Posted on 12/10/2003 6:52:25 PM PST by 11th_VA
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces have arrested three men suspected of heading Iraqi rebel cells in their homes and say they seized a cache of weapons big enough to launch 50 guerrilla attacks.
In the front garden of one of the two houses raided in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit in the early hours of Thursday, soldiers dug up a hoard of rifles, grenades and explosives that the commanding officer described as "a Fedayeen candy shop".
"This is mission-oriented. This is stuff they dole out," said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell of the U.S. Fourth Infantry Division.
"They are not moving weapons here -- this is the head of a snake," he told reporters invited to witness the raid.
"They are probably in charge of two or three cells. This is one of the most unusual varieties of weapons caches we have seen."
U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq have been dogged by attacks, often in the form of improvised bombs against military convoys. They are believed launched by rebels loyal to former President Saddam Hussein, some of whom have been identified as remnants of Saddam's feared Fedayeen militia.
Russell said the three men arrested, two brothers and a brother-in-law all aged about 40, were members of Mohammed's Army, a group he described as a "local terrorist cell" based in what is the main city in Saddam's home region.
"They are connected to the former regime."
The men, woken from their sleep next to their wives and children, pleaded their innocence. But as reporters left the site, soldiers were still finding white plastic sacks stuffed with weapons buried a few inches under the soil.
"You have a smoking gun in your hand," Russell told one of the arrested men who, according to a U.S. army interpreter, had protested: "I just sell wood, I sell shoes. Saddam is my enemy."
As the two men of that house were undergoing initial interrogation outside, their wives and bleary-eyed young children waited in their bedrooms.
Reuters witnessed as a young boy, prompted by an insistent Arabic-speaking soldier, lifted the corner of his mother's mattress to reveal an AK-47 assault rifle.
Troops also discovered an apparently newly-bought wireless doorbell set, which can be used to trigger bombs from a distance.
Russell said the weapons find was significant as U.S. troops rarely discover the "middle-men" who are neither fully-blown arms traffickers nor the foot soldiers who pull the trigger, but are in charge of directing attacks.
He said better intelligence and tip-offs were leading to more effective raids on Iraqi rebels than in recent months.
"We are draining the swamp of the high and the low," he said. "It is starting to get pretty good. It is starting to get as good as it was in July and August.
As the bulk of troops left the house, two U.S. helicopters fired salvos of explosives into a nearby farmer's field, a show of force the U.S. military calls "harassment and interdiction" of local militants.
Need to interrogate thoroughly. Since they have children, they can be exploited fairly easily, I bet.
If it were me I'd be telling them the Tooth Fairy left it there...
We need to buy wireless sets of this type available in Iraq, study them and then transmit likely signals to trigger the IEDs ahead of time.
Oh, not H&I again. One of the most retarded boondoggles of the Vietnam War... firing at random, to show the enemy you can fire, and harass him that way. Sheesh... the guy who thought this up majored in football... it the days when it was sissy to wear a helmet.
The guy who brought it back needs a thorough beating with a clue-by-four.
We do not want to "harass" or "interdict" the enemy, gentlemen. (What, "harass," have Arnold grope? Or "interdict," like we do with illegal aliens? O brother). We do not want to annoy or inconvenience the enemy. We want to KILL the jeezly enemy. We want to fold, spindle, mutilate, slay, massacre, mangle, maim, disarticulate, annihilate, liquidate, incinerate, and destroy the enemy.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
french wireless door alarm ping
-More soldiers killed (R.I.P., brave warriors)
-Obstructionist nations angry at contract ban
-Sunni and Shi'ite anger/riot at funeral
The media is absolutely disgraceful. < / rant >
Hearty applause and two thumbs up for our fine fighting forces. This was a very successful mission!
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.