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| Iraq |
| US repels coordinated attack in Ramadi |
| 2006-04-18 |
| U.S. troops repelled an attack Monday by Sunni Arab insurgents who used suicide car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons in a coordinated assault against this city's main government building and two U.S. observation posts. The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in U.S. deaths. In Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought an hours-long gunbattle with about 50 insurgents in the Sunni Arab district of Azamiyah, the U.S. military said. Five insurgents were killed and two Iraqi troops were wounded, the U.S. said. There were no reports of U.S. casualties in the 90-minute attack in Ramadi, the second in the past 10 days against the government headquarters for Anbar. The latest attack began when two suicide car bombers sped toward the government building, known here as Government Center, using a road closed to civilian traffic, Marine Capt. Andrew Del Gaudio said. U.S. Marines fired flares to warn the vehicles to stop. When they refused, the Americans opened fire with .50 caliber machine guns from the building's sandbagged rooftop. The vehicles turned and sped away but exploded on a main road, sending a huge fireball into the sky and triggering a shock wave that damaged the U.S. post, Del Gaudio said. As part of the assault, other insurgents fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Marine positions at the roof of the Government Center, which includes the office of the Anbar governor, and at another observation post, Del Gaudio said. A U.S. Army tank fired a 120 mm shell at a small white mosque where about 15 insurgents were shooting at the Government Center, Del Gaudio said. The round damaged part of the minaret and the firing ceased, he said. Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3{ weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building. The total number of insurgent casualties was unknown. But Lt. Carlos Goetz said Marines killed at least three insurgents firing mortar rounds toward the Government Center. In Baghdad, fighting erupted in Azamiyah before dawn when an Iraqi army patrol came under fire, a U.S. statement said. Four hours later, gunmen attacked a U.S.-Iraqi checkpoint in the area, prompting the command to send American and Iraqi reinforcements. The U.S. statement said clashes continued until early afternoon. The attack in Ramadi was the biggest since April 8, when insurgents besieged the Government Center until U.S. jets blasted several buildings used by gunmen to fire on the Marines. U.S. officials had been encouraged by what they described as a relative lull in Anbar, suggesting it was a result of weariness among ordinary Sunni Arabs who were turning against al-Qaeda-led insurgent groups. Last week, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters in Baghdad that insurgent attacks in Anbar were down to an average of 18 a day — compared to a daily average of 27 last October. At the same time, U.S. deaths for March numbered 31 — the lowest monthly figure since February 2004. However, U.S. deaths have been rising this month. Of the 47 American service members reported killed in Iraq so far in April, at least 28 have died in Anbar. Anbar was largely spared the wave of sectarian violence that has swept much of Iraq since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra — largely because the province is overwhelmingly Sunni. Most of the sectarian violence has occurred in Baghdad and other religiously mixed areas. A Shiite cleric was killed Monday night in southwest Baghdad during a drive-by shooting, police said. In order to quell sectarian unrest, U.S. officials have been urging the Iraqis to speed up formation of a national unity government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds. The process has stalled because of Sunni and Kurdish objections to the Shiite candidate to head the new government, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Prospects for a quick end to the stalemate were in doubt Tuesday as al-Jaafari's Dawa party pledged to support him for another term as long as he wants the job. Al-Jaafari has refused to give up the nomination, which he won in a Shiite caucus last February. Parliament had been set to meet Monday to try to break the deadlock, but the session was postponed after Shiite politicians gave assurances they could reach a decision on al-Jaafari themselves without a bruising parliamentary fight. One option floated called for replacing al-Jaafari with another candidate from Dawa, one of the seven parties in the Shiite alliance. But Ali al-Adeeb, a top Dawa official whose name has been mentioned as a possible replacement, said Monday that the party would not put forward a new candidate unless al-Jaafari decided to step aside, suggesting further delays. "Dawa cannot present any candidate unless al-Jaafari decides to step aside," al-Adeeb told The Associated Press. "So far his position has not changed." Shiite officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is sensitive, said some Dawa figures were willing to see al-Jaafari go in favor of either al-Adeeb or Jawad al-Maliki. But the party resented outside pressure from Shiites representing other parties as well as from the Americans and British. The Shiites won 130 of the 275 parliament seats — not enough to govern without the Sunnis and Kurds. Those groups oppose al-Jaafari, saying he has failed to stop the recent surge in sectarian bloodshed, and neither side has enough votes to force a decision. Another 17 bodies of people believed victims of sectarian reprisal killings were found Monday, including one in Basra and the rest in Baghdad. They included the body of Taha al-Mutlaq, brother of leading Sunni Arab politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, who was found in a Shiite area of west Baghdad. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #14 We need to instrument all the minarets with cams. Say dropable cams with sticky base wimax and solar powered. Drop and a tarlike base just sticks it to any surface. There are patents for devices like this. Use them. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-04-18 20:59 |
| #13 Accurate assessment of the urban threat Patriot, as usual. Thanks! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-04-18 16:54 |
