.Marines repel assault in Iraq
RAMADI, Iraq -- US troops repelled an attack yesterday by Sunni Arab insurgents who used suicide car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades, and automatic weapons in a coordinated assault against this city's main government building and two US observation posts.
The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in US deaths.
In Baghdad, US and Iraqi forces fought an hours-long gun battle with about 50 insurgents in the Sunni Arab district of Azamiyah, the US military said. Five insurgents were killed and two Iraqi troops were wounded, US officials said.
There were no reports of US casualties in the 90-minute attack in Ramadi, the second in the past 10 days against the government headquarters for Anbar.
The latest attack began when two suicide car bombers sped toward the government building, using a road closed to civilian traffic, Marine Captain Andrew Del Gaudio said.
US Marines fired flares to warn the vehicles to stop. When they refused, the Americans opened fire with .50-caliber machine guns from the building's rooftop. The vehicles turned and sped away but exploded on a main road, sending a huge fireball into the sky and triggering a shock wave that damaged the US post, Del Gaudio said.
As part of the assault, other insurgents fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Marine positions at the roof of the government headquarters, which includes the office of the Anbar governor, and at another observation post, Del Gaudio said.
A US Army tank fired a shell at a small, white mosque where about 15 insurgents were shooting at the government building, Del Gaudio said. The round damaged part of the minaret and the firing ceased, he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3 1/2 weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building.
The number of insurgent casualties was unknown. But Lieutenant Carlos Goetz said Marines killed at least three insurgents firing mortar rounds toward the Government Center.
In Baghdad, fighting erupted in Azamiyah before dawn when an Iraqi Army patrol came under fire, a US statement said.
Four hours later, gunmen attacked a US-Iraqi checkpoint in the area, prompting the command to send American and Iraqi reinforcements. The US statement said clashes continued until early afternoon.
The attack in Ramadi was the biggest since April 8, when insurgents besieged the government headquarters until US jets blasted several buildings used by gunmen to fire on the Marines.
Anbar was largely spared the wave of sectarian violence that has swept much of Iraq since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, largely because the province is overwhelmingly Sunni.
The trial of Saddam Hussein and his codefendants continued yesterday in Baghdad.
Hussein's lawyer, Khamis al-Obaidi, challenged findings of handwriting analysts verifying the former president's signature on documents linked to a crackdown on Shi'ites, and demanded a review by specialists from anywhere except Iran or Israel.
The analysts' report said a signature on a document approving rewards for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown in the 1980s was Hussein's, prosecutors said, reading from the report.
Obaidi insisted that the documents be analyzed by international specialists except those from Iran because of ''its obvious hostility against Arabs and Islam."
''And Israel," shouted Hussein. ''Because we don't consider Israel a state, you didn't mention it. But the international community recognizes Israel as a state so you must mention Israel."
Iraq and Iran fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, and Hussein, a Sunni Arab, had accused Iraqi Shi'ite militants of supporting Shi'ite-dominated Iran.
After hearing the report, Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman adjourned the court until tomorrow to give the specialists time to look at more documents.
In order to quell sectarian unrest, US officials have been urging the Iraqis to speed up formation of a national unity government of Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds.
The process has stalled because of Sunni and Kurdish objections to the Shi'ite candidate to head the new government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Prospects for a quick end to the stalemate were in doubt today as Jaafari's Dawa party pledged to support him for another term as long as he wants the job. Jaafari has refused to give up the nomination, which he won in a Shi'ite caucus last February.
Boston
I'm posting these stories because people are searching like crazy for information about the 3/8 Marines in Ramadi. People out there are worried and there is no doubt not enough information available to them. I wish I had a wire into the 3/8th so that I could post more, but I don't. If you know anything about this please post it, people are searching like crazy they need more information. In the era of instant information it's a fucken shame that most are left in the dark.
The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in US deaths.
In Baghdad, US and Iraqi forces fought an hours-long gun battle with about 50 insurgents in the Sunni Arab district of Azamiyah, the US military said. Five insurgents were killed and two Iraqi troops were wounded, US officials said.
There were no reports of US casualties in the 90-minute attack in Ramadi, the second in the past 10 days against the government headquarters for Anbar.
