Attack on Mess Hall in Iraq 10? dead

Fox News Channel | 12/21/04 | ChefKeith

[ChefKeith]

Just mentioned on FNC:

Dining facility on U.S. Base in Iraq hit by rocket attack- 10 dead

Waiting for more info...

[Eagle Eye]

Camels? One hump or two.....

In some camps that LNs/HCNs come and go daily. Sometimes they live in camp until their project is completed. I've seen both.

Haji gonna get lucky sometime. Hope I don't know about it! Funny how some rockets do nothing and other blow the hell outta everything around.

What I really think is unusual is that they got three on target. That is an extremely tight group for them.

[TexKat]

Some of the Stryker Force is in Mosul- they're scattered in various places. When my son was in Mosul last year- his division was all over the place in that area.

Brett Baier reporting that this is the home base of the Stryker Brigade.

[rang1995]

time to get serious with those supplying the terrorists and weapons--iran and syria

[demlosers]

Bret Baird reports that many of the food service workers at the base in Mosul are Turks.

Baird is correct. I spent my time in the desert and all the workers were 3rd world nationals that the contractors hired to provided food services.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Or Hezbollah.

Since our gov't is giving money to palestinians, who work together with Hezbollah and Hamas, are we not indirectly funding the terrorists?

[Travis McGee]

TWO years in theater? Day-um!

[Ligeia]

The Richmond Times-Dispatch happened to have a reporting team was on the scene.

Mosul attack kills 13, wounds more than 50
BY JEREMY REDMON
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Workers and U.S. soldiers tend to the wounded after an apparent
insurgent mortar attack on a dining facility during lunchtime on FOB
Marez in Mosul, Iraq today. (Richmond Times-Dispatch/ Dean Hoffmeyer)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq – Insurgents hit a dining hall tent at a U.S. military base in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul today with a suspected rocket attack, killing 13 soldiers, including two from the Richmond-based 276th Engineer Battalion.

More than 50 were wounded; civilians may have been among them. It was around noon and hundreds of soldiers had just sat down for lunch.

The force of the explosions knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats. A fireball enveloped the top of the tent, and shrapnel sprayed into the men.

Amid the screaming and thick smoke that followed, quick-thinking soldiers turned their lunch tables upside down, placed the wounded on them and gently carried them into the parking lot.

"Medic! Medic!" soldiers shouted.

Medics rushed into the tent and hustled the rest of the wounded out on stretchers.

Scores of troops crammed into concrete bomb shelters outside. Others wobbled around the tent and collapsed, dazed by the blast.

"I can’t hear! I can’t hear!" one female soldier cried as a friend hugged her.

Near the front entrance to the chow hall, troops tended a soldier with a gaping head wound. Within minutes, they zipped him into a black body bag. Three more bodies were in the parking lot.

The military asked that the dead not be identified until families could be notified.

Continue (must be excerpted)

[ChefKeith]

Thanks

[Ligeia]

See Reply #207. "Richmond-based 276th Engineer Battalion" were among those hit.

[demlosers]

Why does everyone from the President on down believe that these attacks will magically stop after January 30th?

The President does not believe that. After taking Fallujah, the level of violence in Iraq has dropped, which I read cited about 60%. The violence level has dropped so you can have elections. These attacks are all isolated incidents were Iraqi elections can take place, which the terrorists won't be able to stop.

[KoRn]

"time to get serious with those supplying the terrorists and weapons--iran and syria"

That has been a long time coming. It's gonna take a helluva lot more than empty words though.

[Eagle Eye]

Soon. Less than 8 weeks to go for that.

Now you see why sometimes my patience gets thin. Despite good R&R's I can get cranky.

I have a lot of admiration for the troops here. The guard and reserves have done very well, but we've over burdened them.

The equipment is wearing out....need more, need some improvements.

And I've got enough air and land miles to have frequent traveler status...

But most troops regardless of branch are in high spirits and I really like being here with them. Ok, so just because I rub elbows with them doesn't mean any rubs off, I know!! lol...

[Red6]

Well, he should have known! We should have put 30" of steel plate over every chow hall by now. How dare we only have concrete walls around them and bunkers in running distance?! Obviously Rumsfelds priorities are all wrong. Some private should address this issue on TV (After coached to ask it by a reporter) to Rumsfeld and if Rumsfeld can't answer the $20 question (Where were you on Friday 21 April 1996?) you accuse him of withholding information or covering up. See, I too can work for the NY Times!

I am positive that in the next 24 hours SOMEONE will set out on the ridiculous venture of threading together some guilty verdict for Rumsfeld. But then again, maybe this wave has passed. It may also be that since some already see through the BS and are seeing the hyenas at work (Left media Rumsfeld bashing) may keep them on the low, since they know even a gullible public will boo them off stage with such absurd statements at this point.

I think the SECDEF should stop EVERYTHING he does and focus all attention on his real priorities. The signing of letters of condolences (Never done in large conflicts before), Fire Base defense plans and the distribution of Up-armored HMMWVs all the way down to the individual crew. In fact, Rumsfeld could via TACSAT tell the individual soldier where he stands (We have FBCB2 and it’s theoretically possible). “PVT Snuffy, this is the Secretary of Defense. Please move 6 inches to the left.” I’m just guessing now. This is a VERY big assumption on my part. But are there not a “few” layers of middle management between him and those who ACTUALLY make these decisions? He (Rumsfeld) thinks on a “strategic” level, those issues that are thrown at him as being failures and his fault are predominantly at the “individual” or “tactical” level. England took it upon herself to take a naked Iraqi prisoner for a walk on a dog leash. That’s why those involved kept it all secret.

The whole Rumsfeld bashing is goofy. It’s a catchy topic for those who are captured by sound bites and can’t think for themselves.

He is an excellent SECDEF.

Red6

[section9]

You're point is actually well taken. They won't. However, once an elected government is in place, it has a legitimacy all its own AND the political dynamic changes. That's what Z and the Ba'ath are fighting against. But over time, as that government strengthens, as its currency hardens, as jobs grow, as more oil is pumped, and as Americans recede into the memory of Iraqis, Zarqawi's movement will begin to fail. That is why they are fighting so hard.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[sneakers]

"Like it or not, the bad guys had a good day today. We have to acknowledge that, mourn our dead, and move forward, because in the end, if we get even something close to a democracy in Iraq, it is game over for the fascists."

Thanks Chris - I'll keep that in mind. Especially the "game over" part.

sneakers

[processing please hold]

Maybe this will the tipping point and Bush will finally do something about Syria and Iran other than WARN them.

[metalcor]

The Brigade Support Battalion is based at Marez. The Brigade is scatterred around, so I don't know Marez is their 'home' base. Marez is headquarters for the 101st Airborne, from what I can find out.

[blaquebyrd]

"These attacks are all isolated incidents were Iraqi elections can take place, which the terrorists won't be able to stop."

I don't think the terrorists care one bit about the elections. They want to kill Americans. That's their goal. They know that once we leave the Iraqi government will be just about as crooked with leaders like Chalabai and Al Sadr as it was with Sadam. They can use the Iranian and Syrian money they're currently getting for bomb making supplies to buy/bribe their way into the government at a time of their choosing. What they want now is to kill Americans plain and simple. We are the only people harping on these meaningless elections. We need to wake up and realize what this fight is really about.

[TexKat]

U.S. soldiers tend to the wounded after an apparent insurgent mortar attack on a dining facility during lunchtime on FOB Marez in Mosul, Iraq on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2004. (Richmond Times-Dispatch / Dean Hoffmeyer)

[Travis McGee]

Keep your head down ping.