Posted on 02/22/2007 4:48:55 AM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD (AFP) - As a joint operation by US and Iraqi troops to take control of Baghdad begins to bear fruit, there were signs on Thursday that their insurgent foes are trying to counter them with deadly new tactics.
Iraqi medics were treating patients poisoned by what is thought to be chlorine gas after attackers targeted civilian areas with trucks rigged as dirty bombs, said Qais Abdulwahab, director of the Kadhimiya Hospital.
Meanwhile, US commanders are investigating the loss of the latest in a series of helicopters after a Blackhawk came down on Wednesday in fields north of the capital after coming under fire from the ground.
"Operation Fhard al-Qanoon" (Imposing Order) has scored some successes. Murders are down in Baghdad and more than 90,000 US and Iraqi troops have met only token resistance as they fan out through flashpoint districts.
Three suspected Al-Qaeda insurgents were killed north of Baghdad in clashes on Thursday and overnight raids in the city netted five "rogue" members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia suspected of kidnapping and murder.
But daily bomb attacks on civilians continue, and the use of chlorine and anti-aircraft tactics has underlined what US commanders say is the insurgents' main strength -- their ability to adapt and exploit their foes' weaknesses.
"One of the things we see as we deal with this is that as one technique works in one part of the country we tend to see copycat attacks in other parts of the country," said US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Garver.
On Tuesday, a truck carrying chlorine gas exploded in Taji, just north of Baghdad, killing six people on the spot but also poisoning scores more as the toxic gas spread through the area, overcoming women and children.
On Wednesday, the dirty bombers struck again, in the suburbs of Baghdad, in a less successful attack that nevertheless spread panic.
"The material used is poisonous," said Abdulwahab. "During the explosion it changes into a mist that spreads through the air, causing poisoning in the breathing system, breathing difficulties and acute coughing.
"It's is the first time we have seen such poisoning cases," he told AFP, comparing the injuries to the internal burns suffered by children who drink chlorine-based cleaning products.
Kadhimiya Hospital treated 90 patients poisoned in Tuesday's attack -- seven of whom died -- and 21 more on Wednesday, Abdulwahab said.
The Martyr Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim Hospital in Shula treated 66 cases after the Taji blast, and all survived, said medical official Abu Murtadha.
"They've adapted the car bomb tactic," Garver said. "It shows some of the maliciousness with with they are adapting those tactics.
"It was not a chlorine tanker it was just a tank in the back of a truck. The use of canisters with something in them is not new, they've tried using regular acetylene tanks to increase the size of the explosive," he said.
"So that's not new, we do look for canisters already, but obviously we are going to pay more attention now to any kind of canister," he said.
Meanwhile, US commanders are examining the threat to their helicopters, eight of which -- two operated by a private security outfit -- have been lost since January 20, most of them shot down by insurgents.
The latest was a Blackhawk transport that made a "hard landing" north of Baghdad late Wednesday. The nine personnel on board survived, but the incident underlined the choppers' apparently increasing vulnerability.
"Initial indications appear that it was brought down by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," Garver said.
The Blackhawk was the third of the helicopters hit in a region north of Baghdad. Insurgents linked to Al Qaeda claim in Internet messages to have deployed "new tactics and weapons" in the area.
"We are engaged with a thinking enemy," warned US Major General James Simmons, who oversees helicopter operations in Iraq, last week.
"This enemy understands that we are in the process of executing the (Iraqi) prime minister's new plan for the security of Baghdad, and they understand the strategic implications of shooting down an aircraft," he said.
As America's enemies in Iraq -- Sunni insurgents and Shiite militiamen -- have become more adept in their use of roadside bombs, the military has made greater use of helicopters.
In 2004, US army helicopters flew 240,000 hours in Iraq, and in 2006 334,000. This year they are expected to fly at least 400,000 hours. Simmons insisted it is still the safest way to get about.
The United States has decided to boost its troop levels in Iraq by 21,500 by the end of May, but on Wednesday coalition ally Britain announced that it would scale back its forces and Denmark and Lithuania said they were pulling out.
Iraqis inspect the damage at the entrance of their house after it was raided by US and Iraqi troops in Baghdad's Sadr City. As a joint operation by US and Iraqi troops to take control of Baghdad begins to bear fruit, there were signs that their insurgent foes are trying to counter them with deadly new tactics.(AFP/Wissam Al-Okaili)
Does this change our ROE? We HAVE to kill more bad guys over there before they kill more of us over here. War is hell. This is between Good and Evil. I do wonder what side America is on.