The latest attack began when two suicide car bombers sped toward the government building, using a road closed to civilian traffic, Marine Captain Andrew Del Gaudio said.
US Marines fired flares to warn the vehicles to stop. When they refused, the Americans opened fire with .50-caliber machine guns from the building's rooftop. The vehicles turned and sped away but exploded on a main road, sending a huge fireball into the sky and triggering a shock wave that damaged the US post, Del Gaudio said.
As part of the assault, other insurgents fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Marine positions at the roof of the government headquarters, which includes the office of the Anbar governor, and at another observation post, Del Gaudio said.
A US Army tank fired a shell at a small, white mosque where about 15 insurgents were shooting at the government building, Del Gaudio said. The round damaged part of the minaret and the firing ceased, he said.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3 1/2 weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building.
The number of insurgent casualties was unknown. But Lieutenant Carlos Goetz said Marines killed at least three insurgents firing mortar rounds toward the Government Center.
In Baghdad, fighting erupted in Azamiyah before dawn when an Iraqi Army patrol came under fire, a US statement said.
Four hours later, gunmen attacked a US-Iraqi checkpoint in the area, prompting the command to send American and Iraqi reinforcements. The US statement said clashes continued until early afternoon.
The attack in Ramadi was the biggest since April 8, when insurgents besieged the government headquarters until US jets blasted several buildings used by gunmen to fire on the Marines.
Anbar was largely spared the wave of sectarian violence that has swept much of Iraq since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra, largely because the province is overwhelmingly Sunni.
The trial of Saddam Hussein and his codefendants continued yesterday in Baghdad.
Hussein's lawyer, Khamis al-Obaidi, challenged findings of handwriting analysts verifying the former president's signature on documents linked to a crackdown on Shi'ites, and demanded a review by specialists from anywhere except Iran or Israel.
The analysts' report said a signature on a document approving rewards for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown in the 1980s was Hussein's, prosecutors said, reading from the report.
Obaidi insisted that the documents be analyzed by international specialists except those from Iran because of ''its obvious hostility against Arabs and Islam."
''And Israel," shouted Hussein. ''Because we don't consider Israel a state, you didn't mention it. But the international community recognizes Israel as a state so you must mention Israel."
Iraq and Iran fought an eight-year war in the 1980s, and Hussein, a Sunni Arab, had accused Iraqi Shi'ite militants of supporting Shi'ite-dominated Iran.
After hearing the report, Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman adjourned the court until tomorrow to give the specialists time to look at more documents.
In order to quell sectarian unrest, US officials have been urging the Iraqis to speed up formation of a national unity government of Shi'ites, Sunnis, and Kurds.
The process has stalled because of Sunni and Kurdish objections to the Shi'ite candidate to head the new government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.
Prospects for a quick end to the stalemate were in doubt today as Jaafari's Dawa party pledged to support him for another term as long as he wants the job. Jaafari has refused to give up the nomination, which he won in a Shi'ite caucus last February.
Boston
I'm posting these stories because people are searching like crazy for information about the 3/8 Marines in Ramadi. People out there are worried and there is no doubt not enough information available to them. I wish I had a wire into the 3/8th so that I could post more, but I don't. If you know anything about this please post it, people are searching like crazy they need more information. In the era of instant information it's a fucken shame that most are left in the dark.
posted by madtom at 3:18 PM
3 Comments:
On eof my best buds was in the middle of that commanding a tank....he said it was wild.
Hi Kender
Did you write up a report? If you did please drop a link. I have been getting search hits galore on this incident. At first I did not pay it much attention, you know we see these reports everyday, I may have posted a news story, but I did not give it any special notice. Then the hits started coming and it seemed that for the last two days every other search was about the incident. People out there are looking for information, so if you have anything please share.
Just in case anyone is reading Kenders Musing is posted right there on the side bar
Bruce786,
Thank you for the comment, but this blog is not concerned with religion. We here at This Fucking War respect the right of all people to worship as they wish.
This blog is concerned with the war and the people whose live are affected by this conflict regardless of their religion or lack there of.
Religions are based on faith, beliefs, traditions and interpretations of the actual text involved. Please take this debate elsewhere to the appropriate forum.
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