The Marines consider it one of their finest hours. They "persuaded" the Navy to name this little boat after the battle fought there.
USS Iwo Jima.
Posted on 01/20/2007 6:31:11 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 20 American service members were killed in military operations Saturday in the deadliest day for U.S. forces in two years, including 13 who died in a helicopter crash and five slain in an attack by militia fighters in the holy city of Karbala, military officials said.
Saturday's toll was the third-highest of any single day since the war began in March 2003, eclipsed only by 37 U.S. deaths on Jan. 26, 2005, and 28 on the third day of the U.S. invasion. U.S. authorities also announced two American combat deaths from Friday.
The heavy toll comes at a critical time of rising congressional opposition to President Bush's decision to dispatch 21,500 additional soldiers to the conflict to try to curb sectarian slaughter.
The military gave little information on the crash of the Army Black Hawk helicopter during good weather in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias for months in the province, around the city of Baqouba.
Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, a U.S. spokeswoman, said the cause of the crash had not been determined. Navy Capt. Frank Pascual, a member of a U.S. media relations team in the United Arab Emirates, told Al-Arabiya television that the helicopter was believed to have suffered technical troubles before going down.
Five U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday night when militia fighters attacked a provincial headquarters in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala, the military said in a statement.
The statement said "an illegally armed militia group" attacked the building with grenades, small arms and "indirect fire," which usually means mortars or rockets. The statement said three other soldiers were wounded repelling the attack.
"A meeting was taking place at the time of the attack to ensure the security of Shiite pilgrims participating in the Ashoura commemorations," said a statement from Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, deputy commander of the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
Karbala is 50 miles south of Baghdad and thousands of Shiite pilgrims are flocking to the city to mark the 10-day Ashoura festival commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most sacred saints, Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
Brooks said Iraqi officials and security forces as well as U.S. troops were present at the meeting, but his statement did not mention other casualties from the attack. It said the headquarters had "been secured by coalition and Iraqi security forces."
Earlier, Karbala Gov. Akeel al-Khazaali had reported that U.S. troops raided the provincial headquarters looking for wanted men but left with no prisoners. But Brooks said that report was incorrect.
The general did not identify any group suspected of staging the attack, but residents reached by telephone had reported seeing military helicopters flying over the local headquarters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been accused of playing a big role in sectarian killings, has been hit repeatedly in recent weeks by operations in which key commanders have been captured or killed by U.S. and Iraqi troops.
Also Saturday, roadside bombs killed a soldier in the capital and one in Nineveh province north of Baghdad.
The U.S. military also announced that combat Friday had killed an Army soldier in Nineveh province and a Marine in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west of the capital. The Marines often delay death reports, raising the possibility that Friday's toll was higher.
The helicopter crash was the fourth deadliest since the start of the war. The worst crash occurred on the war's deadliest day, Jan. 26, 2005, when a Marine transport helicopter crashed during a sandstorm in Iraq's western desert, killing 30 Marines and a sailor. On the same day, six other U.S. forces died in combat for a total of 37 deaths.
The second highest daily toll was on March 23, 2003 when 28 service members were killed as American forces were pushing toward Baghdad on the third day of the U.S.-led invasion.
Meanwhile, the first reinforcements of U.S. troops under the new Bush strategy have already started to flow into the Baghdad region. A brigade of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, part of the buildup, has arrived in Baghdad and will be ready to join the fresh drive to quell sectarian violence in the capital by the first of the month, the American military said Sunday.
The 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne consists of about 3,200 soldiers who will "assist Iraqi Security Forces to clear, control and retain key areas of the capital city in order to reduce violence and to set the conditions for a transition to full Iraqi control of security in the city," the military said in a statement.
In south Baghdad, U.S. helicopters dropped Iraqi police commandos into the dangerous Dora neighborhood to stage a raid on the Omar Brigade, an al-Qaida-linked Sunni militant group, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.
Khalaf said 15 insurgents were killed and five captured during an intense battle at two abandoned houses taken over by Sunni gunmen, who he blamed for a series of kidnappings and killings in a bid to cleanse the once-mixed neighborhood of Shiite residents.
"We were provided with helicopter support by our friends in the multinational forces and we did not suffer any casualties," Khalaf said. U.S. aircraft gave covering fire, but the U.S. military did not respond to a request for comment on the raid.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, Iraqi police and hospital officials said a joint U.S.-Iraqi force searched a hospital in the volatile Sunni-dominated western neighborhood of Yarmouk.
