Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Many Marines head to dangerous Anbar
AP via Yahoo ^ | December 2, 2006 | WILL WEISSERT

Posted on 12/02/2006 11:57:40 AM PST by ARealMothersSonForever

RAMADI, Iraq - Even as leading Democrats talk about gradually sending troops home from Iraq, thousands of recently deployed Marines are getting their first taste of the war.

About 2,200 Marines left their ships in the Persian Gulf two weeks ago for the dangerous city of Ramadi and other locales around Anbar province, where entrenched and well-financed insurgents use roadside bombs, rocket and mortar attacks, ambushes and snipers to kill American troops at rates approaching one per day.

Two battalions from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit have been assigned to this city of mansions with towering, gilded columns and crescent-shaped windows, the capital of a Sunni Arab province that stretches west from Baghdad to the Iraqi borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Only about 20 percent of those in the battalions arriving in Ramadi have fought previously in the Iraq war — though some have combat experience from Afghanistan, Kosovo and the first Gulf War, said 1st Sgt. Eric Carlson from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. He said he didn't want specific numbers to appear in print, fearing it could help insurgents plan.

"This is why they joined the Marines, for combat," said Carlson, a 38-year-old Chicago native who fought in Iraq during the first Gulf War but is on his first deployment here since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

"There's a lot of bad people in this city, all over this province," he said. "We're here to help in whatever way we can."

During their short time in Ramadi, one Marine already has been seriously wounded, taking a bullet to the neck in an ambush a few blocks from an Army outpost. He was rushed to Germany for surgery that was able to prevent paralysis.

About 30,000 U.S. troops — more than 20,000 of them Marines — are spread thinly throughout the deserts of Anbar, which is roughly the size of North Carolina and home to 1.4 million people. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit had been designated as a reserve force for Iraq to be tapped if circumstances called for a boost in U.S. presence.

Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, has sent the unit to Anbar to provide reinforcements for about six weeks — though its tour here could be extended.

"Abizaid putting more Marines into Iraq might be posturing on his part after the Democrats won back Congress," said Lance Cpl. Tyler Ceniseoz, 21, of Curvina, Calif. "When everybody says we need to be sending troops home, he's saying the opposite."

Sgt. Yobani Tejada, 27, of Las Vegas, fought in Fallujah and is one of the few from the battalion on his second tour in Iraq. He said the decision to deploy the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit had nothing to with the midterm elections that swept Democrats in control of Congress or the calls for a new direction in Iraq that reached a crescendo afterward.

"The planning for this mission began months and months ago, regardless of what was going on outside Iraq," he said.

The deployment is the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's third in Iraq: The unit participated in the initial invasion in March 2003 and returned two years later. But many from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines now attached to the unit are joining the war for the first time.

"I'm excited, a little anxious," Ceniseoz said. "The last deployment, we went to Japan and hung out, got drunk, had fun and didn't do much. Now we're here doing our jobs."

A city of 300,000, Ramadi is an insurgent stronghold that has featured some of the bloodiest combat of the war as Marines and soldiers fought their way from neighborhood to neighborhood. Some areas have been reduced to burned-out rubble, and it's hard to find a high-rise here not pockmarked with bullet holes or scarred from the impact of a rocket or mortar.

"Things here are pretty tough, you've still got guys who are getting shot everyday," said Lance Cpl. Brian Kleinkopf, a 19-year-old from Yreka, Calif.

The unit has spent its early days in Iraq conducting raids and house-by-house searches of insurgent strongholds around Ramadi. It was expecting to see heavy combat this weekend, teaming up with an Army Task Force to sweep an area in the southeastern part of the city rife with disaffected former officers in Saddam's army who have taken up arms against the American troops.

"To send us here, it means they needed help here," said Cpl. Robert Lemmons, 21, from Bothell, Wash. "Things are still pretty difficult for a lot of Marines in a lot of places around this province."

Peering through his rifle's scope from the concrete rooftop of a U.S. outpost in central Ramadi, Lt. Richard Jahelka said he joined the Marines five months ago ready to fight in Iraq. When asked what it felt like to be here, he said simply, "finally."

"We came here to help people and to fight," said Jahelka, a 21-year-old San Diego native. "Not sit on a ship."


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: anbar; iraq
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last
Abizaid is doing the right thing here. Kudos to the President and Congress for authorizing and funding this in Anbar. Good news. And I am normally NOT a fan of Abizaid.
1 posted on 12/02/2006 11:57:42 AM PST by ARealMothersSonForever
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: jmc1969; TexKat

Another angle on the Anbar activities.


2 posted on 12/02/2006 11:58:50 AM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever
Troops who threw themselves on grenades could get Medal of Honor
3 posted on 12/02/2006 12:06:31 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever

We need to fight to win, not manage another "face-saving" surrender.


4 posted on 12/02/2006 12:10:15 PM PST by sine_nomine (Don't let another Bush lose another Iraq war.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever

Beyond Military Means -Oliver North - Fox News

5 posted on 12/02/2006 12:13:55 PM PST by TexKat (Just because you did not see it or read it, that does not mean it did or did not happen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever
We have been playing around with the insurgents in Ramadi for 3 years now, its time to do something different.

