Posted on 11/15/2004 7:01:02 AM PST by TexKat
US Marines of the 1st division enter a house to take up position in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
I believe this is called the cockroach theory. We have invaded the roaches nest and the yare scattering throughout the countryside. Once exposed, it should be easier for our troops to exterminate them. The quicker the better in my opinion.
US Marines of the 1st division rest in a house in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
A US Marine secures the area next to dead bodies in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov 15. 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
U.S. soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment assemble outside Falluja awaiting further orders November 10, 2004. U.S. warplanes, artillery and mortars struck areas across Falluja on Monday as groups of diehard insurgents held out to the last in the week-long battle. Picture taken November 10, 2004. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Staff Sgt. Michael Nasworthy/U.S. Army
Military photographers with the US Marines document the damage along the main street in Fallujah. US-led forces will probably need up to five more days to finish clearing Fallujah of rebels after a week of fierce fighting that left 38 US soldiers and more than 1,200 insurgents dead.(AFP/Patrick Baz)
US Marines rest against the shrapnel damaged shutters of stores in Fallujah. Warplanes struck Fallujah as US-led forces hunted for diehard rebels after taking almost total control of the city in a week-long battle that killed 38 US soldiers and more than 1,200 insurgents.(AFP/Patrick Baz)
US Marine of the 1st division rest after searching a kitchen of a house in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
A US Marine of the 1st division walks through the deserted western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
U.S. Marines of the 1st Division rest outside a house in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
US Marines of the 1st division get ready after overnighting in a house in the western part of Fallujah, Iraq, Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)
US Marines with a Civil Affairs unit secure a battered area in the devastated city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. US-led forces battled pockets of resistance by rebels in Fallujah where the military said 38 US troops and more than 1,200 insurgents had died, while fresh violence ignited in other Iraqi cities.(AFP/Patrick Baz)
Is it just me or are our Marines BABES???? I mean, there are some very cute dudes out there working their butts off in Iraq. Thanks for those pics. They make me proud and they're gorgeous.
A relatively quiet day today in my little corner of Iraq, compared to the last couple of weeks.
So far.
By Michael Georgy and Omar Anwar
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes, artillery and mortars attacked areas of Falluja on Monday as diehard insurgents held out to the last in the week-long battle and heavy clashes broke out in the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Baquba.
The U.S. military says it has taken full control of Falluja, but scattered pockets of resistance remain, particularly in southern parts. Large areas lie in ruins, devastated by the ferocity of the U.S. military's seven-day onslaught.
Since the U.S. offensive was launched, insurgent activity has surged across the Sunni Muslim heartland of Iraq. There have been five days of violence in the northern city of Mosul and there was heavy fighting in Baquba, north of Baghdad, on Monday.
The U.S. Marine general who commanded the fight to take Falluja said those who remained were the rebel hard core who would be killed. There was no aid crisis in the city, he said.
"What you're seeing now are some of the hard-liners, they seem to be better equipped than some of the earlier ones, we've seen flak jackets on some of them," Major General Richard Natonski told the BBC. "But we're more determined and we're going to wipe them out," he said.
While U.S. forces have won a military victory, the process of rebuilding Falluja, assisting about 150,000 residents who fled, and preparing it for January elections could take months.
Iraq's Red Crescent group sent seven truckloads of food and medicine to the city, but U.S. forces blocked the aid convoy at Falluja's main hospital and said it could not enter. The convoy turned back on Monday after three days of frustration.
"It's our third day here at the hospital and all we have done is receive promises from the Americans," Hassan Rawi, a member of the International Federation of the Red Cross, said.
American commanders say they are working to deliver assistance to the city themselves, and urged any Iraqis needing aid to go to Falluja's main hospital, on the western outskirts.
CIVILIAN DEATHS?
Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said he did not believe any civilians were killed in the offensive, which has left 38 U.S. soldiers, 6 Iraqi troops and more than 1,200 insurgents dead. But witness accounts appeared to contradict him.
