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| Iraq |
| More details: Time: A Deadly U.S.-Iran Firefight |
| 2007-03-31 |
| The soldiers who were there still talk about the September 7 firefight on the Iran-Iraq border in whispers. At Forward Operating Base Warhorse, the main U.S. military outpost in Iraq's eastern Diyala Province bordering Iran, U.S. troops recount events reluctantly, offering details only on condition that they remain nameless. Everyone seems to sense the possible consequences of revealing that a clash between U.S. and Iranian forces had turned deadly. And although the Pentagon has acknowledged that a firefight took place, it says it cannot say anything more. "For that level of detail, you're going to have to ask the [U.S.] military in Baghdad," says Army Lieut. Col. Mark Ballesteros. "We don't know anything about it." A short Army press release issued on the day of the skirmish offered the following information: U.S. soldiers from the 5th Squadron 73rd Cavalry 82nd Airborne were accompanying Iraqi forces on a routine joint patrol along the border with Iran, about 75 miles east of Baghdad, when they spotted two Iranian soldiers retreating from Iraqi territory back into Iran. A moment later, U.S. and Iraqi forces came upon a third Iranian soldier on the Iraqi side of the border, who stood his ground. As U.S. and Iraqi soldiers approached the Iranian officer and began speaking with him, a platoon of Iranian soldiers appeared and moved to surround the coalition patrol, taking up positions on high ground. At that point, according to the Army's statement, the Iranian captain told the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers that if they tried to leave they would be fired on. Fearing abduction by the Iranians, U.S. troops moved to go anyway, and fighting broke out. Army officials say the Iranian troops fired first with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, and that U.S. troops fell further back into Iraqi territory, while four Iraqi army soldiers, one interpreter and one Iraqi border guard remained in the hands of the Iranians. The official release says there were no casualties among the Americans, and makes no mention of any on the Iranian side. U.S. soldiers present at the firefight, however, tell TIME that American forces killed at least one Iranian soldier who had been aiming a rocket-propelled grenade at their convoy of Humvees. The revelation comes amid rising tensions over the past week since Iran captured 15 British Navy personnel in waters between Iran and Iraq. Analysts have suggested that some Iranian officials have argued against speedily returning the Brits, preferring to use them as a bargaining chip in Tehran's efforts to free five of its own officials captured by the U.S. in Erbil earlier this year. News that an Iranian soldier had been killed in a clash with American forces would do little to ease those tensions. I don't understand all this coy behavior. It only invites problems. If the Iranians knew they would get their a$$ bitten every time they tried this $hit, they wouldn't do it unless they really meant it, and then everyone would know where they stood. In the months after the incident, U.S. forces have kept up joint patrols on the Iran-Iraq border, where their movements are closely monitored by Iranian outposts. Increasingly, however, U.S. troops stationed in Diyala Province are moving to help counter-insurgency efforts in the Baqubah area, leaving a thinner American presence at the border. On some days, says Lt. Col. Ronald Ward, the U.S. commander tasked with helping Iraqi units maintain border security in the area, no U.S. troops appear there at all. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #11 Good one, JAE. Me like! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-31 22:50 |
| #10 Your lips to God's Ears, with a CC to lucifer to look for more bed space..... |
| Posted by: JustAboutEnough 2007-03-31 18:25 |
| #9 The cementing of American resolve will be iron-clad, overcoming the cultural suicide of political correctness that threatens the very nation. Tolerance of the intolerant will end, and, sadly, fear will unlock the common-sense of our fellow citizens who have been lulled by material plenty and the nanny state into near suicidal ignorance of the way these people intent to dominate and end the Western World! Well put, JAE. This is why I refuse to fear for our country's future. I just cannot believe that good Americans will not rise up when the time comes. Yes, I know that time was 9-11, but just as you've said, too many have been lulled into forgetting the lessons of WWII. Once our nation's institutional memory of those lessons and the ones taught by Iran are remembered again, pity on those who are centered in our collective crosshairs. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-31 16:01 |
| #8 Agreed, let's get it on. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2007-03-31 15:42 |
| #7 Inch by inch we edge to the confrontation that is long overdue. In one sense I kind of welcome our timidity at the national command level. The iranians are adept at balancing on the edge for maximum propaganda value to the muzzie media, but never confronting real force or resolve. They also are hugely successful at using cut-outs and proxies like hezbollah to insulate them from their obvious responsibility for attacks on America since the fall of the Shah. The Marine Barracks, LtCol Higgins, Station Chief Buckley, and so many more have a butcher's bill due from these creatures....one hopes they will push it too far and the event will unleash the massive can of whup-ass that begs to be opened. When that happens, they will act here, terrorism in the US, multiple locations and multiple types of attacks. The cementing of American resolve will be iron-clad, overcoming the cultural suicide of political correctness that threatens the very nation. Tolerance of the intolerant will end, and, sadly, fear will unlock the common-sense of our fellow citizens who have been lulled by material plenty and the nanny state into near suicidal ignorance of the way these people intent to dominate and end the Western World! I wish it weren't so, but I'm convinced we need that bloody catharsis to save the Republic. |
| Posted by: JustAboutEnough 2007-03-31 15:35 |
| #6 I still want to know why a flock of A-10s weren't called to the scene. That Iranian platoon should have been churned into damp red sand. Fuck all they could have done about it too, except bleed. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-03-31 13:59 |
| #5 Everyone seems to sense the possible consequences of revealing that a clash between U.S. and Iranian forces had turned deadly. I had better been only deadly for the Iranians. If it turns out that any of our boys were killed by the Iranians, there should be hell to pay for the Iranians and any US official covering this up. |
| Posted by: Danking70 2007-03-31 13:24 |
| #4 Only 1? How disappointing. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-03-31 12:53 |
| #3 In 1979, when US territory WAS invaded, US military personnel were ordered to stand down. Let's hope we learned our lesson. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-03-31 10:45 |
| #2 Iran learned that day that taking American hostages was not going to be easy, so they looked for someone else. |
| Posted by: djohn66 2007-03-31 09:41 |
| #1 Sounds like a hostage taking attempt. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2007-03-31 09:05 |