14 US Marines killed in Iraq

MSNBC/Imus in the Morning

[leadpenny]

Roadside bomb in western Iraq.

[wingman1]

You might be interested to know that recruits of the Kurdish Peshmerga will form a brigade in the regular Iraqi Army. 32,000 men.

Your loved one is fighting for a noble cause that will be ultimately successful. This success will happen only because ofthe sacrifices made by our Armed Forces and the people of Free Iraq.

[Allegra]

Hello Allegra. I had my own "up close and personal" experience with an IED, blew the front of my vehicle off and wounded my driver.

IMO, the people caught building them, setting them up or selling explosives to the terrorists should be executed, on the spot.

I fully agree.

I lost a friend to an IED last year. Even if I hadn't, I'd still fully agree. WASTE the vermin.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Thanks for posting the link. A good read.

[MinorityRepublican]

This situation in Iraq will never improve. Thse people have been fighting with each other since the advent of civilization in the Mesopotamia. If they want a Shiite theocracy, so be it. Let the Shiite run over all the Sunnis who are the real troublemakers here and bring our boys back now. President Bush is sinking very quickly in the latest polls and it is because we all are having Iraqi fatigue and the best way to deal with it is to bring back our heroes and use them to protect our borders...honestly, I don't give a rat's ass what happens to Iraq, let their own protect each other.

Actually, conditions are pretty stable in Kurdish North and Shi'ite South. It's only that the Sunni Triangle is giving us constant trouble.

It may be tough now but we have to eliminate terrorists in Iraq now. Or we will be back there a couple years later. This is not Vietnam. The Terrorists will not stop just because they won Iraq. Their goal is to establish a global caliphate eliminating Israel and the United States along with her Western Allies.

That's why we must stay the course and we shall not falter. So let's support the troops.

Hoo-yah!

[MinorityRepublican]

Believe me, I am very sure it will not be a good thing to be a Qaedist in Haditha over the next few days.

"Release all hell!"

Won't be much left for Terrorists to celebrate in the next couple of days.

It's about time that the Marines will be turned into "Angels of Death" which some conscript Iraqis soldiers called them during Persian Gulf War back in 1991. (Especially during the retreat from Kuwait into Iraq, also known as the Highway of Death)

[gpapa]

I agree with some of your comments, especially the one about family members in the service. I have one too. I have a different take about pulling out however.

All wars end. In one year, two years, 100 or more. The Shiites in the south of Iraq have experienced one war and occupation after another for 1400 years, being invaded by powers from the North (The Ottoman Turks), the West (The Syrians, Judeans, the Brits, Americans), the South (The old powers of the Gulf), and the East (The Persians). If you read your history or the Bible people of the Old Testament (the current Jewish enemies of jihadists) once ruled the land between the Mediteranean and the Tigris. The Kurds in the north have had a similar period of conquests and occupations. It is amazing to me that the Iraqi Shiites and Kurds have proven to be so resilient in maintaining their ethnic identity in the face of such odds, much like the Israelites have done for a much longer time. I would note that both Abraham & Isaac from the Bible are buried near the city of Najif.

