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| Iraq-Jordan |
| 2004-02-14 |
| Insurgents attacked a police station and a government building on Saturday, sparking a gunbattle, killing 15 people and wounding 22 others, police and hospital officials said. The gunmen, riding in vehicles, opened fire on the buildings with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, police officer Essam Yaseen said. The wounded included five policemen and three civilians. The two buildings are about a half mile apart. In the gunbattle that ensued, Iraqi security forces took cover under a hail of gunfire, hiding in doorways and around corners. A petrol bomb burned in the street and a rocket-propelled grenade could be heard whizzing by. Abdul Hamid al-Janabi, a security official at Fallujah hospital, said at least 15 people were killed. Of the 22 wounded, 19 were policemen, along with two women and a child. The dead included policemen and civilians, al-Janabi said. Two of the attackers were killed, he said, though it was not clear if they were counted among the 15. Two wounded attackers brought to the hospital were arrested, he said. More, from al-Jizz... Iraqi police hit in daring resistance raid An estimated 21 people have been killed and 35 wounded after suspected anti-occupation fighters attacked a police station and local government building in the Iraqi town of Falluja. In separate but coordinated attacks the gunmen, driving in three cars, opened fire on the buildings with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, said police officer Issam Yasin. In the first incident, up to 50 attackers stormed the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps compound, firing mortars, explosives and light machine guns. The assault sparked a fierce exchange of gunfire with ICDC members. According to Aljazeera's correspondent, 19 people were killed in that attack. "Their weapons were more powerful than our kalashnikovs," a police office was quoted as saying. Fourteen of the slain were police officers. The attackers went from room to room, freeing about 100 prisoners held in the compound, another police officer said. It was not known if the escapees included suspected resistance fighters. The gunmen also attacked the local mayor's office, about a kilometre away. There, two Iraqi policemen were killed, according to Aljazeera's correspondent. A hospital official confirmed several people had been brought in for treatment. Of the wounded, most were policemen, though two women and a child were among the injured, a security official at Falluja hospital, Abd al-Hamid al-Janabi said. Two wounded fighters brought to the hospital were arrested, he said. Police were still on high alert hours after the blast, maintaining positions on the rooftops of police stations and government buildings. Aljazeera's correspondent reports that the situation in the town is tense, after a curfew imposed to "control security". |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |
| #19 F-111 didn't usually touch down at RAF Bentwaters but one evening one did. Wanted a hamburger was the word. But I will never forget that badass's takeoff. He left on his afterburners well into his assent and lit up the sky. We was in giggles. Dot's right. Load the police for bear and go hunting. If we don't then lets leave or lets do Op's suggestion. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-14 11:01:21 PM |
| #18 urban legend has it that to begin with the AF in a cost cutting move used frozen chickens in the cannon and the planes kept failing the test. According to the mag I read that detailed the B-1's history, live chickens were used until some animal rights group made a big stink about it, at which time a switch to dead birds was made. Since the birds were going to be sent to see "The Colonel" anyway, Rockwell's engineers didn't see what the problem was. But apparently, dead chickens turned out to have a different effect, however no further testing using live animals was made since enough useful data had been compiled from the live tests. I still marvel every time I get a chance to see the B-1 up close. And the head-on view has a rather sinister look about it. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-2-14 10:53:20 PM |
| #17 The solution to Fallujah is to pull out ALL of the good guys, and start running B-52s over the area, one behind the other until there's nothing standing. I guarantee you'll get some secondaries, and I also guarantee that the Sunni triangle will be as quiet as two voles in a room full of cats for the next year. The Arab mentality judges kindness as a weakness, and weakness is to be exploited. They do understand power and ruthlessness. Might be well past time to give them an example of just how bad Uncle can be, if you make him mad enough. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-14 8:59:44 PM |
| #16 As to chickens (frozen or otherwise), Snopes has some info (of course!). |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2004-2-14 6:58:29 PM |
| #15 BAR urban legend has it that to begin with the AF in a cost cutting move used frozen chickens in the cannon and the planes kept failing the test... |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-14 6:29:36 PM |
| #14 "so tests were done on canopy windshield durability with live chickens fired through improvised cannons." -In my dry sense of humor, that is some funny shit, but I sense a PETA fatwa commencing in 5,4,3.......... |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-2-14 5:07:09 PM |
