You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Iraq
U.S Military Says It Has Al-Qaeda Kidnap Gang Cornered In Farmland
2007-05-16
H/T National Review The Tank -- also, on the way to work this morning, when I started the car, I got in on the tailend of this report. I kinda blinked, and thought I had missed it. Keep those prayers active, praying for all of these guys involved, and that this is true.

May 15, 2007 9:16 p.m. EST

Richard Bowden - AHN Staff Writer

Mahmudiya, Iraq (AHN) - Backed by sniffer dogs and helicopters, U.S. forces in Iraq searching for three soldiers captured by an Al-Qaeda gang on Saturday have said the group is cornered in an area of farmland near Baghdad.

The three soldiers from Fort Drum's 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division were captured by the gang after being ambushed on a patrol sent to intercept roadside bombs.

"Right now our focus is on searching for the missing soldiers, and we're trying to isolate the areas where we think they could be," said Army Maj. Kenny Mintz, the brigade operations officer for the 2nd BCT, 10th Mountain Division in a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.

"The (captors) don't have freedom of movement; if they have the soldiers, they can't move them from where they are. We're doing a deliberate search of the areas for the people responsible for the soldiers we're looking for," he said.

No confirmation has been received whether the U.S, soldiers are still alive and militants have mocked coalition attempts to rescue the missing soldiers.

Posted by:Sherry

#29  then mullahs need to die very very horrible deaths.

No problem with this. I think their lives kind of suck too--maybe they wrap the turban too tight or maybe it's the religion thing.
Posted by: Jinegum Peacock9131   2007-05-16 21:10  

#28  F.A. - if amateurs, they sure put a hurt on our warriors. It is described as a fairly complex assault.
Posted by: Captain America   2007-05-16 21:08  

#27  I swear if Iranians had even a sniff of doing this, then mullahs need to die very very horrible deaths.

And this changes how they've been flooding Iraq with the EFPs (Explosively Formed Projectiles) that have already killed ten times more of our troops than these poor kidnapped blighters?

The ayatollahs need to die, period. Iran's Islamic Theocracy is a festering canker upon our world. Remember, tyrannies have no sovereign rights. This simple fact continues to elude our politicians and even our military with devastating effects.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-05-16 20:29  

#26  I hope that the 3 US soldiers will soon be freed. And that a lot of the islamoterrorists who abducted them, and murdered 5 other US soldiers, will be severely killed.

The US soldiers deployed in Iraq shall be praised for their job.

It's a shame so few European countries deployed soldiers in Iraq along with the US.
Posted by: Leroidavid   2007-05-16 19:53  

#25  who to look at, who to follow, etc.

Just looks in Saddam's payroll and start shooting.
Posted by: ed   2007-05-16 19:20  

#24  The culturally sensitive thing for our politically correct leaders to do is give all captives to Apache women.
Posted by: ed   2007-05-16 19:18  

#23  I swear if Iranians had even a sniff of doing this, then mullahs need to die very very horrible deaths.
Posted by: djohn66   2007-05-16 19:16  

#22  Apparently they were paid money by a middleman to participate in the attack.

Why am I suddenly getting a strong whiff of ayatollah? Great update, FA!
Posted by: Zenster   2007-05-16 19:11  

#21  Terrorism runs in the family. It is why we have such a difficult time penetrating terrorists cells.

I hope someone with access to the information has taken a page from Sleeman's book about fighting the Thuggee and has started assembling family trees of the terrorists. Sleeman used the trees to figure out who to look at, who to follow, etc.

I suspect we'd find the same thing useful.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2007-05-16 18:58  

#20  Update:
Our troops have captured 4 of the kidnappers. Apparently they were paid money by a middleman to participate in the attack.

Which suggests:
1) The claim the attack was in retaliation for an atrocity is bull****.
2) The reason Al Qaeda hasn't shown a video yet is because they don't have them.
3) The operation was sub-contracted to a bunch of amatuers who were less likely to be tracked by our Intel.
4) The chances of scaring these guys into letting our guys go is actually pretty good.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al   2007-05-16 18:43  

#19  bad part is their brothers and cousins and fathers are all the same ppl
Posted by: sinse   2007-05-16 18:16  

#18  Except that the terrorists never cared about the girl, and would have raped her themselves, had they the opportunity. She is just a convenient excuse for what they were going to do anyway. Global warming, or The Jooos, would have done as well for justifying their behaviour

Absolutely spot on, tw. Any excuse will do to provide a motive for their incessant bloodshed. If they didn't have one, they would invent it. The rape incident was so long ago, and its perpetrators tried and convicted, that this is old news. Admittedly, it's more of a fresh wound for a culture that can start wars over whose uncle cheated in order to unfairly win some district's camel race three centuries ago.

In the past US soldieres were execute quickly after being captured. Theese terrorists claim that soldiers are still alive.

For the moment, I'm still going with "alive". Had these maggots killed our troops, the beheading videos would already be out on the web. These media whores simply canot contain themselves, so I'm counting that as a good thing.