A member of an Iraqi relief committee told Al Jazeera television he saw 22 bodies buried in rubble in Falluja's northern Jolan district on Sunday.
"Of the 22 bodies, five were found in one house as well as two children whose ages did not exceed 15 and a man with an artificial leg," Mohammed Farhan Awad said.
"Some of the bodies we found had been eaten by stray dogs and cats. It was a very painful sight."
Aid agencies have described the situation as a humanitarian disaster, basing their view on the accounts of refugees who have fled and images broadcast on television.
The Iraqi Red Crescent says it knows of at least 150 families trapped inside Falluja in desperate need of aid. One father of seven contacted by Reuters on Sunday said his children were sick from diarrhea and had not eaten for days.
In operations in Falluja on Monday, U.S. forces said they had found a bunker with reinforced tunnels leading to stores of weapons, including an anti-aircraft artillery gun.
More than 10,000 U.S. troops have been involved in the operation to wrest Falluja from an estimated 2,000-3,000 rebels.
REBEL UPRISING
The Falluja offensive has fueled violence across Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland, especially in the northern city of Mosul, where gunmen roam some districts following an uprising.
Insurgents overran a police station in Mosul on Sunday and U.S. troops, backed by Iraqi security forces, battled for two hours to retake it, the U.S. military said. At least four explosions shook the city on Monday, residents said.
Two U.S. soldiers were wounded in a car bomb attack on a convoy on the highway leading west from the city of two million.
"I expect the next few days will bring some hard fighting," U.S. commander Brigadier General Carter Ham said in an email. "The situation in Mosul is tense, but certainly not desperate."
There were also heavy clashes between U.S. troops and insurgents in Baquba, about 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.
U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on insurgents positions after rebels overran police stations and attacked other areas of the city. At least 20 insurgents were killed and four U.S. soldiers were wounded, the U.S. military said.
Another police station in the town of Buhriz, just south of Baquba, was also attacked. Insurgents hijacked two of Baquba hospital's ambulances during the unrest, said a doctor. There were also clashes in Baiji and Ramadi, west of Falluja.
(Additional reporting by Faris Mehdawi in Baquba and Lin Noueihed and Terry Friel in Baghdad)
Amen sister.
LOL - what's also nice is that they tend to be charming and very polite. For example, I've tried to hold a door open for them out of respect when their hands are full at the chow hall, and they always say "Oh, no...let me do that, ma'am," and they end up holding the door for me. Very decent people. And yep...they're all pretty buff. :-)
Good morning & good evening Allegra. Thats good to hear that you guys are getting a little quiet. You deserve it.
From the Al Reuters report:
"Of the 22 bodies, five were found in one house as well as two children whose ages did not exceed 15 and a man with an artificial leg," Mohammed Farhan Awad said.
Although this just sounds like more propaganda...doesn't Zarqawi have an artificial leg or am I thinking of some other Islamic scumbag?
Good morning. :)
Nine Killed in Fierce Baqouba Fighting (excerpts)
Suwayrah:
Before the clashes, National Guardsmen opened fire at a boobytrapped car approaching their headquarters, killing the driver. The car was loaded with 880 pounds of TNT.
On Monday, U.S. forces resumed heavy airstrikes and artillery fire, with warplanes making between 20-30 bombing sorties in Fallujah and surrounding areas. U.S. ground forces were trying to corner the remaining resistance in the city.