RAMADI, Iraq, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. forces killed at least 12 insurgents and wounded three in a six-hour gunbattle in Ramadi involving heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and air strikes, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
Hostile fire brings Black Hawk helicopter down in Iraq
Chlorine gas attacks latest insurgent ploy
UK pullout presages Basra showdown
LA judge OKs $13.5 million settlement in crash of Army helicopter
Chlorine bombs - coming soon to a neighborhood near you!
This message sponsored by the gutless Dems pushing their signature "Let's-all-just-get-along" cut 'n run strategies for America's (limited) future.
U.S. says 12 militants killed in Iraq gunfight
22 Feb 2007 12:45:59 GMT
Source: Reuters
RAMADI, Iraq, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. forces killed at least 12 insurgents and wounded three in a six-hour gunbattle in Ramadi involving heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and air strikes, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
1st Lieutenant Shawn Mercer, a spokesman for U.S. Marines operating in western Iraq, said the battle started on Wednesday evening when gunmen attacked U.S. forces in the east of Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold in Anbar province.
"The scale of the fight eventually led to coalition forces using precision guided munitions (air strikes) and causing damage to a number of structures," Mercer said in an email response to questions.
Residents in Ramadi said three buildings were destroyed in the clashes. A civil defence official and an ambulance driver, both of whom declined to be identified, said as many as 26 people were killed, including some women and children.
Mercer denied that. "We have no reports of civilian casualties and there were no coalition casualties," he said.
"The firefight lasted approximately six hours, and resulted in at least 12 AIF (anti-Iraqi forces) killed and three wounded," Mercer said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PAR243501.htm
Will the media ever call the "insurgents" terrorists? Another example of how being politicallly correct will cause us to lose the WOT.
I like the new term that our guys are pushing; AIFs (Anti-Iraqi Forces). If we can get the media to adopt it, that would be nice.
Iraqi soldiers wait before an operation to search for weapons in the Rasheed neighbourhood, southeast of Baghdad, February 22, 2007. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (IRAQ)
Iraqi soldiers search for weapons inside a house during an operation in the Rasheed neighbourhood, southeast of Baghdad, February 22, 2007. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (IRAQ)
An Iraqi soldier searches for weapons during an operation in the Rasheed neighbourhood, southeast of Baghdad, February 22, 2007. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (IRAQ)
Iraqi soldiers search for weapons in the Rasheed neighbourhood, southeast of Baghdad February 22, 2007. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (IRAQ)
The Iranians or Russians are behind the change in tactics, I'd say. The jihadists are not smart enough to figure this out for themselves.
I'd say it's the Iranians. They were as guilty as Saddam at using chemical weapons.
I'm guessing that the anti-helicopter missiles came from Russia, though.
I'm glad you're not in charge of US policy. Underestimating an enemy is a great way to lose a war.
The jihadists were smart enough to find the gaps in our pre-9/11 airline security, and exploit them masterfully to murder 3000 Americans. Credit where credit is due: 9/11 was murderous, evil, a crime against the laws of war, cowardly as an attack on defenseless civilians, but it was also brilliant in its tactical conception and execution.
And it doesn't take a genius, or a state secruity apparatus to figure out how to make chlorine gas and bottle it. Anyone with access to a compressor of the sort used to make pressurized gas cylinders and household chemicals can do it.
All the other FReepers who made chlorine gas using household chemicals when they were kids chime in now.
Toxic gas latest insurgent weapon - CNN
POSTED: 6:09 a.m. EST, February 22, 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Deadly and debilitating chlorine gas has been added to the arsenal of weapons fueling the explosive insurgency in Iraq with chemical attacks leaving at least 12 dead and more than 200 hospitalized in the past week.
An Interior Ministry official told CNN Thursday that the toxic yellow-green gas was a main component in Wednesday's bomb attack near a hospital in southwestern Baghdad's Bayaa neighborhood.
The use of gas is a chilling echo of deadly strikes employed by the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein against his enemies both in and outside Iraq.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/22/iraq.main/
It's the strategy that they don't have the smarts to figure out for themselves. And they also don't have the anti-helicopter missiles without help.
As attacks against coalition targets continued, the U.S. military said that one of its helicopters reported to have had a "hard landing" on Wednesday, might have been brought down by enemy fire.
"The indications are now that it was brought down by small-arms fire and RPGs -- rocket-propelled grenades," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said.
A message posted online by a group called the The Mujahedeen Army claimed responsibility for downing the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the claim or its source.
A portion of the statement, dated Wednesday, said, "With God's blessing, at 10 o'clock this morning, Sheik Al-Islam bin Taimiya Brigade of the Mujahedeen Army was able to down a Black Hawk helicopter that belongs to the crusader occupying forces in the Taji area, north of Baghdad."
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/22/iraq.main/
Anti-helicopter missiles, I'll grant, ultimately have a state source.