I relate the above for background as a luke-warm supporter of the 2nd Iraq war. Being a pragmatist I did not agree at all to get into a second war with Sadam before it started, however, once it started it becomes necessary to win it. I do not wish to have a repeat of the Kennedy-Johnson-Nixon managed war in Vietnam. We lost our credibility in the first Gulf war when we failed to protect the Kurds and the Shiites from Sadam's wrath. The Kurds finally woke up after we initiated the No-Fly zone in the North, decided to put aside their internal differences and fight together to hold off the armies of Sadam. The Kurd have advantages the Shiites did not have back in 1991 and beyond. First they only had two competing factions, good intelligence, and they have arguably the best and boldest fighting group in the region, not withstanding a lack of sophisticated equipment, outside of Israel and Turkey. The Shiites have many factions and no organized militia for the region. The Sunni tribes in Iraq, while generally causing mayhem from some factions, will eventually be overwhelmed by the Kurds and Shiites for control of the country. The payback for the Sunni dominated groups for slaughtering 1,000s of Kurds and Shiites will be brutal, much more so when the coalition troops finally depart. It may hurt some to say it but I wish the Kurds and Shiites do well in purging the Sunni and terrorist factions by what ever means necessary. You can imagine what the reaction would be like here at home if some jihadist group manage to kill more than a million people in the USA, like Sadam & his thugs have done in Iraq. The region south of Basra is very anti-Iran, having been divested by the Iraq/Iran war. Basra itself is a basket case, now controlled by Mullahs who have brought in an Iraq mini-version of the religious police. The highways between Basra and Bagdad are a goldmine for kidnappers, thieves and jihadists looking to create mayhem. Basra is a complicated case however, and other bloggers, including the late Steven Vincent, who was the journalist recently murdered in Iraq, have noted that the corrupt Mullahs' reign of Taliban-lite in Basra may not last. However, as Steven relates at his blog, the status of women in Iraq is no better than it was before Sadam was dispatched, and may be worse. In a story he relates about an Arab man in a cafe who was watching some scantily clad ladies on a TV screen, and happened to glance toward Steve and then make an ugly stare at the woman who was Steve's translater, as if she did not have a right to exist in that place while he was having his jollies at the bar. See Steve's blog In the Red Zone for more gripping story tales. His tale of a US Captain and his conversion with his Iraqi female interpretor is fascinating to say the least. It shows particularly well how multi-culturalism has crept into our own military, as it has been doing for a long time now.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of our soldiers in Iraq this week. I live near Camp Pendleton in California, and I know some officers from the base. I can tell you that the tempo the Marines are being asked to keep up, being deployed again and again for long periods of time is a serious problem. We can not keep this tempo up for much longer without hollowing out the force. The military will tell you for public consumption that we should not bring back the draft. If you talk privately to many in the military, including my own brother, they relate a different story, where many support bringing back the draft. They deeply resent the MSM's constant bashing of the troops, repeating similar story lines about Southeast Asia a generation ago. Armchair generals from both sides of the aisle in Congress do not impress them either. They would like to see some of those college educated, 2nd generation leftist yuppies put some boots on, put them on patrol in a hot spot in the Sunni Triangle, to see if their pants are still dry when they meet up with a band of thugs with AK-47's.

When do we pull out of Iraq. When we win, by whatever means necessary. I do not give a whit about any border with Iraq. If there a terrorist camps and transit points for jahadists in Syria as gateways to Iraq take them out, pure and simple. President Bush should keep his pledge, to hunt down the terrorists wherever they are, and any state that gives them safe harbor is fair game, including Syria and Iran.

God Bless Our Troops and Steven Vincent, true heroes of America

[MinorityRepublican]

When do we pull out of Iraq. When we win, by whatever means necessary. I do not give a whit about any border with Iraq. If there a terrorist camps and transit points for jahadists in Syria as gateways to Iraq take them out, pure and simple. President Bush should keep his pledge, to hunt down the terrorists wherever they are, and any state that gives them safe harbor is fair game, including Syria and Iran.

I support the necessary incursions into places like Syria. However, the question is how will President Bush has what it takes to get into there. Just imagine media being all over this, it would make the conflict in Iraq appear to be getting worse rather than better. Even though we are winning the war in Iraq militarily, we do not want to lose the war through the political process in the States. I hate the Vietnam comparasion but we cannot forget the lessons.

Simply put, America does not have stomach for extended conflict if they do not think it would threaten the homeland. (Through ironically, if we left Iraq today, our national security will get worse Terrorists will take advantage of anarchy in Iraq and establish headquarters there. Then that means after a massive terrorist attack on U.S. soil, we would go back to Iraq. Then we will have to start all over again.)

[Allegra]

They are the same small group of "odd" political operatives that always show up at the most inappropriate times, trying to disrupt and dishearten everyone.

It is a chore to respond to the likes of them, but a small one compared to the really important job you are doing over there, so just stay safe and know you have our support and respect.

Thank you. ;-) I have gotten weary of responding to these types. They think they know it all because they're sitting at home watching the news. Some of them come at me in an aggressive manner telling me what needs to be done, as if I'm calling the shots over here. Some of them counter what I say because of what they see on the news.

