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Marine Corps Times October 24, 2005 Monday SECTION: FAST TRACK; Pg. 9 LENGTH: 632 words HEADLINE: Around the Corps BODY: Iraq RCT--2 links car bomb to video evidence Members of Regimental Combat Team 2 found a video camera in the possession of three men stopped at a vehicle checkpoint northeast of Haditha, Iraq, on Oct. 12, according to a 2nd Marine Division news release. Minutes later, a similar white, four--door sedan approached the checkpoint. U.S. forces guarding the checkpoint used hand and arm gestures to signal the vehicle to stop, but the car continued to accelerate toward the checkpoint, even after warning shots were fired, according to the release. The vehicle detonated shortly after the first shots were fired, killing the driver.

When the video camera was inspected, it yielded several minutes of footage showing one of the men from the first sedan speaking to the driver of the car that detonated. The Marines said videotaping suicide car bombings is an insurgent propaganda tactic used to spread fear and intimidate Iraqi citizens. Earlier, Iraqi Security Forces discovered an insurgent propaganda center in Haditha. The site raided by Iraqi forces included "numerous prepared al--Qaida in Iraq compact discs and audio tapes, three computers, several printers, banner makers, multi--disk copiers and thousands of [blank] disks and tapes," according to an Oct. 10 Stars and Stripes newspaper report. SBD