| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Troops died after, not in, sneak attack |
| 2007-01-26 |
| I wonder if the new "stomp the Iranians" policy has anything to do with this? BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four American soldiers were abducted during a sophisticated sneak attack last week in the Shiite holy city of Karbala and their bodies were found up to 25 miles away, according to new information obtained by The Associated Press. The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad on Jan. 20, was conducted by nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles _ the type used by U.S. government convoys _ had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English. In a written statement, the U.S. command reported at the time that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." Now, two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials say four of the five were captured and taken from the governor's compound alive. Three of them were found dead and one mortally wounded later that evening in locations as far as 25 miles east of the governor's office. The U.S. officials said they could not be sure where the soldiers were shot after being captured at the compound. Iraqi officials said they believe the men were killed just before the Suburbans were abandoned. The commando team also took an unclassified U.S. computer with them as its members fled with the four soldiers and left behind an American M-4 automatic rifle, senior U.S. military officials said. The new information has emerged after nearly a week of inquiries. The U.S. military in Baghdad did not respond to repeated requests for comment on reports that began emerging from Iraqi government and military officials on the abduction and a major breakdown in security at Karbala site. The two senior American military officials now confirm the reports, gathered by The Associated Press from five senior Iraqi government, military and religious leaders. The U.S. military also has provided additional details from internal military accounts. The Karbala raid, as explained by the Iraqi and American officials, began after nightfall at about 6 p.m. on Jan. 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) in Karbala. The first U.S. military statement on the raid, which reported five soldiers killed and three wounded, said "the PJCC is a coordination center where local Iraqi officials, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces stationed within the center meet to address the security needs of the population." Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of black GMC Suburbans was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of Karbala. The Iraqi soldiers believed it to be American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and the fact that they spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that. A top Iraqi security official for Karbala province told the AP that the Iraqi guards at the checkpoint radioed ahead to their compatriots at the PJCC to alert them that the convoy was on its way. Iraqi officials said the attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building where the meeting was taking place, others parked in front. The U.S. military in Baghdad received a first report of the attack about 6:15 p.m., the senior U.S. military officials said. The attackers threw a grenade and opened fire with automatic rifles as they grabbed two soldiers inside the compound. Then the guerrilla assault team jumped on top of an armored U.S. Humvee and captured two more soldiers, the U.S. military officials said. One U.S. soldier was killed in the melee at the compound, and three were wounded. All the officials agreed the four abducted soldiers did not die in the fighting at the compound in Karbala, but it was unclear where they were killed. The attackers fled with the four and the computer and headed east toward Mahwil, in neighboring Babil province, about 25 miles away, the U.S. military officials said. The U.S. accounts did not say where the soldiers were killed. Iraqi officials said the four were captured alive and shot just before the vehicles were abandoned. Iraqi officials said the U.S. military found the four U.S. soldiers in the Suburbans near Bu-Alwan, a village near Mahawil. The U.S. officials, who had seen incident reports of the assault, said the documents indicated two of the soldiers were found in one of the Suburbans at one location and two others in a second Suburban elsewhere. The exact locations were not specified, they said. Both sides agreed that _ when found _ three soldiers were dead and one was wounded and died as U.S. troops rushed the service member away for treatment. Three days afterward, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they had been detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects. The Defense Department has released the names of troops killed last Saturday but clearly identified only one as being killed because of the sneak attack. Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., "died of wounds suffered when his meeting area came under attack by mortar and small arms fire." Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, Whitehall, Ohio. The only other troops killed that day in that region of Iraq were four Army soldiers said to have been "ambushed while conducting dismounted operations" in Karbala. The four were identified as 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Neb.; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, La.; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, N.Y., and Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Ala. All were with the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, of Fort Richardson, Alaska. Three days after the attack, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they had been detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #13 This is very bad. Expect a proliferation of friendly fire "accidents". |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-01-26 22:17 |
| #12 Wonder how Pepsi and her trained lap dog Murth-ahh will spin this? And if they do it whilst in Iraq. |
| Posted by: USN, ret. 2007-01-26 21:42 |
| #11 This incident shows so much of what has gone wrong in Iraq. Iranians should have been expelled from Iraq in 2003. Any remaining now should be arrested or killed STAT. Anyone caught impersonating US military in Iraq should be shot immediately, at least one as an example, but this will never happen with present ROE. This was more likely an inside operation involving Iraqi forces working for the other side, which has been a problem ever since the 2003 overthrow. I keep reading of how US trainers of Iraqi forces must carry arms and have bodyguards when they work. There has always been this security gap. I am surprised this hasn't happened several times before. Note the attempted abduction ended abruptly when the "black SUV's" ran roadblocks farther away from Karbala and local forces interfered with the escape. Not all the Iraqis were in on this. At least there was no time for the GI's be to tortured and beheaded on videotape for al-Jazeera to broadcast. That was one of the purposes of this operation. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-01-26 21:33 |
| #10 perhaps Arlen Spetor R-Asshole, has prepared comments for the funerals? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-01-26 21:24 |
| #9 I'm sure Justice Kennedy, former Secty of State Powell, and Senator McCain can explain how our exemplary adherence to the Geneva Convention means the enemy will observe its protection for our troops. /sarcasm off |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-01-26 19:42 |
| #8 further rumors are that at least one spoke excellent English, and that one purportedly did not have the standard issue black hair. All rumor at this point. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-01-26 17:17 |
| #7 If it turns out to have been an Iranian job, then specialists will be notified, and some extreme sanctions carried out around the world. I'm hoping the "specialists" will be the missile officers on our subs. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2007-01-26 17:15 |
| #6 War, please. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-01-26 16:48 |
| #5 More details... It said, "Two soldiers were found handcuffed together in the back of one of the SUVs. Both had suffered gunshot wounds and were dead. A third soldier was found shot and dead on the ground. Nearby, the fourth soldier was still alive, despite a gunshot wound to the head." The mortally wounded soldier was rushed to the hospital by Iraqi police but died on the way, the military said. The military also said Iraqi police had found "five SUVs, U.S. Army-type combat uniforms, boots, radios and a non-U.S. made rifle" near Mahawil, in neighboring Babil province. "The precision of the attack, the equipment used and the possible use of explosives to destroy the military vehicles in the compound suggests that the attack was well rehearsed prior to execution," said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman for Multi-National Division-Baghdad. "The attackers went straight to where Americans were located in the provincial government facility, bypassing the Iraqi police in the compound," said Bleichwehl. "We are looking at all the evidence to determine who or what was responsible for the breakdown in security at the compound and the perpetration of the assault." |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-01-26 16:37 |
| #4 This was a professional hit, but still sloppy. Weirdly enough, those abandoned Suburbans are going to be investigated by FBI agents, who are by far the best forensics experts around. They will be collecting fingerprints and DNA. Then, if they ever get a match, time for some good old fashioned Manchu-style interrogation. If it turns out to have been an Iranian job, then specialists will be notified, and some extreme sanctions carried out around the world. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-01-26 16:22 |
| #3 Note that no Iraqis were killed. Sounds like an inside job. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-01-26 15:40 |
| #2 This looks way too complicated for Shi'ite militia. This looks like foreign fighters of Al Qaeda or Iranian special forces. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2007-01-26 15:37 |
| #1 A little whoop-a$$ on shiite militias is way overdue. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-01-26 15:28 |