Not smart enough to figure out the strategy? Like I said, I'm glad you're not in charge.
There is a whole genre of jihadi strategic studies. You might Google "The Management of Savagery"--one of the major works of that genre has been translated into English.
These guys ultimately respond to leadership. Their leaders might be smart enough to figure it out, but their leaders are dead or in hiding. The only reason it's happening is that the Iranians and/or Russians (and add Syrians) are supplying the materials and the strategy.
Iraqis welcome British withdrawal
The Iraqi government has welcomed Britain's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, saying it is in line with plans for Iraqi forces to assume security for the country.
Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, on Thursday said "[The] decision is in harmony with the government's intention to assume security responsibilities in the province." President Jalal Talabani also applauded the decision, saying it would act as a "catalyst for Iraqi forces to assume security responsibilities". "His excellency considers it as a positive step and thanks British forces for their role in liberating Iraq," said Hiwa Othman, Talabani's spokesman. Also on Thursday, the UK defence ministry confirmed that Britain's Prince Harry, who is third in line to the British throne, is to be deployed to southern Iraq. A ministry spokesman confirmed the prince would be sent to Iraq with the Blues and Royals regiment "over the next few months".
Attacks on troops
Two British military bases in Basra were bombarded with missiles in the past 24 hours, an Iraqi security source said Thursday. The two British bases, located in central Basra and in the city's Shat al-Arab hotel, were bombed on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, the source added. No details of causalities were immediately available.
Salam al-Maliki, a senior official in the bloc loyal to radical young cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which has long opposed a foreign presence in Iraq, said violence in the city would cease once the foreign troops have left. "The militias and militant groups in these areas only fired their weapons at the occupier and when they go, all of the violence here will end," he said. Britain announced on Wednesday that it will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq over the coming months and aims to further cut its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer if local forces can secure the southern part of the country. British troops will remain in Iraq until at least 2008 and work to secure the Iran-Iraq border and maintain supply routes to US and coalition troops in central Iraq, Tony Blair, the British prime minister said during his announcement. Romania, however, also announced on Thursday, that it would keep all of its 605 troops in Iraq for at least the next few months. Sorin Frunzaverde, the Defence Minister, said: "Events (in Iraq) are generating missions for our troops there ... so in the next few months we don't plan to reduce our military presence." (Aljazeera)
http://www.egyptguide.net/News/showArticle.aspx?ArticleID=1273
Egyptian blogger sentenced to prison
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer
ALEXANDRIA, Egypt - An Egyptian blogger was convicted of insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak and sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday in Egypt's first prosecution of a blogger.
Abdel Kareem Nabil, a 22-year-old former student at Egypt's Al-Azhar University, an Islamic institution, had pleaded innocent to all charges, and human rights groups had called for his release.
Nabil, who used the blogger name Kareem Amer, had sharply criticized Al-Azhar on his Web log, calling it "the university of terrorism" and accusing it of suppressing free thought. He also often criticized Mubarak's regime on the blog.
In one post, he said Al-Azhar University "stuffs its students' brains and turns them into human beasts ... teaching them that there is not place for differences in this life."
He was a vocal critic of conservative Muslims and in other posts described Mubarak's regime as a "symbol of dictatorship."
The university threw him out last year and pressed prosecutors to put him on trial.
The judge issued the verdict in a brief, five-minute session in a court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. He sentenced Nabil to three years in prison for insulting Islam and inciting sedition and another year for insulting Mubarak. Nabil had faced a possible maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison.
Nabil, wearing a gray T-shirt and sitting in the defendants pen, gave no reaction and his face remained still as the verdict was read. He was immediately taken from the pen and put in a prison truck and did not comment to reporters.
Egypt arrested a number of bloggers last year, most of them for connections to Egypt's pro-democracy reform movement. Nabil was arrested in November, and while other bloggers were freed, Nabil was put on trial — a sign of the sensitivity of his writings on religion.
Hafiz Abou Saada, head of the Egyptian Human Rights Organization, described the verdict as "very tough"
"This is a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance that the punishment will very strong," he told the Associated Press.
Two U.S. congressmen also expressed deep concern about the arrest of Nabil — who also goes by the blogger name of Kareem Amer — and called for the charges to be dropped.
"The Egyptian government's arrest of Mr. Amer simply for displeasure over writings on the personal Web log raises serious concern about the level of respect for freedoms in Egypt," Reps. Trent Franks (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., and Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., wrote to U.S. Ambassador Nabil Fahmy.
The Bush administration has not commented on Nabil's trial, despite its past criticism of the arrests of Egyptian rights activists.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_blogger;_ylt=AsdlAqAvzimLZPY_OekIZbYLewgF
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