U.S. Troops Fight Insurgents on No-Man's Highway

Reuters ^ | 04/09/04 | Michael Georgy

[Pikamax]

U.S. Troops Fight Insurgents on No-Man's Highway

By Michael Georgy ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Reuters) - Cocksure teenagers stand at the edge of Abu Ghraib, waiting to dart out and fire rocket-propelled grenades at an American convoy and then melt back into the town's gritty alleyways.

It's a cat-and-mouse game that often leaves U.S. soldiers dead and their vehicles in flames along the highway leading to Baghdad, a key trade route that's now a no-man's land.

Abu Ghraib, a hard-bitten town surrounded by lush farmland, is one of the trouble spots for American soldiers facing fierce challenges from both Sunni Muslim insurgents and radical Shi'ite militiamen.

On Friday plumes of black smoke rose over the highway were visible for kilometers (miles) away at a Baghdad mosque where worshippers spoke of a holy war that involved many ordinary Iraqis taking up arms against U.S. occupation troops.

It seemed that may already have happened in Abu Ghraib, where guerrillas and civilians seem to have a bond on the few streets that are active.

The latest attack in the town was on a convoy carrying fuel. At least half a dozen fuel trucks erupted in flames and bodies were thrown to the street, according to at least one witness. At least nine people were killed and more wounded.

In an eerie moment, a young boy walked out to the highway and picked up a bag placed near the trucks. Perhaps it was used to plant ordnance for the U.S. convoy or he was just wanted to sell it in this impoverished area.

HARD WAY HOME

U.S. tanks closed off the route, littered by hundreds of bullets and shattered pieces of glass. Iraqi civilians navigated around the debris, hoping to get past the Americans for the 15 km (10 mile) journey to Baghdad.

But it is never easy. When they were turned off the highway motorists tried to wend their way around the overpasses, which were sealed off by U.S. soldiers in tanks, training their gun turrets and machineguns on every vehicle.

So frustrated Iraqis try the sideroads but they are turned back as an American soldier sets his binoculars on a car in a nearby field that looks like a security risk.

American military officials have repeatedly said that the insurgency is limited to a minority of Iraqis who want to undermine efforts to build a new Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime exactly one year ago.

But the dynamics of Abu Ghraib, which is set just beyond the view of U.S. troops passing on the highway, suggest otherwise.

Young men with RPGs and AK-47 assault rifles who rule the streets don't seem like diehard Saddam loyalists or followers of al-Qaeda, accused by the military of staging some of the attacks that have killed 449 U.S. troops since May 1.

They wear tracksuits and mingle with the locals, standing out in the open until they rush to attack. Others ride in groups of four or five in cars, within sight of the Americans.

One guerrilla who faked that his leg was wounded ran to a fence above the highway on a quick reconnaissance mission. He looked like any other Iraqi when he returned and stood by his car, except for the pistol strapped to his shoulder.

Clashes around the bridge seem to work in favor of the guerrillas. The longer Iraqis wait for the highway to open, the more they vent their rage over the myriad problems in post-war Iraq -- no security, civilian deaths, power shortages.

"Why don't they just let us pass? If I had a Kalashnikov I would shoot the Americans myself," said an Iraqi motorist stuck on a parallel road.

[Numbers Guy]

COCKSURE teenagers stand at the edge of Abu Ghraib, waiting to dart out and fire rocket-propelled grenades at an American convoy and then melt back into the town's gritty alleyways

I'm SURE they'll soon be without . . . well, you get my drift . . .

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[telebob]

The press pukes just can't let go. They think some a$$wipe teenager who hasn't got the news from Fallujah is going to stand in the way of our guys.

He and the rest of his cohorts will go down, just like the rest.

[AntiGuv]

Speaking of which: Iraqi youths plunder a convoy of burning fuel trucks after they were attacked in the Baghdad suburb of Abu Ghraib April 9, 2004. Insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy carrying fuel west of Baghdad on Friday, killing at least nine people, witnesses said.

[olde north church]

Ohhh! I get it. It's one of those "Find 10 things wrong with this picture" puzzles.
The men in the photos are not on the ground with blood pouring out of them.
Is that right?

[AntiGuv]

The men in the photos are not on the ground with blood pouring out of them.

That's certainly one way to put it.. ;^)

[Broadside Joe]

"The men in the photos are not on the ground with blood pouring out of them.
Is that right?"

Yup very observant. I would also add that there isn't any blood splattered on the camera lens.

[mcshot]

I trust our Marine snipers will know these faces and put them on the magic carpet ride to virgindom. I see no redeemable qualities in their behavior.
MC

[skeeter]

Die hard Saddam Loyalists don't wear tracksuits?

[olde north church]

Has anyone noticed the posters of Yassin in with the protesting crowds in Iraq?
Next time you catch the news, check it out and let others know.
Respectfully,
ONC

[kimmie7]

Clashes around the bridge seem to work in favor of the guerrillas.

Then begone with the bridge! One big boom...

[olde north church]

Has anyone noticed the posters of Yassin in with the protesting crowds in Iraq?
Next time you catch the news, check it out and let others know.
Respectfully,
ONC

[WOSG]

Yes, Saddam Loyalists dress better than that.

These seem like the same morons who rioted after the rodney king incident, just a different shade of ethnicity.

[WOSG]

I've read some anti-US blogs from iraq/arab world that make the yassin connection. It seems the anti-jewish sentiment is so strong that when yassin was killed, some arabs felt the need to take some revenge of some kind. The US-haters in Iraq used it to 'gin up the crowd' if you will.

That led to fallujah. Which led to the current difficulties.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Insurgents celebrate in front of a burning US military tanker
after attacking and destroying it with rocket-propelled grenades
in Abu Ghraib. Picture: Wathiq Khuzaie/ Getty Images

[dalebert]

Time for our guys to shoot first and ask questions later. These are killer thugs not politically oriented insurgents.

[Tailgunner Joe]