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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Gen Abizaid Not Hurt in Attack, Press Disappointed |
| 2004-02-12 |
| 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, I’ll 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 Abizaid’s party were injured. That’s 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 general’s trip. Mahmoud the Rat didn’t 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 Airborne’s 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 |
| #7 Zhang, that day is fast approaching. It will be Fort Apache soon. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-12 11:45:15 PM |
| #6 I saw this in another rant today but perhaps the pig lard/fat idea could be used in this situation somehow. I'll leave it up to fellow Rantburgers on the course of that action, but I wouldn't be above dumping a ton around the mosque. |
| Posted by: dataman1 2004-2-12 6:17:34 PM |
| #5 We cannot win this war being "nice guys". It's time to make an example of a few places, beginning with Fallujah. Also, we need to find that Iraqi and hang him. He's not earning his pay - he's a fraud. I also think it's time to start targeting mosques where gunfire originates, and any mullah that objects gets hung from the minaret WITHOUT a face rag. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-12 1:52:32 PM |
| #4 If the Iraqi forces refused to deal with enemy forces in the mosque, our forces needed to clean out the mosque. The building lost its religious value when one side misused it as a position to attack. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-2-12 1:51:12 PM |
| #3 Obviously, security was breached in a major way. They knew exactly where a U.S. four-star general was going to visit, and when he was going to be there, and they knew it in advance. Who spilled the beans? I can't imagine they'd trust the Iraqi cops with such information, but then again I know how the government runs things. |
| Posted by: gromky 2004-2-12 1:21:14 PM |
| #2 After Abizaid left in a convoy of Humvee utility vehicles, soldiers of the 82nd Airborne’s 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment asked members of the Iraqi security force to clear the mosque. But they refused. It's pretty clear that the reason attacks are still occurring is because Iraqi security forces are not all equally motivated. The way to solve this problem is to withdraw from the cities to desert bases, leaving anti-Coalition elements to target primarily Iraqi units. The survival instincts of the Iraqi security forces should then ensure that they take tough action against their attackers. Whether they do it with finesse or their old ham-handed ways is not our problem. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-2-12 10:48:07 AM |
| #1 Welcome to the party Johnny A. |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-2-12 10:34:27 AM |