Posted on 01/18/2004 5:29:29 AM PST by sopwith
An explosive device being transported in a car exploded near a U.S. Army patrol, killing two Iraqis in the vehicle including a relative of Saddam Hussein, the military said today. There were no U.S. casualties.
The blast in a white Mercedes car happened late on Saturday on a street in the former dictator’s home town of Tikrit, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division.
Russell said the car exploded some 150 yards from his patrol, which had pulled to a halt at a shop in downtown Tikrit just minutes earlier to talk to its owner.
“It was not a suicide bombing. It was a failed attempt to attack coalition forces and they (the car’s occupants) killed themselves,” Russell said.
U.S. soldiers have been searching for the same vehicle, which is believed to have been involved in several other bombings, including a December 16 explosion in Tikrit that wounded three American soldiers.
Russell said one of the two men killed was a nephew of one of Saddam’s brothers, and was carrying a homemade bomb comprised of artillery shells and plastic explosives in his lap that detonated prematurely, killing him instantly and fatally wounding the driver. He would not further identify the bomber.
A third occupant of the car was taken to a Tikrit hospital in a serious condition and will be questioned by U.S. forces later, Russell said.
Russell believed the men in the car had been tipped off to the presence of U.S. soldiers patrolling in Tikrit, and in their haste to attack them had detonated the radio-controlled bomb prematurely.
In another incident, an explosive device detonated on Saturday afternoon inside a Tikrit shop, blowing off the leg of the store’s owner and damaging his premises, Russell said. The injured man was apparently handling the device or preparing it for use when it exploded.
Tikrit, about 180 kilometres (120 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, is at the centre of the so-called Sunni triangle, a pro-Saddam area that has seen the bulk of the insurgent attacks against U.S. troops
The blast in a white Mercedes car happened late on Saturday on a street in the former dictator’s home town of Tikrit, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division.
“It was not a suicide bombing. It was a failed attempt to attack coalition forces and they (the car’s occupants) killed themselves,” Russell said.
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Good news, ping!
Well, at least they will always have raisins. :o)
Didn't So-Dumb try to assassinate someone when he was a pup? Depending on which story you believe, he either shot himself or got caught in a crossfire with his co-murderer-wannabes. Either way, not very smart.
Then Uday and Qusay decide they want to reenact the OK Corral against the baddest warriors on the planet . . . this after a lifetime spent bullying the weak. Some call that justice . . . Allah-rest their murderous souls.
Now So-Dumb's nephew decides to give himself a vasectomy with some C-4.
It appears that those from the Hussein gene pool were short-changed when Allah divvied up the courage and intelligence genes.
I believe there is a song along these lines except that it features whiskers on kittens, blue satin sashes, and snowflakes which interfer with one's vision rather than the items you have mentioned.
However, your version is not bad.
With all our sophisticated electronics warfare capability, couldn't we divine the trigger signal profiles for IEDs and sporadically emit trigger signals? Even if the bombers use some sort of time delay inhibitor, this would have the effect of popping off a lot of stuff harmlessly. (Even better when it's in the lap of the perp.) Also, once the trigger signal is profiled, use radio location to pinpoint and capture/destroy the bombers.
I wonder how long it will take the left to identify the social inequalities among the suicide bombers. Some suicide bombers have to carry bombs on their person because they can't afford a car. Some bombers can only afford to use old cars and trucks. Only a few, rich, suicide bombers get to blow themselves up in a Mercedes. Where is the social justice when only a few of the terrorists get to die in luxury? /sarcasm
Faster horses,
Younger women,
Older whiskey,
and more harmlessly self-immolating terrorists!
... with apologies to Tom T. Hall ...
His first real job, at age 17, was as a hit man for the Ba'ath Party. He successfully assassinated a number of people.
Rest In Pieces.
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