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Anatomy of the Attack: Contractors in Wrong Place at Wrong Time
The four American contractors who were killed and mutilated in Iraq were "targets of opportunity" who had the bad luck to drive into a pre-planned ambush site, U.S. intelligence sources say. Iraqi insurgents had set up several ambush points around Fallujah, and had stocked them with gasoline on the morning of the attack. Some townspeople had been warned to stay inside. "This was clearly an attack to get maximum media exposure," said one source.
| Told to stay inside, and no one warned us. Hmmmm, perhaps we shouldn't be so nice to the "uninvolved". |
| I'm still curious about the media being there for the festivities. Seems like we'd have some words to say to them, too... |
The four contractors left the Iraqi city of Taji on Tuesday to escort a convoy of several flatbed trucks full of goods. The plan was to spend the night at a U.S. base called TQ, west of Fallujah. Instead, the convoy ended up at a base east of Fallujah. On Wednesday morning, with two contractors in the lead SUV and two others in an SUV at the rear of the flatbeds, a decision was made to drive through Fallujah. Each of the security guards was armed with an assault rifle and an automatic pistol. The contractors also had satellite communications on board.
| Moral of the story: 1) don't drive through the town, drive around 2) have better backup and more hands on more guns. |
At around 8 a.m., the convoy approached a traffic circle on highway 10 going into the city. According to intelligence sources, eyewitnesses say a vehicle full of gunmen pulled in front of the lead SUV, while occupants from several other vehicles fired Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The contractors were killed, but the truck drivers escaped by driving away.
| Either the drivers weren't targeted or they were in on the plan. We ought to find out. |
| Likely their orders were to keep on going in the event of attack. |
Another vehicle full of attackers then pulled up and dragged two of the bodies out of the SUVs, doused them with gasoline, set them on fire, and dragged them behind vehicles. After the bodies were hung from a bridge, the assailants fled into a neighborhood where some were well-known by the locals.
| Which means we should be able to pull them out... |
Eyewitnesses put the number of Iraqi assailants between seven and 18. U.S. investigators have identified several of the assailants, and intelligence sources say they include former members of Saddam Hussein's paramilitary forces and some "non-Iraqi Arabs." U.S. forces are expected to take decisive action against the attackers within the next several days, and intelligence sources say they know who they are going after.
| Grab them, squeeze them, discard them. Lather, rinse, repeat. |
| And make sure the bodies are tossed into the street. Ideally, they should be left there. |
Posted by: Steve White 2004-04-03 |
