IRAQ: 12 Marines, 66 Iraqis Killed in Battles

The Las Vegas Sun ^ | April 06, 2004 at 18:16:01 PDT | HAMZA HENDAWI

[Catspaw]

Prayers for your nephew Joe, as well as prayers for the rest of our wounded. God bless the brave souls who lost their lives.

[saquin]

Two small bits of good news from articles I read today.

About the fighting in Sadr City yesterday:

"American troops managed to reach their wounded and began pulling them out. Military officials said they got unexpected help from some Iraqi civilians who offered their cars and, in one instance, a bus, to take wounded troops to safety."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-sadr6apr06,1,1185757.story?coll=la-home-headlines

About Fallujah today:

"In Fallouja, local children waved at soldiers while playing soccer earlier in the day and residents appeared to be receptive to the Marines' calls for cooperation."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-040604iraq_lat,1,6366451.story?coll=la-home-headlines

I know this is pretty lame, with all the bad news today, but it gave me a slight pick-me-up amid all the gloom.

[dalebert]

I will be praying for your nephew and all our great men.

[HardStarboard]

Personally, 1 Marine should cost no less than 20 Iraqi insurgent lives; (and I do not imply an arbitrary equivalency - 1 to 500 would be better). If the toll is 30 of our guys in the past few days - we need the exclamation point of 500+ lives of the anti-democracy forces strewn on the battlefield.

U.S. Command - open up the rules of engagement to fire at will!

[conservaDave]

I hope your nephew is ok. I thank him and your family for his service.

[cajungirl]

Seems to me we can do both,,thank God we had them and mourn them at the same time.

[boxerblues]

Sorry about your nephew. We will keep him in our prayers.

[Joee]

God Bless them all!

I can't help but wonder if the Marines couldn't have come up with more fire power and maybe reduced their casualties. Questions in my mind as to whether the enemy was able to "Close?" Was there more of a surprise factor than we know? With all the "Star Light" devices available to the troops, plus rapid fire area weapons, I would think the enemy would have had to pay a much bigger price?

Shades of Vietnam when NVA sappers would penetrate the various compounds, on their bellies, cutting the wire, etc.

[chachacha]

Sadly I feel the same. Where are the tanks, the planes, the smart bombs, the missles, the Shock And Awe?

[AFreeBird]

Take the fight to the enemy. The enemy is over there. Yea, protect our borders, but don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

And the killing of those 12 Marines is going to piss the Marines off royally. I'd hate to be on the other side.

[SandRat]

Perhaps an even better reference point is this - - -

The Dieppe Raid that lasted only one day, cost 907 dead among the allied commandos.

A total of 9,758 Allied soldiers died in the D-Day invasion of Nazi-held Europe during World War II that lasted from 6 - 25 June 1944 or nearly as many each of the 19 days as have been killed in 13 months of action in Iraq.

[cajungirl]

Well Greg, dontcha think we can do both. If you think closing the borders is going to solve this problem of terrorist states I do believe you are naive. Sure it would help keeping them out of here. But planes fly into this country, missles can reach our country, we have embassies all over the world, we depend on the rest of the world for certain things. We cannot live like hermits, just us and the resst of the world be damned. It has a way of getting in in one way or the other. I hate to see fine young men die, but they do in war and it doesn't help to piss and moan that things aren't being done in one's particular way.

[McGavin999]

Prayers are being sent up for your nephew right this minute.

[Cedric]

Don't be so childishly impatient and nearsighted. The strategy afoot is brilliant. Radical Muslims from all over the middle east and, indeed, the world are streaming into Iraq for the fight that's taking place right now. How convenient! We don't have to chase them - they're coming to us. And running right into the teeth of the fiercest, most lethal military machine in human history - the United States Marines!

[Joe Hadenuf]

Are we over there to free the Iraqis? To make them happy? They hate our form of government. They hate us. What are we doing? I could care less if Iraqis are free, or if they like democracy, or if they hate us.

There are a billion of them. We gunna kill them all?

And while we are killing all these fanatics, we leave our borders wide open?

Scary.....

[cherry]

I am sure the good Muslims will hold their Fire for Good Friday services, and give us a peaceful Christian holyday.....*sigh*

we give them their stinking Ramadan and they increase the killing during our Holy Week....

I don't think civilized people can win if we don't act uncivilized at times....

[cajungirl]

So Joe, your focus is blurred. Well, we are trying to set up a peaceful democratic government in a critical part of the world, a place where terrorists are congregating to break our will. Better to fight them there than here. And better to drain that swamp now. People are going to die. But your focus need not be blurred, unless of course you want to wave that flag as a way of undermining our effort.

[Greg Weston]

>>Something is wrong with this picture.<<

I know. I wonder how many terrorists may have slipped into this country while our brave guys street fight with scumbags in Iraq. I thought we were going to be welcomed in Iraq as liberators? The neo-CONs still trying to sell this BS??

[Joe Hadenuf]

And running right into the teeth of the fiercest, most lethal military machine in human history - the United States Marines!

And in the end, what do we win? What's the prize? Are they going to love us?

[kellynla]

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

George S. Patton


Well Gen. Patton had his way of dealing with death and I have mine...
And I see nothing foolish or wrong in mourning the loss of a loved one while celebrating their life.