| #12 Unless you've had some kind of experience in the Middle East, you cannot believe what a warren their cities really are. I'll try to find a couple of photos to link to. You can't drive down streets looking for bad guys. Alleyways run in 20 directions over a half-mile, and may or may not connect up to what we would consider a street. Zoning and American-style layout DO. NOT. EXIST - except in certain parts of Baghdad where the city was bulldozed flat and they started over. You could hide half the Chinese Army in some of those cities. As for using airpower, the same thing applies. Unless you're directly overhead, you cannot see what's going on in those alleyways, courtyards, cul-de-sacs, and other blind spots. If you ARE directly overhead, you're vulnerable to ground fire, and you have to twist and turn so much trying to follow the crooked alley your back seater is puking down your collar. I think we're doing damned well for what we're up against. We could do better, but at such a great expense to the Iraqi civilians that it would be a Phyrric victory. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-04-18 16:51 |
| #11 I find it interesting that the 2 explosive-laden cars turned and sped away, and then blew up. Were the explosives on a timer or perhaps being controlled by a remote person who didn't like it that the drivers chickened out? Does that make the drivers martyrs-by-proxy? Do they get drive by virgins? |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2006-04-18 15:04 |
| #10 These "Made for TV Attacks" sound more like photo opportunities for AP stringers. Film at 11:00. 35mm quagmire. |
| Posted by: john 2006-04-18 13:47 |
| #9 Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3{ weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building. CT2686, I'll go ya one better. If it's been used 4 times in 3 weeks, I think the whole thing should be leveled. I hear Flaterpillar has some good 'dozers that can do the work. And, only the MSM could call (only) a 90-minute firefight a thriving insurgency. Note it's the largest attack since April 8th. Things are calming down, now we just have some hot spots to put out. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-04-18 10:29 |
| #8 Verlaine makes good points. Let me add something. If the battle was really hours long, the forces in Ramadi had plenty of opportunity to maneuver the terrorists into an exposed position and have air mobile forces come in to Ramadi and wipe the terrorist force out. In fact, the mystery here is why there is no mention of air power being used in this latest action. |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-04-18 08:50 |
| #7 Thanks for everything you do VII, even if it does get my morning off to a cranky start. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-04-18 07:21 |
| #6 A U.S. Army tank fired a 120 mm shell at a small white mosque where about 15 insurgents were shooting at the Government Center, Del Gaudio said. The round damaged part of the minaret and the firing ceased, he said. Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, said it was the fourth time in the past 3{ weeks that insurgents had used the mosque to fire on the government building. Good, atleast it won't be used for awhile! They should shut that mineret down and secure it with guards. |
| Posted by: Cholutch Tholurong2686 2006-04-18 04:07 |
| #5 we got your Rummy thang RR, it's been noted. Notice that Verlaine actually comes up with some ideas and Intel from theater? Suggestions from someone in theater has allot more value for me than an opinion here stateside, But maybe I'm mistaken maybe your there on patrol everyday RR or commanding a brigade in al Anbar. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-04-18 03:58 |
| #4 My God Verlaine! You dare blaspheme against Rummy? Shhhhh. Everything is good, man. |
| Posted by: RR 2006-04-18 02:39 |
| #3 The fighting in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, provided fresh evidence that the insurgency is thriving in Sunni Arab-dominated areas despite last month's decline in U.S. deaths. Strike two Rumsfeld. Or it could be the generals, depending on whom you believe. |
| Posted by: RR 2006-04-18 02:36 |
| #2 Actually I continue to be very troubled by events like these (both Adamiyah and Ramadi) - not because they "provide fresh evidence" of anything, but because they result in anything less than a disaster for the bad guys. The govt. center in Ramadi has been a target for 2 years - is it really beyond our capability to lay traps, prepare the battlefield, and otherwise do the neccessary (perhaps special heliborne QRF ready to get behind the enemy without warning) so that these things are giant suicide debacles for the enemy? Something similar about the Adamiyah event - if more than 10 bad guys gather together for an operation, we should have ample QRFs on hand to saturate the area and nab/kill every last one. And part of this is sitting on the locals to see if they know any of the culprits - second place prize (first place is telling the truth) is an all-expenses-paid 6-mont vacation at Camp Bucca. I know, I know - we want/need to get the ISF up on its feet, and bonded with the populace, and all that. But I don't see why that aim can't be furthered even while we kill a lot more enemy. Contrary to self-serving declarations by many around here, the enemy is generally neither brave nor resourceful - and certainly not in the context of a fight against an advsersary like us. Could be wrong, because I lack critical info & details, but I have long sensed a disastrously timid and small-minded approach to this fight. Even with the size of forces we have here, we should be capable of much, much, much larger and more decisive actions than we ever see. I have read/heard of only scattered instances of truly aggressive and creative approaches here (setting traps, sweating the local populace for info, using our ridiculous technical/material/personnel superiority to engineer decisive engagements - and yes, there such things in insurgencies, especially in such essentially weak and narrowly-based ones as that in Iraq). A specific peeve: in the actual MNF-I release describing the Ramadi events, a Marine officer is quoted as expressing pride in his unit's use of proportionate force to respond to attacks. With all due respect, and acknowledgement of the common sense need to avoid superfluous damage, the people of Ramadi not only will not be alienated by a vigorous response - eons of experience have conditioned them to have real confidence only when overwhelming power has been demonstrated. In this case, there are many more "minds" to be won through displays of power than through evidence of humanity, professionalism, and good intentions. Rant over. |
| Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq 2006-04-18 02:34 |
| #1 nice going, boyz |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-04-18 01:04 |