U.S. pounds Najaf rebels

Reuters ^ | 8/19/04

[saquin]

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Suspected U.S. AC-130 gunships have pounded positions held by Sh'ite militiamen in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf and large orange multiple flashes have lit the night sky.

A large cloud of smoke was rising from an ancient cemetery on Thursday where rebels loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have fought U.S. troops for two weeks.

The explosions from the bombing, that went on for more than 30 minutes, were loudly heard several km (miles) away.

The Iraqi government earlier gave Sadr a few hours to agree to its demands or face a major offensive.

[RexBeach]

Hear, hear. Got get'em, Leathernecks!

[Blood of Tyrants]

You might mistake them for God's wrath if you were on the receiving end of them.

[colorado tanker]

Military correspondent used to be a high calling. Now they're as dumb as dishwater. "Suspected" Specter. LOL!

[ArGee]

It's designed to be highly visible with awesome firepower to scare the daylights out of the enemy.

More likely it will scare the Shiite out of them.

Shalom.

[Little Ray]

Couldn't we just smother it with CS gas and shoot 'em as they come out? Bet they don't have a lot of gas masks there...

Personally, though, I would LOVE give 'em the opportunity to die under a pile of gold-leafed bricks. Sends the right message: Sistine Chapel, Taj Mahal, Church of the Nativity, or Versailles, there is no place for you hide, and nothing we will not level to kill you. If we continue to let 'em hid there, we just send a rather foolish message - crawl under a cultural icon and we negotiation rather than slaughter the scum.

[r9etb]

You might mistake them for God's wrath if you were on the receiving end of them.

Which would be pretty ghastly, you've got to admit.

[oolatec]

You would be dead before you would become aghast... ;)

[Paulus Invictus]

Is the gunship "sensitive?" Is there a way to make it so? Tell kerry.

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Oh I dunno. If by 'stealth' you mean that the enemy can't see it, that definition fits the C-130 perfectly. I mean, how can the enemy possibly see what type of plane it is through all of that firepower?

[Shryke]

BAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! You win the funny o the day.

[Rutles4Ever]

That has to suck seeing one of those gliding into view.

Go Spooky...

[Dog]

Uh oh......Spooky Air has arrived.

I suspected they were waiting for nightfall..

[gathersnomoss]

..."otherwise fire up WW3."

That's it in a nut shell.

[darkwing104]

Suspected U.S. AC-130 gunships or Sensitive U.S. AC-130 gunships?

I honestly doubt that the AC-130 can ever be sensitive....unless you are into death by rapid lead poisoning :)

[Redcloak]

There may be a "special" division in the New Jersey National Guard available for the mission.

[jwpjr]

re: "Suspected U.S. AC-130 gunships have pounded positions"

What's with the 'suspected'. It should be pretty easy to spot an AC-130 gunship! Were they disguised as a J3 Cub or maybe an old Aeronca Champ? Having never heard one on the attack I can't believe there would be mistaking the sound of its turbojet engines and weaponry that fires thousands of rounds of ammunition a minute. I can't think of anything else that would sound like that and would native to Najaf!

[finnigan2]

I think once they move in close to the mosque, about two tons of tear gas should just about be enough to flush out whoever is still alive, Allah be praised.

[Ramonan]

The clue is the solid line of tracers going to the target.

[trebb]

AC-130 Pilot - "We're about to orbit that wasteland over yonder."

Observer - "I don't see any wasteland."

AC-130 Pilot - "We ain't orbited it yet..."

[Dog Gone]

Remember that attacking Iraq was supposed to start WWIII.

So was bombing the Talibunnies during Ramadan.