You called?
Posted on 01/28/2007 11:01:41 PM PST by jmc1969
You called?
My favorite insurgent group name was called the Disaster Battalion, an AQIZ related outfit based in the Fallujah/Ramadi corridor. One of their more infamous leaders was a guy called Abu Three-Fingers. He got that nickname after experiencing a tragic but common occupational hazard that IED makers of inadequate skill sometimes do.
Stuff like that is a lot more endearing than the 1920's Revolutionary Brigade. I mean, how's that moniker going to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies?
Can't verify any of it as it is not from America Supports You or an official .mil site.
That's funny!
Also, in more recent history, the Iraqi army was famous for exaggerating its triumphs. During the Iraq-Iran war, they used to have daily communiqués on troops progress and would give the advances in kilometers. Someone said that to sum all these distances, they would reach China by now! Obviously, they never count their retreats. I know its a different army now, but some old habits die hard.
**************************AN EXCERPT *********************************
Defence ministry officials said 200 militants, including the cult's leader, had been killed in the fighting and 60 were wounded. The site of the battle, in an agricultural area north of Najaf, was said to be under the control of Iraqi security forces by early yesterday morning.
However, estimates for the number of dead and injured varied widely, as did information about the motives and membership of the previously unknown group, known as the Army of Heaven, which believes in the return of the Mahdi, a 9th century imam whose reappearance will signal a new world of justice and peace.
Muhammad al Askari, the defence ministry spokesman, said: "The victorious Iraqi forces, with US help, have smashed the group of terrorists who were planning to disrupt the holy day of Ashura." He said 120 fighters had been arrested and caches of weapons and documents were seized.
The US military were largely quiet about the operation, during which two American soldiers lost their lives when a helicopter was brought down. The US handed responsibility for security in Najaf province to Iraqi forces last month.
But there was growing concern yesterday at the apparent ease with which the group's followers had managed to dig themselves in and build up a cache of heavy weapons under the noses of Iraqi security forces - in a part of the country where security is relatively good.
Police commanders in Najaf who launched the operation against the group at dawn on Sunday said they had been surprised by the ferocity and firepower they encountered. Initially outgunned, they called in US air support that included Apache attack helicopters and F-16 jets. "We found bunkers full of mortars and automatic weapons and anti-aircraft rockets," a police spokesman said.
NY Times: Iraqi Forces in Fierce Battle With Gunmen ~ US copter down....250 militants down...
See #34 I think..... on the thread.
Thanks for the ping. Lots of goons doing more then just a swoon. Now popping up daiseys.
We used a 105mm round called a Beehive that had flechettes(darts), couple thousand in each shell/
Mk-82 Primary function: 500-lb. free-fall, general purpose bomb. Dimensions: Length 5 ft. 6.2 in., diameter 10.75 in. Range: Varies by method of employment.
Some reports were that we were droping 500 pounders on them, well one of those will make the rest of your day not too good.
As in vaporized if you are within 15 feet.
Since there were reports that they were dug in, having built trenches, that wouldn't suprise me. Still cluster bombs and other area type weapons are usually best against masses of enemy fighters(I won't dignify the SOBs by calling them "troops").
As in vaporized if you are within 15 feet.
Don't need to vaporize 'em. The idea is to kill as many as possible. Just putting a few hodes in them, and letting 'em bleed out will do that much more efficiently. Iron bombs don't have enough fragments to that very efficiently. Hence, Cluster bombs, or area weapons like the 40mm cannon and 25mm Gatlings in the AC-130s are very good in this sort of situation.
It's more like cannister than grape. But the new round was actually developed, in a 105 version, for the Styrker Mobile Gun System, which uses the 105 cannon from the M-60 and earlier models of the Abrams. However testing showed such good results, they rushed the 120 mm version through design and intro production and deployment, since the Stryker MGS is only now going through operational testing.
The round is very effective indeed.
Well it wasn't quite that good. There were something like 6 Iraqi friendlies KIA as well. Still 40 or 50 to 1 isn't bad either.
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