Send a message to the people, this is what happens when you allow insurgents to use your town.... then level the town and cart away the rubble.

Doing more of the same will result in more of the same.

Unless the Marines are being sent in to do something different, but if they are just going to be used to conduct more IED/bullet magnet patrols, it will just be more targets.

hopefully they will be sent to cross the border into Syria and administer a colossal azz wupping
Remember: For the FIRST STINKING TIME, in this Vietnam redux in Iraq, the coalition has lost 77 or more men for 3 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS..... WE HAVE NEVER LOST SO MANY - MONTH AFTER MONTH. Split Iraq up Split ICBMize Iran
6 posted on 12/02/2006 12:21:32 PM PST by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: TexKat
Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor and Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta are being considered for the posthumous Medal of Honor. Both are very deserving.
7 posted on 12/02/2006 12:22:40 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: TomasUSMC
Two battalions of US Marines is considered to be a sizable message. One battalion of Marines made a significant contribution to the fall of Baghdad on April 9th 2003.
8 posted on 12/02/2006 12:32:35 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever

My Brother is with the 15th MEU. Pray for them all.


9 posted on 12/02/2006 12:32:59 PM PST by vpintheak (Yep.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TexKat
I wholeheartedly with Ollie's final assessment: The Baghdad government must urgently assert control over renegade militias, initiate political reconciliation and put in place institutions of government that both provide security for the Iraqi people and protect their civil liberties. It's a tall order. But unless they rise to the necessity, a "successful end" to this war will be problematic.

The criticism of Maliki, Mookie, and Iranian Hezbullah has been interpreted by the cheerleaders to be criticism of US and Coalition forces. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our military and the coalition violently overthrew the previous Iraqi government, in part for the crimes committed by government militias. Maliki had better catch a clue.

10 posted on 12/02/2006 12:45:44 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: TomasUSMC
We have been playing around with the insurgents in Ramadi for 3 years now, its time to do something different. . . . Doing more of the same will result in more of the same.

Sounds like you have no idea what's actually going on in Ramadi.

You really should read this when you get a chance:
Return to Ramadi: U.S. forces have made progress in one of the toughest cities in Iraq. by Michael Fumento

11 posted on 12/02/2006 12:47:27 PM PST by Sandy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: vpintheak

You bet. Being Catholic heathens we light candles for the troops weekly. :-}


12 posted on 12/02/2006 12:48:05 PM PST by jwalsh07
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: vpintheak
My Brother is with the 15th MEU. Pray for them all.

We do pray for them all. May they successfully complete the mission with no harm done to our Marines. There has been a lot of good intelligence provided by Iraqis and friendly Jordanian forces in the area. Journalists are also being embedded with our forces in Anbar, specifically Marine Colonel Oliver North. This looks to be a well planned offensive with an objective of winning. Sitting still and holding ground did not work. Pursuing, killing, and harassing the enemy always works. And no other group in the world does this better than the United States Marine Corps.

13 posted on 12/02/2006 1:11:09 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ARealMothersSonForever
Lt. Richard Jahelka said he joined the Marines five months ago ready to fight in Iraq

is this possible ?
He'd be a 2nd Lt. probably, but joined 5 months ago ?
OCS used to be 10 weeks, then another 6 months of additional training.
Any newer Corps Marines shed some light on this ?
14 posted on 12/02/2006 1:14:26 PM PST by stylin19a ("Klaatu Barada Nikto")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: stylin19a
Reporter has his facts wrong.


15 posted on 12/02/2006 1:22:07 PM PST by A.A. Cunningham
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: stylin19a
is this possible ?

Possible, but not likely that an LT is peering through a rifle scope. Heard of Navy commissioned officers going over to the Marine Corps, and even a few Coasties. It is possible that Army or Air Force officers could move over to the Corps, but I can not think of any specific instance of when it last happened.

16 posted on 12/02/2006 1:22:19 PM PST by ARealMothersSonForever (We shall never forget the atrocities of September 11, 2001.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: 4butnomorethan30characters

looky


17 posted on 12/02/2006 1:26:42 PM PST by 1COUNTER-MORTER-68 (THROWING ANOTHER BULLET-RIDDLED TV IN THE PILE OUT BACK~~~~~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Sandy

Sounds like you have no idea what's actually going on in Ramadi.




For the FIRST STINKING TIME, in Iraq, the coalition has lost 77 or more men for 3 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS... thats Sept. Oct. and Nov. Pretty recent stats.

Things are not better in Iraq but who knows maybe they are in Ramadi.

That town should have been leveled years ago.


18 posted on 12/02/2006 2:01:06 PM PST by TomasUSMC ( FIGHT LIKE WW2, FINISH LIKE WW2. FIGHT LIKE NAM, FINISH LIKE NAM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: vpintheak

Prayers up.


19 posted on 12/02/2006 4:05:42 PM PST by squarebarb
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: vpintheak

My son, LCpl Mason A. Colman, is with the 15th MEU in Ramadi. He is 19 years old, a SAW gunner, and he loves his job. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps.


20 posted on 12/02/2006 5:51:56 PM PST by Defend the Second (Let Me Get This Straight: Illegal Invasion is OK, but Legal Expulsion is Not?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-27 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson