." The blast sprayed shrapnel as U.S. soldiers sat down to lunch Tuesday at the tent in the heart of Forward Operating Base Marez. The explosive was apparently packed with pellets the size of BBs that ripped across the tent when it exploded, Brig. Gen. Carter F. Ham, told Bill Nemitz, a columnist who was embedded with the troops at Marez.[23][8]
Three weeks before the deadly attack on a U.S. base in Mosul, commanders at the base had a warning that insurgents were planning a "Beirut"-type attack on U.S. forces in northern Iraq, ABC News has learned. The warning prompted them to take additional unspecified security measures on the base.[24][9]
The suicide bomber who killed 22 soldiers and contractors at an American military base at Mosul last week had inside help from militant sympathizers who infiltrated Iraqi forces being trained by the Pentagon. The devastating attack on an American mess tent has severely shaken American confidence in local security forces. Sources close to Ansar al-Sunna, a Sunni Muslim terrorist group blamed for the bombing, said the attack was the result of a month of planning using information from sympathizers who had infiltrated the camp. The bomber is believed to have entered the camp’s main gate dressed in an Iraqi police uniform and carrying a police identity card. One of his accomplices was on guard duty at the gate, and helped persuade the soldiers he had come to take away air conditioning units for repair. The bomber was said to have been waved through without further inspection.[25][10]
COMMENT: Further media reporting indicates that the suicide bomber may have been a Saudi student. The fact that the attack could be carried out at all indicates that Iraqis sympathetic to the insurgents were able to conduct detailed surveillance of the DIV REAR base. Also of concern is the fact that the initial bombing was followed up by a mortar attack directed against the CSH were the wounded were being collected, and that the insurgents were actually able to walk their fire in until hitting the CSH directly, indicating a likely forward observer or that the target had been pre-plotted by someone inside the base.[26][11] This attack was able to directly attack the Coalition within its own ‘safe-zone’ destroying morale as well as weakening the links of trust between Coalition forces and ISF, which are vital for state security.
29DEC04 Mosul attack
States troops and warplanes killed at least 25 insurgents who used car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades to try to overrun an American combat outpost in Mosul on Wednesday afternoon, the American military said. It was the fiercest fighting the restive northern city has seen in weeks.
The insurgents' attack in western Mosul came eight days after a suicide bomber killed 18 Americans and 4 others in Mosul. The attack began about 3:45 p.m., when insurgents armed with a car bomb tried to blow down the concrete barriers of the combat outpost, which was manned by a small force of soldiers. An armored military vehicle then sped to the outpost. The armored vehicle "found itself pretty much in the middle" of a improvised car and roadside bombs that had been set up to attack any American vehicles coming to the aid of the outpost, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a military spokesman in Mosul. The armored vehicle, he said, fired its ..50-caliber machine gun to explode or disable the bombs, and proceeded to the outpost.
There, the American troops were attacked by a coordinated force of about 50 insurgents who fired rocket-propelled grenades and semiautomatic weapons. At that point, two F-18 and two F-14 military jets swooped down on strafing runs and also fired Maverick missiles, wiping out much of the insurgent force. "That's when the close-air support came in and did a job on them," Colonel Hastings said.[27][12]
COMMENT: The use of a VBIED as a breeching device has been used repeatedly in Saudi Arabia, most notably in the 13MAY03 attacks against the Jedawal, Cordoval, and Al-Hamra Compound’s in Riyadh. It would appear that the insurgents’ intent was to overrun the compound. Again, security elements were used in blocking positions along the avenues of approach and the patrol that fought its way back to the outpost found itself traveling back down its initial departure path which was now strewn with some six IEDs and 3 VBIEDs. Close air support appears to be deciding factor in preventing the outpost from being overrun. Responding aircraft did not drop any gravity bombs, guided or otherwise, but instead fired several AGM-65 Maverick missiles and made strafing runs. This would infer that the insurgents had managed to close within ‘danger close’ (600m for artillery) range of the outpost. Chechens in Groznyy routinely attempted to close and remain within 300m of Russian forces to negate their overwhelming artillery and close air support.