American forces had attacked a bunker complex Sunday in the city's south where they discovered a network of steel-reinforced tunnels and underground bunkers. The tunnels connected a ring of facilities filled with weapons, an anti-aircraft artillery gun, bunk beds and a truck, according to a statement from the U.S. military.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20041115/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_041115130458
Insurgent fighters carry weapons at the scene of an attack on an Iraqi Police station in Buhriz, near Baqouba, Iraq Monday, Nov. 15, 2004. One policemen was killed and four were wounded as insurgents took control of the station. (AP Photo/Sami Aburiya)
An insurgent fighter carries a weapon from the scene of an attack on an Iraqi Police station in Buhriz, near Baqouba, Iraq Monday, Nov. 15, 2004.One policemen was killed and four were wounded as insurgents took control of the station. (AP Photo/Sami Aburiya)
An Iraqi police officer looks out from the damaged police station after an attack by militants in Buhriz, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004. Militants using Kalashnikov rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed two police stations, in the towns of Buhriz and Mafrag, near Baqouba in central Iraq, wounding 18 people, police and hospital officials said. (AP Photo/Sami Aburiya)
That is the strangest staircase I've ever seen. It looks like computer animation.
Bump
I thought about the same thing when I read that penelopesire.
We could only hope that it was him, but I'm sure that it was not.
I heard this morning on CNN that some terrorist went to a hospital in Mosul or one of the towns and pulled an Iraqi police office out of his hospital bed, drugged and then hanged the poor soul.
I was thinking the same thing!
November 15 2004 at 04:49PM
By Faris Mehdawi
Baquba, Iraq - US forces launched air strikes and fought gunbattles after insurgents overran police stations and other areas in the Iraqi city of Baquba on Monday, killing about 20 rebels, the US military said.
Explosions and gunfire echoed across Baquba, 65km north-east of the capital, as US and Iraqi forces battled to restore order after insurgents attacked a police station and US troops at a traffic circle, witnesses said.
Another police station in the town of Buhriz, just south of Baquba, was also attacked.
US planes dropped two 500-pound bombs on Baquba US planes dropped two 500-pound bombs on Baquba after at least 15 rebels arrived by bus from outside the city and joined other militants in carrying out attacks.
Some fighters positioned themselves on a rooftop, others set up road blocks and planted roadside bombs, US military spokesperson Captain Bill Coppernoll said.
About 20 insurgents were killed in the gunbattles, artillery and air strikes. Four US soldiers were wounded, Coppernoll said, two of them seriously.
A doctor at Baquba hospital said at least eight people had been brought in dead from the fighting, including one police officer. Eleven people came in wounded, among them three police officers.
The surge in violence coincides with a week-old US-led offensive against foreign fighters, Sunni nationalists and Saddam Hussein loyalists entrenched in Fallujah.
Violence has spread across Iraq's central Sunni heartland Military officials say many militants fled Fallujah, west of the capital, before the full-scale attack, and there has been a spike in violence throughout Iraq's Sunni Muslim region since.
Abdullah Jibouri, governor of Diyala province, said order had been restored to Baquba, the provincial capital.
"The situation in the city is normal now," Jibouri told Reuters by telephone. "The Iraqi National Guard and police are in control."
Earlier in the day, gunmen stormed the police station in the nearby town of Buhriz using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, police said. A gunbattle ensued and four police cars were burned, police said.
Insurgents hijacked two of the hospital's ambulances during the unrest, the doctor said. He did not know what happened to the drivers and paramedics.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in the northeast of the city, protesting against the US-backed local government and calling for US forces to leave Iraq, witnesses said.
US soldiers had earlier come under fire from a mosque in the city, Coppernoll said. Iraqi police searched the surrounding area and found a cache of weapons including rocket-propelled grenades and launchers and mortars.
Violence has spread across Iraq's central Sunni heartland since the start of the assault on Fallujah.
Explosions and sporadic gunfire rang out across Mosul on Monday, a day after Iraqi and US troops battled to retake a police station overrun by insurgents. Violence has also spiked in
Seeing the guy smoke out the barrel on his saw is amazing.
The AT4 firing is way cool . . .but the really amazing part is when the bradly sharts shooting HEAT rounds into the buildings.
If you look carefully, there is a shot from the rooftop, over the shoulder of one of our guys with an M4 during the day and the corner wall on the building across the screet is in tact and he's shooting toward it. In the next shot, (Bradly number 38 backing up while shooting) the corner wall is completly blown away.
Anyway, I just wanted to make sure all who love our military get a chance to see this video.
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