| #13 The Fallujah Cop Shop (and, I suggest all the rest in the Sunni Triangle, as well) needs to be outfitted like Fort Apache, The Bronx... shielded and armed to the teeth. These Iraqis deserve whatever we can do to help them survive the attacks by their Ba'athist brothers - and return the sentiment 10x. If we are to ever get our people out, they have to be given a fighting chance, literally, and events like this certainly don't help recruiting efforts to build such a force. Just as we wait to get hit again, rather than taking it drop-dead seriously in Homeland Security measures, the toll mounts in Iraq - for both the locals and the CA. Maybe this will be the tipping point for the necessary response in Iraq. I guess a nice dirty bomb at Long Beach's docks or the petro-chemical complex in Houston will do the trick in the US. We shall see. I am certainly not impressed thus far with our efforts to clean the Triangle, protect the locals, or protect the US. Mucho money goes out the door, however, and knowing how deliriously ineffective the Fibbie Leadership is at prevention - it is apparent to me that if the binnies weren't so incompetent overall, we would've had Big Hit #2 by now. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-14 4:11:31 PM |
| #12 They had a B1 fly-over the runway pretty low (I have no idea how low). Flying at treetop level is the B-1's specialty, courtesy of its terrain-following radar. Combine that with its own low radar signature and detection becomes very difficult. One noteworthy aspect about its development was that treetop-level flight increases the risk of collisions with birds, so tests were done on canopy windshield durability with live chickens fired through improvised cannons. The engines probably went through similar tests. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-2-14 3:46:42 PM |
| #11 Never had a chance to witness F-111/B-1s doing pass overs. I've heard enough Hornets, Prowlers, and Harriers though. I really enjoy a Harrier going into hover mode, the cure for the common cold as it shakes the phlem outta your chest. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-2-14 2:41:42 PM |
| #10 Maybe Fallujah has to be dealt with the old-fashioned way: Deposit all the men in concentration camps and start sorting. |
| Posted by: Hiryu 2004-2-14 12:32:55 PM |
| #9 The most astounding thing I ever saw / heard was the B-70 Valkyrie at an air show at Carswell AFB in Ft Worth, TX. I was so young, but that 6-pack really rattled and rumbled every molecule. On topic, the problem is the same one we've had since the Turks fell for the EU carrot and were suckered into betraying the coalition - not that this was all that distasteful to the Erdogan Islamic shitheads who had just taken power. We had a hammer, but no anvil, so the Sunni Triangle got a pass. And this has cost us dearly for the last 6+ months. I was vilified for proposing a truly Byzantine / hardass approach to stopping the Ba'athist BS from the Triangle. I was right - and the CA has made a few semi-harsh attempts to return the terror to these asshats. The time is long past that we should get medieval on their asses. And for all the wankers who think being tough on them won't work, well children, you don't know dick about Arabs - time for your bedtime story, now. FOAD, 'tards. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-2-14 12:30:46 PM |
| #8 ...Having made the B-52 the other woman in my life twenty-five years ago, I still look a little sideways at the Bone - but there is no question that the Lancer has proven herself once and for all. Long life and health to her and her crews. BTW OP - An FB-111 (SAC's bomber version) was worse. A friend of mine who crew chiefed them at Plattsburg swore that if you blipped the throttle just right, you could easily break windows. All I know is that I was buzzed by one in full TFR mode when he was in full burner. To this day, I swear they should have kept a few in the inventory just to scare the hell out of people with. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2004-2-14 12:04:55 PM |
| #7 My office at RAF Alconbury was about 70 feet from the fast-launch run-up pad. The worst noise in the world is caused by a pair of F-111s running to full throttle just before releasing the brake and hitting the burners. EVERYTHING shakes. We always had to re-level the pool table in the breakroom after they visited our otherwise quiet little backwater base. Unfortunately they visited often - one of the reasons I have a severe tinnitus problem today. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-14 11:20:16 AM |
| #6 Gotta love the B-1b, the Ugly Duckling is coming into it's own. Carter just couldn't quite do the partial birth abortion on it. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-14 11:17:43 AM |
| #5 My brother is a B-1 navigator. As he told me, a sonic boom from 3000 feet overhead can really ruin an Afghani's day. Some US troops were taking fire from a farmhouse. First pass—boom! Second pass—flares. Third pass—they gave up. The plane didn't have to drop any bombs. I consider that elegant. |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2004-2-14 10:48:23 AM |
| #4 For pure noise it's still hard to beat 2 J79s in afterburn mode. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-14 8:49:19 AM |
| #3 I was at an airshow in Australia in 2000. They had a B1 fly-over the runway pretty low (I have no idea how low). We were some 400 yds away. The roar was totally unreal - more felt than heard. I think if I'd been 200 feet below it, I would have gone home too! It also looked the part coming in over the runway... The only thing louder was a Tornado (yay!) going just subsonic down the runway. Watching it come in, it was almost silent (as you'd expect!), but *expletive deleted* it was an *extraordinary* feeling as it went past! |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2004-2-14 6:50:31 AM |
| #2 Fallujah sounds like it needs a couple of enemas in quick succession. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-2-14 5:08:45 AM |
| #1 sounds like a pretty hectic battle going on by the t.v news reports,perhaps the Iraqi police need direct comms to US commanders who can say call up an A-10 or Apache to aid or scare the Iraqi's away. A B1 in Afganistan apparently frightened the living shit out of a crowd of around 2500 who were getting out of hand at a 'protest' with some US spec forces, flew over them flat out in full burner at about 200 feet! they soon went home |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-2-14 4:55:22 AM |