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Iraq
Interpreter tricks terrorists into ambush
2006-04-25
One misplaced cell phone and one savvy interpreter equaled one dead terroristinsurgent, several pieces of intelligence and a whole lot of captured weapons. On a routine patrol, U.S. troops with 1st Battalion, 68th Armor came upon a house in the midst of dense greenery and at the end of a dusty country road. Staff Sgt. Matthew Nicodemus, 33, said he immediately noticed that no Iraqi men were around.

Suddenly, a cell phone inside the home rang, said Nicodemus, of Altoona, Pa. “The interpreter went in and answered the phone, and on the other end of the phone the person said, in Arabic, ‘Hey, coalition forces are here, go ahead and run away,’ and he specifically said, ‘Go and run into the palm groves all around here,’ ” Nicodemus said.

The troops then fanned out into the palm groves and found several weapons including several rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades, two AK-47s and a new sniperÂ’s rifle, Nicodemus said. They also found a hand-written map of a U.S. military base, diagrams on how to build rockets and a CD-ROM with several thousand files written in Arabic, said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Greer, 35, of San Luis Obispo, Calif.

If that weren’t enough, the terroristinsurgent kept calling the interpreter back to ask what the Americans were doing. The interpreter kept the act going. “He’s basically acting like, you know, he’s watching us ... making sure everything is fine,” Nicodemus said.

The U.S. troops knew the terroristsinsurgents were coming back and decided to lie in wait for them. Many troops said they were psyched by the prospect of killing the person on the other end of the phone. “I love this [expletive],” said Sgt. Nicholas Hake-Jordan, 23, of Springfield, Ore.

The troops didnÂ’t have to wait long. Shortly after U.S. troops set up, the terrorists insurgents called the interpreter and said they would be by in about 10 minutes to attack the Americans, said Staff Sgt. Art Hoffman, 30.

When seven terrorists insurgents got to the house, they ran into a wall of U.S. fire, said Hoffman, of Baltimore. “The first guy that came in the door just dropped like a rock. The other two guys behind him got hit pretty hard, too. The rest grabbed their wounded and just ran back off,” said Hoffman.

One terrorist insurgent was confirmed killed in the fighting and the other two were in bad shape, he said. Let's hope they get much worse.

Afterward, the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Fisher, 42, praised his soldiers’ actions. “The initiative demonstrated at the platoon level is exactly how you win this fight,” said Fisher, of Sioux Falls, S.D.
Posted by:Jackal

#6  but hey maybe those who survived can lead us too more
Posted by: Greamp Elmavinter1163   2006-04-25 20:38  

#5  Expect a full recovery.
Good! Then we wring him dry of any intelligence information and turn him over to the Iraqi government, "suggesting" either a RAB-type incident or a more conventional hanging.

Works for me either way.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-04-25 18:14  

#4  and a CD-ROM with several thousand files written in Arabic

I'm very curious about what could possibly be on there, especially if they had a lay-out of a US base
Posted by: Charles   2006-04-25 14:46  

#3  Nope. None at all. Expect a full recovery.
Posted by: N guard   2006-04-25 11:56  

#2  So, no hope for a sucking chest wound, and even less so for a sucking head wound?
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-04-25 09:26  

#1  other two were in bad shape, he said. Let's hope they get much worse.


Unfortunately, the creatures likely wound up in a US run medical facility. So Fred's "pray for sepsis(C)" will fall under dan's "wishful thinking even in hell" rubric. Sometimes, we're too civilized for our own good.

I came to this conclusion about 2 months into our tour. Most of the time it is a good thing tho, and makes shaving in the morning a lot easier.
Posted by: N guard   2006-04-25 08:20  

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