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  • US 'kills dozens' in Iraqi city

    US 'kills dozens' in Iraqi city

    The US military has reported killing 46 militants and wounding 18 in clashes in the central Iraqi city of Samarra.

    Five US soldiers and a civilian were wounded in the fighting which raged as militants made a series of attacks on convoys in the city on Sunday.

    Eight militants were also captured, US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel William MacDonald told reporters.

    News of the fighting comes after a weekend of bloody ambushes across Iraq, largely targeting American allies.

    Colonel MacDonald said the US forces had fought back with tank fire when they were attacked three times by militants wearing uniforms of the pro-Saddam Fedayeen fighters.

    Bradley fighting vehicles responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire, destroying three buildings in the city, he said.

    "We're sending a clear message that anyone who attempts to attack our convoys will pay the price," the spokesman said.

    Samarra is within the so-called "Sunni triangle" north of Baghdad - the heartland of Saddam Hussein loyalists.

    No non-US accounts of the fighting in Samarra were immediately available on Sunday evening.

    'Rooftops and alleys'

    Two logistical convoys were moving into Samarra when they came under attack from roadside bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, he said.

    The attacks - one on the east side of the city, the other on the west - were simultaneous and appeared to be coordinated.

    In one of the ambushes, militants had barricaded off the road and opened fire from rooftop positions and out of alleyways.

    About an hour after the initial ambushes, four militants in a car attacked another US convoy in Samarra.

    All four were wounded and captured in the clash and Kalashnikov rifles recovered from the black BMW.

    None of the US soldiers was seriously hurt, the US spokesman said.

    "This is the largest [ambush] for our task force since we've been in the area," Colonel MacDonald added.

    Bloody weekend

    Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and his Japanese counterpart, Junichiro Koizumi, have both vowed not to surrender to "terrorism" after weekend attacks on their citizens in Iraq.

    Seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed in an ambush on Saturday and two Japanese diplomats died in a separate attack.

    The attack on the Spanish agents caused particular revulsion in Spain where images of Iraqis celebrating at the site of the killings were shown widely.

    Two South Korean workers and a Colombian contractor were also killed in separate attacks and two US soldiers died in an attack near the Syrian border.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3251690.stm
    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

  • #2
    Bradley fighting vehicles responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire, destroying three buildings in the city, he said.
    LOL

    Comment


    • #3
      The US-is-losing-the-war crowd is going to have a hard time explaining this one. :D

      Comment


      • #4
        Big Iraq ambush 'was bank heist'

        Big Iraq ambush 'was bank heist'

        An ambush on US troops in Iraq's city of Samarra was an attempt to seize new Iraqi banknotes, the US military say.

        "It was a co-ordinated attack... on a convoy... delivering a significant amount of Iraqi currency," US Colonel Fredrick Rudesheim told reporters.

        The number of Iraqis killed by US forces in Sunday's fighting had risen to 54 from 46, the US military says.

        Residents of the central Iraqi city disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine people died.

        Earlier, eyewitnesses said eight of the dead were civilians - caught in the worst battle involving US troops since major combat operations were declared over on 1 May.

        In more violence on Monday, an American soldier was killed after his patrol came under attack west of Baghdad, the US military said.

        In a statement, it said the soldier was wounded by small arms fire near the town of Habbaniya, and later died of his wounds.

        Clear warning

        In the Samarra incident, US commanders initially reported 46 dead and 18 wounded but later raised the death toll without explaining whether the additional victims were insurgents or civilians.

        US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel William MacDonald said that US forces had fought back with tank fire when they were attacked three times by militants wearing uniforms of the pro-Saddam Fedayeen fighters.

        American forces destroyed three buildings being used by insurgents, he said.

        "We're sending a clear message that anyone who attempts to attack our convoys will pay the price," the spokesman said.

        Samarra is within the so-called "Sunni triangle" north of Baghdad - the heartland of Saddam Hussein loyalists.

        Two logistical convoys were moving into Samarra when they came under attack from roadside bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, Colonel MacDonald said.

        The attacks - one on the east side of the city, the other on the west - were simultaneous and appeared to be co-ordinated.

        In one of the ambushes, militants had barricaded off the road and opened fire from rooftop positions and out of alleyways.


        Local anger

        About an hour after the initial ambushes, four militants in a car attacked another US convoy in Samarra.

        All four were wounded and captured in the clash and Kalashnikov rifles recovered from the black BMW.

        None of the US soldiers was seriously hurt, the US spokesman said.

        "This is the largest [ambush] for our task force since we've been in the area," Colonel MacDonald added.

        The BBC's Peter Greste, reporting from the city, says burned out cars are scattered through the streets, and buildings are riddled with bullet holes.

        He says there is an unmistakeable sense of anger among local people - who say the US response to the attacks was indiscriminate and unnecessary.

        Bloody weekend

        South Korea, Spain and Japan have all vowed not to surrender to "terrorism" after weekend attacks on their citizens in Iraq.

        Seven Spanish intelligence agents were killed in an ambush on Saturday and two Japanese diplomats died in a separate attack.

        The attack on the Spanish agents caused particular revulsion in Spain where images of Iraqis celebrating at the site of the killings were shown widely.

        Two South Korean workers and a Colombian contractor were also killed in separate attacks and two US soldiers died in an attack near the Syrian border.

        http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3253236.stm
        "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Leader
          The US-is-losing-the-war crowd is going to have a hard time explaining this one. :D
          I agree. You'd have to be fairly obtuse to believe the US was losing the war.

          The US is struggling with the peace though. But only in the eyes of those who fail to understand that Iraqi stabilisation is going to take years rather than months.
          at

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          • #6
            I guess its ok to say that we arent winning but that were not losing

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            • #7
              I think the US is doing OK. But only OK. The US administration didn't seem to have planned how to handle the reconstruction. In fact they initially took an extremely bad "colonial" approach. They took, say, an early Victorian era approach by trying to set up a US "Raj". They have reverted a little bit to something sensible (i.e. using local labour for the ports instead of shipping bodies in from the states). Problem is that early mistake is going to take a lot of recovering from for an occupying power.
              at

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              • #8
                Indeed US is winning the war and will continue to do so for a very very long time!


                "Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

                I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

                HAKUNA MATATA

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sir,

                  I would argue that the US is losing the war and is losing the war BAD! The propaganda war, that is.

                  The insurgents got an ally that the US cannot beat - rumour.

                  It matters little that the insurgents are losing more than the Americans. The point is that the local Iraqis believe that the insurgents are doing so.

                  The only real counter is one that the Americans will not practise - kill the believers.

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                  • #10
                    Exactly.

                    The US messed up the start of the peace. Of that there is little doubt. This and the natural hatred of the invader that will always spring up in those circumstances lead to bad will. The rumour mill now takes that bad will and turns it into oppression and murder. It is very difficult for the US to come back from that.

                    And when they do, the western media is sceptical :-

                    http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...p?story=469939
                    at

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