02APR05 Direct Action Assault v Abu Ghurayb Prison (MB 129840), Abu Ghurayb
The U.S. military says 44 soldiers and 12 inmates were injured in an attack on the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad on Saturday. An estimated 40 to 60 insurgents attacked the prison, firing rocket-propelled grenades and setting off two car bombs. The attack occurred at 7:20 p.m. and involved two car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, the spokesman said. He said soldiers and Marines at the prison responded, and the resulting gunfight lasted about 40 minutes.[28][1]
"What we had was a well-coordinated attack of 40 to 60 insurgents on Forward Operating Base Abu Ghraib," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Rudisill, the spokesman for US detention operations in Iraq. The fighting kicked off at 7:00 pm as the sun began to set when a car bomb exploded at the prison's northeast corner, followed by rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and mortar fire," Rudisill said. "Some of the fire was from nearby buildings." A second car bomb went off soon after and insurgents started to attack the prison's southwest corner, he added. At least one rebel was killed in the attack, he said. US troops had been on high alert for a rebel offensive. "We had some intel something like this might happen, but we really don't know why this large-scale attack happened tonight," Rudisill said.[29][2]
``First, they attacked at one corner to make us think that's where they were coming from, then they attacked at another corner,'' said Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, military spokesman for detainee affairs. ``This was a well-coordinated attack. This is something that we have not seen before.''[30][3]
At least one insurgent was confirmed killed in the battle late on Saturday, but the Rudisill said he expected the true toll was far higher after intense fighting that lasted around an hour and involved U.S. helicopters and heavy weapons. U.S. forces called in air and armored support and engaged the insurgents for around an hour, officers said.[31][4]
11APR05 Direct Action Assault v FOB Gannon (FU 816707), Husaybah
In interviews and in after-action reports, Marines who successfully defended the base that morning described a sophisticated assault that involved 50 to 100 insurgents.
The insurgents distracted Marine guards with well-aimed mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, then launched three successive suicide bombing strikes in an attempt to blow up the base and overrun it. The fire engine (VBIED) had a driver, a spotter and a bulletproof windshield, and was packed with dozens of propane tanks filled with explosives. The blast rained jagged red shrapnel for more than a minute, and unhinged doors and cracked the foundation of buildings well inside the Marine base.
The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable insurgency," said Maj. John Reed, executive officer for the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which commands U.S. troops here. "It showed its ability to mass a very complex attack very quickly."
The battle here began around 8:15 a.m., shortly after India Company's 2nd Platoon set up for guard duty on the base's eastern perimeter. Four mortar rounds overshot the base and landed about 300 yards inside Syrian territory, said Cpl. Roy Mitros, the senior Marine on guard, who climbed into a tower to register where they landed.
Inside Post 8, a bunker on the southeast corner of the base, Lance Cpl. Joe Lampe and Cpl. Anthony Fink began to receive reports that other guard positions were taking sporadic fire. Then, at 8:25 a.m., a rocket-propelled grenade slammed into their bunker. Lampe and Fink were unharmed, but the bunker filled with dust from dozens of protective sandbags.
Moments later, Lance Cpl. Diego Naranja radioed from a guard tower just north of Post 8 that he had spotted a white dump truck moving north on a one-lane road the U.S. military calls West End. "But as soon as he called it in, it was like, Blam!" Lampe said. "That's when we got hit by another blast. That one knocked us to the ground." Fink said he was convinced that the insurgents concentrated fire on Post 8 as a diversion.
"There's no doubt in my mind," he said. "They knew that was the closest post to them. If they could keep us down, then they could pull the [explosives-laden vehicles] out onto the road." Naranja said he managed to shoot several rounds at the dump truck but it soon disappeared. The dump truck reached a fork, then turned west. It traveled beneath four concrete arches and sped toward the base, located next to the border crossing.
The dump truck headed directly toward Butler, who was standing guard under camouflage netting in Tower 2. Butler opened fire, and the truck veered left, ramming a cluster of trucks the Marines had wired together to block access to the base entrance. The dump truck then exploded, sending Butler flying into the tower's ledge as concrete debris rained on him. Camp Gannon was now under full-scale attack.
Mortars and rockets pelted the base from the south and east as most of the Marines, still in bed, scrambled toward the safety of bunkers. About 45 seconds after the dump truck exploded, its purpose became clear: It was to serve as a battering ram to clear the base entrance for the fire engine.
The firetruck had become something of a phantom for India Company. The Marines had heard that insurgents might use one as a suicide bomb. For two months, they had been warned by commanders to be on the lookout for a firetruck, but it had never been seen and some Marines had concluded it wasn't real.
Now, the fire engine was roaring north along the West End. The fire engine followed the same route the dump truck had taken, turning left at the fork, going beneath the arches and roaring toward the entrance to the base. Butler, who had staggered to his feet, could hear it before he could see it, the whining diesel engine getting louder behind a cloud of smoke. Suddenly it was upon him, and Butler could see inside the vehicle. "It had two individuals in it," he said. "They were dressed in all black, and their faces were veiled and covered. I could see the slits of their eyes."
Butler fired approximately 100 rounds at the firetruck. Like the dump truck, it turned left just before reaching the entrance. Butler said he thought the driver was either distracted by the withering fire or was unable to locate the entrance. The sound of the explosion was "really unexplainable, just the noise and the violence about it," said Diorio, the company commander. Although the fire engine had failed to penetrate the entrance, "they were basically inside our perimeter," he said.
"They were definitely close enough to cause a lot of damage," he said. Only three Marines were wounded, none seriously. A piece of shrapnel pierced Butler's plastic goggles but did not penetrate the helmet they were attached to.
