Posted on 11/23/2003 1:27:33 PM PST by areafiftyone
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi teenagers dragged the bloody bodies of two American soldiers from a wrecked vehicle and pummeled them with concrete blocks Sunday, witnesses said, describing a burst of savagery in a city once safe for Americans. Another soldier was killed by a bomb and a U.S.-allied police chief was assassinated.
The U.S.-led coalition also said it grounded commercial flights after the military confirmed that a missile struck a DHL cargo plane that landed Saturday at Baghdad International Airport with its wing aflame.
Nevertheless, American officers insisted they were making progress in bringing stability to Iraq (news - web sites), and the U.S.-appointed Governing Council named an ambassador to Washington — an Iraqi-American woman who spent the last decade lobbying U.S. lawmakers to promote democracy in her homeland.
Witnesses to the Mosul attack said gunmen shot two soldiers driving through the city center, sending their vehicle crashing into a wall. The 101st Airborne Division said the soldiers were driving to another garrison.
About a dozen swarming teenagers dragged the soldiers' bodies out of the wreckage and beat them with concrete blocks, the witnesses said.
"They lifted a block and hit them with it on the face," Younis Mahmoud, 19, said.
Another teenager, Bahaa Jassim, said some looted the vehicle of weapons, CDs and a backpack.
"They remained there for over an hour without the Americans knowing anything about it," he said. "I ... went and told other troops."
Television video showed the soldiers' bodies splayed on the ground as U.S. troops secured the area. One victim's foot appeared to have been severed.
The frenzy recalled the October 1993 scene in Somalia, when locals dragged the bodies of Marines killed in fighting with warlords through the streets.
In Baqouba, just north of Baghdad, insurgents detonated a roadside bomb as a 4th Infantry Division convoy passed, killing one soldier and wounding two others, the military said.
In Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt confirmed the Mosul deaths but refused to provide details.
"We're not going to get ghoulish about it," he said.
The savagery of the attack was unusual for Mosul, once touted as a success story in sharp contrast to the anti-American violence seen in Sunni Muslim areas north and west of Baghdad.
In recent weeks, however, attacks against U.S. troops have increased in Mosul, raising concerns the insurgency is spreading.
Simultaneously, attacks have accelerated against Iraqis considered to be supporting Americans — such as policemen and politicians working for the interim Iraqi administration.
On Sunday, gunmen killed the Iraqi police chief of Latifiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad, and his bodyguard and driver, American and Iraqi officials said. No further details were released.
The assassination occurred one day after suicide bombers struck two police stations northeast of Baghdad within 30 minutes, killing at least 14 people. Gunmen on Saturday also killed an Iraqi police colonel protecting oil installations in Mosul.
Elsewhere, Iraqi police said six U.S. Apache helicopter gunships blasted marshland after insurgents fired four rocket-propelled grenades at the American military garrison at the city's northern end. One Iraqi passer-by was killed in the air attack, police said.
In Kirkuk, 150 miles north of Baghdad, a bomb exploded at an oil compound, injuring three American civilian contractors from the U.S. firm Kellogg Brown & Root. The three suffered facial cuts from flying glass, U.S. Lt. Col. Matt Croke said.
KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton, also has a significant presence at Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, which was rocketed by insurgents Friday, wounding one civilian.
"We all know that Americans are being threatened," Croke said.
Kimmitt told reporters in Baghdad that witnesses saw two surface-to-air missiles fired Saturday at a cargo plane operated by the Belgium-based package service DHL as it left for Bahrain.
The plane was the first civilian airliner hit by insurgents, who have shot down several military helicopters with shoulder-fired rockets.
DHL and Royal Jordanian, the only commercial passenger airline flying into Baghdad, immediately suspended flights on orders of the coalition authority.
Despite the ongoing violence, U.S. officials insisted the occupation was going well.
"If you look at the accomplishments of the coalition since March of this year, it has been enormous," Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Tikrit.
Pace is touring Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq.
Also Sunday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said veteran Washington lobbyist Rend Rahim Francke was appointed Iraq's ambassador to the United States. Francke, an Iraq native who has spent most of her life abroad, led the Iraq Foundation, a Washington-based pro-democracy group, and has helped plan Iraq's transition from Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s rule.
The appointment will renew the diplomatic ties between Washington and Baghdad severed in 1990 when Saddam invaded Kuwait.
One more thing Joe.
The Bush daughters have a dad -- our president -- who is taking on the worst terror organizations in the world. Try to think what kind of danger this puts the entire Bush family in and try to think what kind of life they NOW must lead for the rest of their life.
The Bush daughters are serving this county more than you will ever.
[Beave]:So then if we bomb away then we really mess up and stuff.
I wish I could do something about it. Right this very moment ,though my heart is with you and other families like you. I am so sorry that it has to come to this, the deaths of these brave people. I feel so guilty that I am sitting in my home ,while these people fight for my freedom. I hope you can find some peace.
I wish I could do something about it. Right this very moment ,though my heart is with you and other families like you. I am so sorry that it has to come to this, the deaths of these brave people. I feel so guilty that I am sitting in my home ,while these people fight for my freedom. I hope you can find some peace.
Tempted as I was, until now, Mosul has been pretty successful from what I've heard. A display like that might be all that is needed for the town elders to take care of such rogue elements themselves(afterall, they freaked-out at least one Brit during Gulf WarI who thought we went nuclear ;-). A repeat performance would definately warrant moving ground zero inside of town.
Not before you had been told he was dead.
This is WRONG!
Signed.....a Mom whose son is there.
We are not fighting for 'that country'.....we are fighting for our FREEDOM!
The Bush daughters are serving this county more than you will ever.
Thank you so much for that FreeReign. But remember this.....
Joe doesn't THINK. All he can do is FEEL.
Found that out on the phone today......
Same thing I'm wondering.
With a minimum of two vehicles the odds of anyone either escaping the consequences of an attack or "kids" abusing corpses (or worse) are reduced.
I should add... if these "teenagers" are old enough to commit atrocities, they are old enough to be executed.
I ran out of tolerance long ago, with Americans dying every day.
No, I do not mean cut and run. I mean get serious.
Humvee's with added armor..said to be theatre replacement in the next year or so will still not provide the neccessary protection.
More Bradleys to Iraq....get M113's with armor upgrades that exist..upgrade others.
Canada refurbished many of their M113'S for the Balkans..with good success .
Yes..Bradleys and 113'S are going to guzzel the Gas..but damn-it!!!..the Lads deserve the nations best...and screw the gas cost...take that directly from Iraq.
Israel seldom takes thinskinned vehicles into warzones...IDF M-113 Zeldas..and the M163'S with their 20 mm Vulcan Gatling auto cannon make Hamdi a 7 second burst to Allah.
By now it is clear that Iraq's *Tribal code ..accompanied by Islamic deceit reality ensures no one is going to assist the U.S....unless large stacks of money are dished out.
Time to re-visit the ways of Black Jack Pershing in the Phillipines.
Criticism is easy. Takes no brains whatsoever.
Show us there is something between your ears other than platitudes.
Tell us what you would do.
No, cutting and running is not an option.
God is Sovereign, and He is in control.
These deaths will be avenged.
Thank YOU for your families service to this country.
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.