Posted on 06/21/2006 8:12:13 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Gunmen have abducted at least 80 workers from a factory north of Baghdad.
It is believed to be the largest single abduction in Iraq.
More follows...
As long as our military is prevented from doing their job, which is destroying the enemy, these atrocities will continue to happen.
Untie the hands of our troops!
The militias, the protection racket, is ancient and was the way of the ME until recently. It worked although there was always a certain level of violence.
That's what I'm thinking...Either a diversion from Ramadi or a hostage exchange for standown by the US forces to allow free passage out of Ramadi by the insurgents...
Remember they arrested a big wig from SCIRI the other day as being the head of a kidnapping ring. This just might be the militia getting back.
It's only a war crime if we get caught.
Exactly. PM Maliki wants to reign them in by shutting them down and absorbing them into the security forces, where he hopes they can be better controlled.
The media is expected to play it as a "dropped dead in the starting gate" type of scenario. They'll be more than happy to. Most people have it wrong: the terrorists do not play the media like a fiddle, the media willingly complies.
We should hope for a hostage exchange, although hope is not a virtue in war.
"As long as our military is prevented from doing their job, which is destroying the enemy, these atrocities will continue to happen.
Untie the hands of our troops!"
Everyone agrees with the above statement, the problem is that it is next to impossible to determine who the enemy is. They don't wear uniforms, they connect with each other through a very sophisticated socio-religious network and it is not in their nature to take on a face to face fight. Thus the major obstacle to destroying the enemy is the ability to separate the enemy from the common public. Failure to differentiate tends to create more enemies, while differentiation is a difficult job at best.
The thing to find out is just who were the 80 people.
"Terrorists should be being found dead in the streets with their skulls caved in by rocks, sticks, or whatever house hold objects could be found by the local residents."
They should be....but....The Arabs are and always have been pansy a$$'s. Therein lies the problem with how we are fighting this war.
Whichever clan is the most ruthless, meanest sob on the block rises to power and they just lower their heads and live.....as their daughters are dragged off and raped....their son's are killed so everyone else on the block will toe the line....been that way for 1000's of years and is just as true today....
If we want to win the "Hearts and Minds" of the iraqis we have to be brutal in our responses and in the conduct of our occupation......not barberic as the terrorists are (although...i could live with that). The arabs in their own twisted way respect those they fear.
They must be made to FEAR US!
NO BETTER FRIEND....NO WORSE ENEMY.......
Yep... the problem with firebombing is that it's geographically indiscriminate. Plenty of Conservative houses are in some "Lib" neighborhoods. Only way to avoid hurting our side if this tactic was used was if there was a post-Yugoslavia-breakup style "cleansing" of neighborhoods.
There is an urgent need to get 'medieval' with the insurgents.
The second amendment is alive and well in Iraq. However, at this particular time of clampdown, people have to leave their weapons at thome. This is a temporary measure while cities are being swept for terrorists. It's going on in Baghdad and some other areas right now.
There are checkpoints all over the place, heavily enforced curfews and nobody is alowed to carry their weapons during this time.
WHEW! I'm SOO glad you're okay.
Thanks for the clarification.
Some 85 Iraqi workers abducted by gunmen
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen abducted about 85 workers Wednesday as they left work at an industrial plant north of Baghdad, police and a witness said. The workers were thought to be mostly Shiite and the plant is located in a predominantly Sunni Arab area.
The witness said that about 85 workers were taken near the plant's parking lot, while police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said they filled up a bus and a minivan. They were taken at the al-Nasr General Complex in Taji, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Baghdad. Taji is predominantly Sunni Arab area that has seen much insurgent activity.
Under Saddam Hussein, the complex was a military plant, but it now makes metal doors, windows and pipes.
Kamel Mohammed, an engineer working at the plant, said by telephone he saw two of the plant's buses and a minivan intercepted by gunmen in three sedans.
The two buses and the single minivan ferry workers from the plant to the Shiite areas of Shula and Hurrayah in Baghdad. They also forced other workers leaving the plant in their own cars to get out and into the buses.
The incident took place about 50 meters (yards) away from the plant's parking lot.
It was the most recent case involving mass abductions.
On June 6, gunmen in police uniforms raided a business district in central Baghdad, seizing 50 people, including travelers, merchants and vendors selling tea and sandwiches. Both Shiites and Sunnis work in the area.
The Shiite-dominated Interior Ministry, which oversees police, denied its forces were behind the kidnappings.
Suspicion fell on militias, which are believed to have infiltrated police forces and have killed hundreds in sectarian violence, personal vendettas and kidnappings for ransom.
It was unclear what ever became of the victims.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060621/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_abduction;_ylt=AowU1tUUMNYBgIpPCwh6sMys0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--
I'd go with this:
IMHO, one very strong element of the actual fighting force in Iraq is not being used.
I would announce that a fighting force of at least 10,000 FULLY ARMED and US BACKED Kurds are going to be let loose in the Sunni Triangle , with OPEN SEASON on any Baathists and Sunni's participating in this insurrection.
The Kurds would LOVE a chance at a "little payback".....and would probably leave the place "spic and span".....
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