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Gen Abizaid Not Hurt in Attack, Press Disappointed
Insurgents launched a brazen attack Thursday on an Iraqi civil defense outpost visited by Gen. John Abizaid, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East. Abizaid and his party escaped injury in the gun battle. Just moments after a convoy carrying Abizaid and his party pulled inside the cinderblock walls at the headquarters of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps in this city west of Baghdad, an explosion rang out. Seconds later, two more explosions were heard near the rear of the compound, and U.S. soldiers responded with a barrage of rifle and machine gun fire. "Shit, this would happen on my shift. They nail the boss, Iâll never make MSgt. Git em!" Several attackers fired three rocket-propelled grenades, and another pelted the party with small arms fire from a nearby mosque. The gun battle lasted about six minutes. Mosque huh? What a surprise. No U.S. soldiers and no one in Abizaidâs party were injured. Thatâs good. Abizaid was accompanied by Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. After the gun battle, Abizaid and Swannack canceled plans to walk into the city and instead returned to a U.S. military base near here. The timing of the attack raised questions about the possibility of a breach in security surrounding the generalâs trip. Mahmoud the Rat didnât have enough time to get anyone with a big car bomb, just a few gunnies. Or they were watching from the mosque, waiting for a target. It was not immediately clear whether the attackers were killed in the exchange. After Abizaid left in a convoy of Humvee utility vehicles, soldiers of the 82nd Airborneâs 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment asked members of the Iraqi security force to clear the mosque. But they refused. Oh, really? And are they still members of the force? Abizaid appeared unfazed. Speaking in Arabic to one member of the Iraqi security force after the gunfight, the general asked about the attack and was told, "This is Fallujah. What do you expect." Later, after he returned to the U.S. base, Abizaid told a reporter, "This is an area where there are plenty of former regime elements out there, willing to fight." About time to clean out this armpit. Posted by: Steve 2004-02-12 |
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