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Iraq

MNF sez 12 terrs KIA after planned attack on Baghdad Airport

2007-03-10

A combined operation between ground forces and Apache attack helicopters engaged and killed platoon-sized terrorists west of the Baghdad International Airport Complex on Iraqi Highway two days ago, the Multi-National Force (MNF) said in a statement on Friday. The statement said a patrol reported tracer fire from terrorists in Az-Zaidon area. As they moved toward the firing, they detected armed insurgents in an ambush position along both sides of a canal road, the statement added.

The statement said after clearing the area of friendly forces, the patrol called for close air support from nearby AH-64 Apache attack aircraft. The helicopter engaged the enemy fighters, killing 12 and destroying the truck, which had an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun mounted in the bed, the statement added.

Posted by:Seafarious

#7 How many are in a platoon? The dictionary only says two squads, but I don't know how many for that, either.

Posted by: trailing wife 2007-03-10 18:54

#6 There were many articles in 2003 and 2004 where the Baathists held entire families hostage to force one of them to carry out attacks (including suicide car bombs). In 2007, that's old hat and the news media no longer finds it exciting and could care less.

Posted by: ed 2007-03-10 07:21

#5 As the trained terrorist cadres are weeded out, the remaining fighters are the street gangs and dead-enders from Saddam's army and secret polices. Their military skill sets are geared toward a different type of warfare, and are more easily dealt with. The major advantage for the terrorists with these guys is that 1. they are locals, and 2. they are for hire. Al-Q has run some of its best crews into Iraq and gotten them ground up. So, now they are down to hiring the local gangbangers, gangsters, and secret police to do their dirty work. Two of the biggest advantages that the terrorists have had in Iraq are : the BILLIONs in looted cash hidden by Saddam and the Baathists around Iraq, and the unbelievable amount of munition dumps that Saddam had in Iraq. The Baathists have been playing rent-a-thug from the fall of Saddam, and when they hooked up with Al-Q for awhile, they spread the money around so Al-Q could do the same. Plus, this is the first war where IEDs are such a major weapon : every other war, the enemy fired artillery shells at you from their guns, not placed them alongside the roads as remote-control bombs.
When IEDs are your main mode of attack, sloppy ambushes are to be expected, after the experienced cadres are killed or captured.

Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-03-10 07:01

#4 I wouldn't be surprised if the bad guys aren't blackmailing people into doing stuff for them by threatening their families.

Posted by: gorb 2007-03-10 04:20

#3 As the trained terrorist cadres are weeded out, the remaining fighters are the street gangs and dead-enders from Saddam's army and secret polices. Their military skill sets are geared toward a different type of warfare, and are more easily dealt with. The major advantage for the terrorists with these guys is that 1. they are locals, and 2. they are for hire. Al-Q has run some of its best crews into Iraq and gotten them ground up. So, now they are down to hiring the local gangbangers, gangsters, and secret police to do their dirty work. Two of the biggest advantages that the terrorists have had in Iraq are : the BILLIONs in looted cash hidden by Saddam and the Baathists around Iraq, and the unbelievable amount of munition dumps that Saddam had in Iraq. The Baathists have been playing rent-a-thug from the fall of Saddam, and when they hooked up with Al-Q for awhile, they spread the money around so Al-Q could do the same. Plus, this is the first war where IEDs are such a major weapon : every other war, the enemy fired artillery shells at you from their guns, not placed them alongside the roads as remote-control bombs.
When IEDs are your main mode of attack, sloppy ambushes are to be expected, after the experienced cadres are killed or captured.

Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-03-10 04:03

#2 I'll suggest a different explanation for this incident.

The 'Insurgency' has plenty of money but running out of trained/skilled cadres. Money is now going to groups who may have conventional military expertise but don't have the skills to run IED, suicide bomber, etc. operations.

This looks to me like an ambush of a type that Saddam's army may have trained for.

Posted by: phil_b 2007-03-10 03:31

#1 What's up with these guys thinking this is a viable tactic? It's too much to hope that this is a major trend. Anyone who saw the video clip (posted at HotAir yesterday) of one gun crew/truck being dusted off (presumably by Apache fire) would be thrilled to think these guys will continue with this.

Though I kinda get the (uneasy) feeling, as with the reports of bad guy training camps being engaged north of Baghdad last year, that the very existence of such quasi-conventional, albeit hopeless, efforts by the enemy is yet another confirmation that we've been incredibly lax in Iraq. Something that struck me a while back - Michael Gordon, the NYT military writer whose stuff I normally give only average weight at best, made a comment in his "controversial" interview (Charlie Rose?) that was quite telling: he said that the US hadn't really been trying to win in Iraq. Now I know we're all supposed to assume a hushed respect whenever fancy concepts like counter-insurgency are raised - but sorry, no sale here. Establishing order is usually a matter of actually enforcing your will and kicking some butt along the way. If an enemy that is so inferior that they suffer 100/1 casualties or worse in an actual engagement feels like they can establish training camps or mount ZSUs on trucks, it's incontestable confirmation that we're not really even in the game.

Basing smaller units in Baghdad neighborhoods is long, long overdue (something that was commonly discussed long ago). But our refusal to apply our power in any decisive way (yes, Virginia, even unconventional wars are usually decided by decisive applications of force) continues to yield bad fruit.

Posted by: Verlaine 2007-03-10 03:18

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