I believe it was Procopius2k who mentioned yesterday how we need to take DNA samples from whomever is involved in this kidnap. We then need to round up their families, toss their homes and businesses like a couple of volleyballs and generally make their lives exceptionally miserable.

Terrorism runs in the family. It is why we have such a difficult time penetrating terrorists cells. They rely upon familial bonds with all the secrecy and security that they engender. I'm also rather tempted to believe their is a genetic predisposition to psychotic violence that has been given preferential expression by centuries of intermarriage between first cousins. We need to root out the clans that are most involved in terrorism and begin to chlorinate their gene pools.

Excalibur, I believe the proper expression is:

"Give 'em more raisins than Sun-Maid!"

Posted by: Zenster   2007-05-16 16:53  

#17  In the past US soldieres were execute quickly after being captured. Theese terrorists claim that soldiers are still alive. I hope that they are telling the truth. It seems that kidnappers are not the "ordinary" AQ. Who are they, then ? Maybe Procopius2k is right.
Posted by: trenchsol   2007-05-16 15:58  

#16  If so, I hope our soldiers hold out a hell of a lot longer.
Posted by: eLarson   2007-05-16 15:09  

#15  There should be no more than a pile of burning shit left after rescuing our lads.

Then I want to know why we had such limited numbers having to defend themselves. Obviously these Al-fuckers had time to deploy tactics in advance of their assault.
Posted by: Captain America   2007-05-16 15:06  

#14  I wonder if Iranian or their agents are the players here. Trying for another show like with the Brit sailors.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-05-16 14:42  

#13  ex-lib, these guys are not amateurs. Amateurs don't have the ability to ambush a U.S. combat unit and take some of them hostage.
Posted by: Mike N.   2007-05-16 13:39  

#12  I think it's all over now, but not sure. But for those in the moslem culture, things are NEVER over . . . Anyway, I really hope they find our guys and ferret out the kidnappers.
Posted by: ex-lib   2007-05-16 13:38  

#11  None of those facts matter to terrorists tw.
Posted by: Mike N.   2007-05-16 13:37  

#10  I thought of that too, which is why I'm staying neutral on the matter. Time will tell. You're right, of course, when you point out that just about any excuse will do for the bad guys. These guys may be "amateurs" though, who are genuinely upset. There's at least a 20% chance, right? But if it goes the other way, I wouldn't be surprised. They'd be claiming the reason as a way to rally others behind them.
Posted by: ex-lib   2007-05-16 13:33  

#9  And haven't the rapists been tried and convicted already?
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-05-16 13:31  

#8  True, ex-lib. But if I recall correctly, that rape happened years ago. Why wait so long to seek vengeance?
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-05-16 13:30  

#7  "Except that the terrorists never cared about the girl, and would have raped her themselves, had they the opportunity . . ."

You don't know that, tw. It might be true, or it might just be regular guys seeking "justice" for a really disgusting crime. Time will tell.
Posted by: ex-lib   2007-05-16 13:26  

#6  Generally I agree, Darth--but the payback thing goes so deep in their culture I'm not sure they would learn anything--they'd just wait until they had an advantage to start again. In this case, I was saying essentially, that our military should (and of course will) punish the kidnappers and not everyone connected to them (as Exacaliber was hoping for--although I completely understand the sentiment). In this case, a lot of Iraqis will be taking note since it has to do with the rape and murder of the little girl and her family. It's definitely a "test case" issue for us, and the proper handling of it, and of the guilty American soldiers who perped the crime, will say much, one way or another.
Posted by: ex-lib   2007-05-16 13:24  

#5  that's the same logic the kidnappers used in retaliation for the rape and murder of the Iraqi girl.

Except that the terrorists never cared about the girl, and would have raped her themselves, had they the opportunity. She is just a convenient excuse for what they were going to do anyway. Global warming, or The Jooos, would have done as well for justifying their behaviour

My prayers are with the missing soldiers, and those hunting for them. And may dogs feast on the corpses of the kidnappers, when their god sees fit to let them die.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-05-16 13:23  

#4  Good. I'm all for a long and painful interrogation process.

And ex-lib, the point is to show these 7th century camel humpers that the raid me and I raid you mentality that they have been using for centuries will only get their asses killed now. This tit-for-tat shit got us into the mess we are in now. Overwhelming and devastating responses are needed. The Carrot and the Stick. If you play nice and don't blow up crap, we will build your country. Otherwise, we will bury your country.
Posted by: DarthVader   2007-05-16 12:53  

#3  Excalibur--that's the same logic the kidnappers used in retaliation for the rape and murder of the Iraqi girl.
Posted by: ex-lib   2007-05-16 12:28  

#2  Raisins for them. Raisins for anyone who collaborated with them. Raisins for their brothers. Raisins for their sons and their fathers and their second and third cousins. Raisins for anyone who has the same last name. Raisins for anyone who walks the same way they do. Raisins. All. Round.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-05-16 12:27  

#1  I certainly hope they'll find them alive; if not, that no mercy will be given to the captors and that they'll all end up getting their raisins. In fact, I'd be ok to that even if they find the missing soldiers.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-05-16 12:11  

00:00