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| Iraq |
| Mosque Clean Up |
| 2006-11-17 |
| Special Iraqi Army Forces captured a large improvised explosive device and weapons cache located inside a mosque during a raid Nov. 16 near the Baghdad International Airport to capture IED emplacers.Coalition forces observed several persons placing an IED, but were unable to capture them before they fled into a nearby mosque compound. Coalition forces cordoned the compound while an Iraqi force with coalition advisers entered the compound, consisting of a mosque and two houses, in search of the emplacers. Iraqi forces were unable to locate the individuals, but uncovered multiple hidden storage areas containing a large cache of IEDs, weapons and explosives which are used in attacks that injure and kill Iraqi civilians, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces. Weapons and material were found in the houses, the compound area and the mosque. Iraqi forces found two vehicles prepared for use as car-bombs, as well as pre-made IEDs, to include a suicide-vest. Continued search of the compound revealed several anti-tank mines, electrical initiation systems for IEDs, a mortar system and ammunition, several assault rifles and ammunition, several machine guns, pistols and a rocket propelled grenade launcher and ammunition. Coalition forces destroyed the two vehicles on-site along with a MOPED discovered to have protruding wiring and with munitions hidden within it. An anti-tank mine with anti-handling mechanisms was also destroyed on-site. The remaining weapons and material was confiscated by coalition forces. No IEDs or munitions were destroyed within the mosque itself. No damage was done to the mosque and there were no Iraqi civilian, Iraqi forces or Coalition forces casualties. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #16 "any mosque found to contain explosives and/or weapons should be razed by the Iraq government." - right on. The failure to do so by the Iraqi gov't is another one of several of their blind spots, along with the long lines of applicants repeatedly bombed by terrorists and repeated episodes of unarmed government workers being kidnapped. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-11-17 21:01 |
| #15 I believe that any mosque found to contain explosives and/or weapons should be razed by the Iraq government. It wouldn't have to happen too many times before they started to get the message. So they took the weapons out of the mosque and destroyed them. Fine. I will bet they have already been replaced with new ones. I wonder why they even bothered reporting this story, it isn't any kind of a success, it is another pointing out of a failure. It says "you can take our ammo but you can't destroy us". Screw that. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2006-11-17 20:06 |
| #14 well said Mr. ShipRight! »:-) /w |
| Posted by: RD 2006-11-17 19:49 |
| #13 I think this war needs more oversight. I mean real oversight, microscopic, from people in the know, from someone like me. And me is one of us, and us is always right. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2006-11-17 15:11 |
| #12 I've got a mosque being built 200 yards from my house. I would like to submit this site as a candidate for a cordon/search op. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2006-11-17 13:17 |
| #11 Since there is no will for this course, leave. Never go back. If further trouble occurs there, simply wipe out the area. This is why I continue to predict that the next major show of force in the MME (Muslim Middle East), won't involve any troops. Unless we take down Iran, instead of leaving it to Israel, our return to the area probably will have a more ballistic trajectory. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-17 12:22 |
| #10 If the Mosque was "cordoned" by our troops, where did the emplacers go? The location needs to scanned for tunnels and the mosque should have been searched by coalition forces once the Iraqis weren't able to turn up the suspects. Then they should have leveled the mosque, preferrably with its imam inside of it. This is just one more reason why Islam needs to lose its status as a religion. Once that goes, these are buildings, not churches. Hey, |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-17 12:17 |
| #9 Nothing but armories. These should be targeted with 2000 pound ordnance from the heavens. There really is no chance of dealing with this pack of useless trash. The thing that should have been done from day one was to eradicate all evidence of mosks/imams. If Iraqis object, eliminate them too. We'd be far ahead in the hearts/ minds department today. The area, though it probably still be under martial law even today, would be peaceful. Anyone causing disruption should have been publicly executed. There is no other way forward. Since there is no will for this course, leave. Never go back. If further trouble occurs there, simply wipe out the area. |
| Posted by: SpecOp35 2006-11-17 11:55 |
| #8 Dammit. How can you expect your enemies to have any fear or respect for you when you don't even make them pay? Tomorrow that mosque will be full of sh|t again and good people will die because we didn't demolish it. |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2006-11-17 11:47 |
| #7 How can you expect the American people to support a war when it's being fought in such a half-assed manner? |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2006-11-17 11:42 |
| #6 wxjames, Rummy didn't blow the mosques. That's why we're losing. It is totally irresponsible to leave that mosque standing. |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2006-11-17 11:41 |
| #5 I'll bet Rumsfeld would have blown that mosque to bits. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-11-17 10:14 |
| #4 GK, Some problems are simple to resolve. Imams included => no further caution necessary. |
| Posted by: twobyfour 2006-11-17 10:13 |
| #3 I still advocate exploding these devices when and where found--homes, mosques, roadsides, orchards, etc. Maybe the imam's will be a little more cautious about storing explosives in the mosques. |
| Posted by: GK 2006-11-17 10:10 |
| #2 "No IEDs or munitions were destroyed within the mosque itself." I think all that stuff was too dangerous to be moved and should have been detonated in place. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-11-17 10:07 |
| #1 "No damage was done to the mosque" When the war for freedom from islam hots up, we'll react a lot differently to religious arms dumps. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan 2006-11-17 09:28 |