From now on, I'm just not going to respond to them, or I'll say "Oh, yes, you're absolutely right, we do need to nuke Haditha" and see if they're sharp enough to catch my sarcasm.

After all, they know more than I do. They're watching it all on the news and reading the New York Times and stuff.

Me...I'm just hanging around in Iraq, working seven days a week. What on Earth could I possibly know about what's going on?

I concede to the CNN-watchers. ;-)

[91B]

You are factoring in VBIEDs which are of an entirely different category, given that they can be directed towards a target. Roadside IEDs are largely ineffectual given that it takes a great deal to go right for them to do any harm, we have had a lot of them in our AO.

1)the vehicle has to be close when it goes off, so Haji has to be careful when he detonates it. HMMWVs move faster than tracks for patrols and so are harder to hit. Why were 14 troops in one track-that is tempting disaster. 2)the charge has to be effectively placed and triggered. But Haji is usually an amateur and doesn't do a very good job (knocks on wood) of putting together the wiring, detonator and explosive. We have found the vast majority of IEDs in our AO and EOD has triggered them harmlessly. Even the ones that went off usually caused little more than ringing of the ears of the vehicle crews. Frankly, it seems to me that someone screwed up by concentrating forces in one vehicle which was a recipe for disaster.

[91B]

Oops-the oohrah chorus will be after you now (in fact it looks like some already have been). A couple of months ago they were all upset because some of the soldiers in the 155th brigade, Mississippi guard, were trying to were 2nd Marine Division's combat patch. SOme of Marines said that "they didn't deserve it" because the "hadn't earned the title" presunably because they didn't go through Marine boot camp. Of course the 155th is spending a year in the MEF combat zone as opposed to 6-7 months, but apparently that doesn't count as much as boot camp.

[91B]

What he meant was that most IEDs don't do much.

But all it takes is one.

That's exactly what I meant.

[gpapa]

Look at it this way. What do you think the reaction of the inept current Bathist leader of Syria would be if we took out some terrorists in Syria near the border? I will put it in the form of a satorical answer. The current inept leader of Syria will take a hint from the former Bathist leader of Iraq and find the nearest spider hole. As to the reaction in the MSM to such an action, if we did not go after them, and they continued to pour into Iraq they would blame Bush. If we did go in, they would blame Bush for that too. It makes know difference to the MSM what happens. To them bad news is always good news and vice versa.

[Just A Nobody]

You are welcome. If you click on the source link, he has a blog from Iraq.

[Just A Nobody]

How was the party Allegra? Hope you had fun and cooled off in the pool, while the rest of us toiled away here. LOL

I think I'm about to call it a night.

[TomasUSMC]

Why were 14 troops in one track-that is tempting disaster

---

Weighing in at 26 tons (23,991 kg) combat-loaded, and with a three-man crew, it can carry 21 Combat Equipped Troops (@ 285 Pounds) or
10,000 Pounds of Cargo.

If your transferring a hundred troops you don't do it with 25 humvees, you use APCs. Sometimes you don't have APCs and you use trucks. The enemy does not wait for you to find the perfect transportation.
So frankly, their were not too many troops in the AAV.

[Allegra]

How was the party Allegra? Hope you had fun and cooled off in the pool, while the rest of us toiled away here. LOL

Yes, I can see that it remained rather contentious. LOL

The party was wonderful and a good time was had by all. There were lots of bleary eyes (mine included) in our security briefing this morning. HAHA

[Black Tooth]

Bookmark

[91B]

If your transferring a hundred troops you don't do it with 25 humvees, you use APCs.

I really don't see why. If you are just moving those troops from point a to point b, use a chopper. If you are patrolling don't concentrate your forces, use hummers or HEMMTs. We have Bradleys available to use, but we patrol in HMMWVs. Given the weapons available to the enemy, tracks are big, slow targets. Adapt to the battlefield.

[GVnana]

Heartbreaking loss.

[Liberty Valance]

Howdy Allegra. We're faxing you fresh tortillas as we speak...LOL ~ Happy Birthday AGAIN!