First Sgt. Don Brazeal was inside the company command post when the firetruck exploded. He had also feared the worst and rushed out to the base perimeter. Brazeal arrived at Post 8 to find Fink firing at about a dozen insurgents. They were shielded by a wall on the other side of the road. Brazeal grabbed a rocket launcher and climbed atop a dirt barrier, exposing himself to enemy fire. He fired the rocket at the wall. Fink then did the same. Then the shooting stopped, they said.
For nearly an hour, mortars and RPGs -- Marines estimated as many as 30 -- pelted the base. The unit summoned F-18 fighter jets and Cobra helicopter gunships; the Cobras fired machine guns and Hellfire missiles at what an after-action report described as vehicles transporting weapons. The small-arms fire around the base subsided at 9:30 a.m. but continued sporadically for nearly 10 hours.
The Marines said 19 insurgents were killed and 15 were wounded during 24 hours of fighting. An unknown number of civilians were also reported killed.
"These guys knew what they were doing," said Lt. Ronnie Choe, 25, of Los Angeles, the battalion's assistant intelligence officer. "These weren't just random guys who decided: Hey let's do something."[32][5]
COMMENT:
The attack against the Abu Ghurayb prison is the first major direct assault by Iraqi insurgents against a hard, fixed US military target and represents a fundamental change in tactics, which have been predominantly classic guerrilla hit-and-run.
Until this attack, the majority of attacks against military targets have been directed at softer patrols and convoys and have typically been ambushes. When attacks have been conducted against hard targets they have typically been stand-off indirect or RPG fire, as well as VBIED attacks against the perimeter, but rarely have they been combined. The closest previous example of this type of attack was the 14FEB04 direct assault against an IP station in Fallujah in which approximately 70 prisoners were freed after insurgents overran the station.
The attack against Abu Ghurayb combined multiple VBIEDs attacking from different directions, small arms, RPG, and indirect fire- of which US military claims some twenty rounds impacted ivo the prison in the 40-60 minute fight. US military reported that both armor, counter-battery, and close air support were called to repel and break the insurgent attack.
Unofficial reporting indicates that insurgent security elements using IEDs, SAF, and RPGs secured the main avenues of approach to the prison in order to isolate the area of attack and prevent reinforcement by any responding QRFs.
In addition, the fact that the insurgents were able to break-contact under fire and aerial surveillance and safely withdrawal indicates solid planning and command and control. The withdrawal routes were likely reconnoitered in advance and had security elements in place prior to the start of the attack
Also of note, was the lack of insurgent casualties in initial US military reporting. First reports confirmed one enemy KIA and nothing further known. Two days after the incident, the US is now claiming at least 50 enemy WIA. It is uncertain what the military is basing their figures on, but given the stated size of the attacking force, this number should be taken with a grain of salt.
American officials sought to put a positive gloss on the incident. The brazenness of the Abu Ghraib attack was another example of the insurgents' desperation, they said. "Basically they've got to go big, otherwise they don't get the results they want," the officer said. "The good news is that they are going big and they still aren't getting the results they want."[33][6]
The insurgents are “going big” because they can, not because they are desperate, and they feel comfortable in conducting larger attacks that more closely resemble conventional military operations, the beginnings of the third phase of an insurgency.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1][1] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/international/middleeast/15IRAQhtml?th
[2][2] http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040214_200.html
[3][3] http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?id=313402
[4][4] http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=787
[5][5] http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=123&art_id=qw1076858821447B263&set_id=1
[6][6] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/27/international/middleeast/27IRAQ.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=
[7][7] http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/8371295.htm
[8][8] http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/lookupstoryref/200441913251
[9][9] http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/18/1082226627285.html
[10][10] http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/8457144.htm
[11][11] http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/27/build/world/30-fallujah.inc
[12][12] http://www.620ktar.com/news/article.aspx?id=454293
[13][13] http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20040936.txt
[15][1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200412/s1263139.htm
[17][2] http://www.newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/1939372p-9911040c.html
[18][3] http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/123104Floyd/123104floyd.html
[19][4] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/20/international/middleeast/20iraq.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=
[20][5] http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Gulf%2C+Middle+East+%26+Africa&month=December2004&file=World_News2004122021238.xml
[21][6] http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=349391&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
[22][7] http://chaplain..blogspot.com/2004/12/mascal.html
[23][8] http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20041222-1225-iraq.html
[24][9] http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=351870&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
[25][10] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1415657,00.html
[26][11] The Gym at DIV Main was mortared 09APR04 with multiple casualties. It was mortared again on 17APR04 when it reopened. The impact from that attack was reportedly only 5m from the first.
[27][12] http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/30/international/middleeast/30iraq..html?th
[28][1] http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1042043&t=Nation+%2F+World&c=26,1042043
Post a Comment
<< Home