Posted on 12/24/2005 7:09:01 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
December 24, 2005
Release A051224a
Large cache destroyed near Bayji
TIKRIT, Iraq – Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team thought they had discovered a single cache of weapons near Bayji Dec. 20 after a tip from a local resident. On Dec. 23, the Soldiers finished unearthing the last of the weapons from the eleventh cache at the site.
“This place is basically an ammo supply point for the enemy,” said Capt. Matt Bartlett, commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment. “Any attack they wanted to do, whether an IED or small-arms, they could get what they needed here.”
The Rakkasan Soldiers slammed the door to the supply point Dec. 23 with three immense detonations conducted by an explosive ordnance disposal team.
More than 1,600 rockets and missiles, 283 large artillery shells, 27 anti-tank mines and 80 assault weapons were pulled from the ground along with nearly a ton of bulk explosives.
It was unclear if the cache was in use by terrorists prior to its excavation. Fresh tire tracks and the lack of wear on some of the weapons and packaging indicated that the deposits were new. In other caches, the weapons were corroded and had documentation with entries ending in 1984, dating them back to before the first Gulf War.
Whether the cache was active or not, its contents will never be used to harm anyone thanks to the three labor-intensive days the Soldiers spent excavating the site. In most cases the sites were dug up with shovels then loaded and consolidated by hand.
The resident who tipped off the Soldiers about the cache not only ensured the safety of the local residents from AIF attacks, but also collected a reward of $2,500 for the tip. The U.S. and its allies offer rewards for any information that lead to the capture of certain high profile terrorists and the tools utilized in their trade. This cache find will certainly hamper the enemy’s ability to carry out future attacks against the civilians, security forces of Iraq and all of the Coalition Forces trying to ensure the democratic process will find a peaceful home here in Iraq.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT THE 3BCT, 101st ABN Div (AASLT) PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER AT Jesse.charles.riggin@us.army.mil
IO think we're going to see an exponential INCREASE in these intelligence tips, as to weapons caches AND where the terrorists are hiding..as the Iraquis see their own government AND troops taking shape, on the point to the counterinsurgency effort..and knowing the US won't bug out...( remember, it's not often discussed, but Bush 41 left Saddam in place..and I think many Iraqis remember that..and also..the new Iraqi troops will NOT play nice with the bad guys...I think that if Zarqawi is still in Iraq..he'll be sold out, and they'll get him..now THAT will be a trial..
The citizen should get the $2500 and every other person in his village should get $25. It should be made known the $s come from oil sales revenues and paid in dinars.
Spread the wealth to the faithful as Saddam did. This is their culture and gets us on the sideline. GET OUR PROCUREMENT and CONTRACTING people out of these types of ops.
Bet you're not here long.
Stop spamming the threads. Solicitations are not permitted at FR without prior permission from the site owner.
Not a bad idea at all. It sounds like the best use of foreign aid imaginable. Of course we are not going to see this sotry on the evening news are we?
Nope, no evening news. They're too busy reporting about a "domestic" spying program that monitors international phone calls that every President since Harry Truman has used.
Not if the Iraqi's catch him. The Iraqi commandos aren't really good at taking HVTs prisoner.
"I think that if Zarqawi is still in Iraq..he'll be sold out, and they'll get him..now THAT will be a trial..
Not if the Iraqi's catch him. The Iraqi commandos aren't really good at taking HVTs prisoner."
Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present?
Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present?
I don't think we'll get him before the new year. After the new government takes office, and the American withdrawl begins, there's basically no reason for the insurgent tribes to keep fighting. When they leave the fold, and it's just AMZ and his band of misfit foriegn terrorists, they're done for. They're like fish in a leaky tank, watching the water levels slowly drop, and unable to do anything but wait for the inevitible.
The newer weapons should be traced to the source country and we should lob something inconvenient and exciting onto one of their military sites.
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