Dr. Haqi Ismail, the hospital manager, said the raid occurred at 4:30 a.m.
"They were looking for someone, they searched all the rooms and the emergency unit," he said.
Al-Sadr's followers voiced increasing anger over Friday's capture of a senior aide to the radical cleric in a raid in eastern Baghdad.
Nassar al-Rubaie, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, accused U.S. forces of trying to provoke the Sadrists into violence during the expanding campaign to quell Iraq's fighting.
"We condemn strongly the arrest of Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji. He is moderate and well-known as a media personality and always available in negotiations," al-Rubaie said. "He is a peaceful man and what was mentioned in the American release is lies and justification for the aggression against al-Sadr's movement."
U.S. and Iraqi forces reportedly detained al-Darraji during a raid on a mosque complex before dawn Friday.
The U.S. military, in a statement that did not name al-Darraji, said special Iraqi army forces operating with U.S. advisers had "captured a high-level, illegal armed group leader" in Baghdad's Baladiyat neighborhood, next to the Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City. It said two other suspects were detained for further questioning.
Sadiq al-Rikabi, an al-Maliki adviser, told Al-Arabiya television the operation was not coordinated with Iraq's political leaders and was not part of the new security campaign.
Police reported at least 16 Iraqis slain in attacks Saturday. In addition, officials said 29 bodies were found in Baghdad and three in the northern city of Mosul, most of them showing signs of torture — a hallmark of killings by sectarian death squads.
And remember non of the Axis powers ever attacked the United States themselves. (Hawaii was a territory at the time, as were the Phillipines.) The same can not be said of the Islamist Enemy we are fighting now. Causalities on 9-11-2001 were higher than those of 12-07-1941, and the later were mostly military, while the former were overwhelmingly civilians.
In some ways, we did. It's just that we were fighting against the same enemy as their inspiration, the Soviet Communists. So naturally they wrote good things about the soldiers fighting "Stalins War". They didn't want Uncle Joe defeated as they want the US and especially its President defeated today, and 35 or so years ago as well, when we were fighting against what they might today call "Progressive Forces".
Did you actually read the FReeking article?
In south Baghdad, U.S. helicopters dropped Iraqi police commandos into the dangerous Dora neighborhood to stage a raid on the Omar Brigade, an al-Qaida-linked Sunni militant group, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.
Khalaf said 15 insurgents were killed and five captured during an intense battle
...
The U.S. military, in a statement that did not name al-Darraji, said special Iraqi army forces operating with U.S. advisers had "captured a high-level, illegal armed group leader" in Baghdad's Baladiyat neighborhood, next to the Mahdi Army stronghold of Sadr City.
Doesn't sound like "hunkering down" to me. Sounds more like taking the fight to the enemy. Troops do get killed doing that too you know.
My point was that people who don't have their facts straight, and don't bother to check them, don't have much credibility. My experience has been that folks who get the "small stuff" wrong, also screw up the "big stuff". YMMV.
Exactly. Let's not give aid and comfort to the enemy by second guessing the man we elected to be Commander in Chief. We gave him the job, lets let him do it.
The Marines consider it one of their finest hours. They "persuaded" the Navy to name this little boat after the battle fought there.
USS Iwo Jima.
Prayers for our fallen and wounded.
I hate to break it to you, but we are STILL in Japan and Germany, 62 years after the end of WWII, and what do we have to show for it?
"We should be focusing our IRE on those who are IN CONTROL of the situation so we can get RESULTS, so that our BEST don't get taken out."
We're at war, not play. I know it's hard to accept this with coffee in one hand and mouse in the other. Death in combat is not a dishonorable way to die, your disapproval notwithstanding.
I agree.
Nope, we let them go after each other. That was the beauty of Ronald Reagan's strategy, keep the Iraqis and the Iranians fighting each other.
When we pull out (it will be when, and not if) the Iranians can unite with their Shia allies, and then the Saudis, Jordanians, etc. can come to the 'rescue' of their Sunni bretheren. Since it is obvious by this point that we don't have the balls to rid the world of Islam, let the Islamics do it for us. We can mop up whatever is left after a few decades of this.
Many here including myself feel very strongly that we (as a country) are not being as brutal as we need to be to ultimately win this war.
One little police action, man we're getting tough now. Sac off
Many people and some on this forum just do not have it in them what does it take to win a war, may be in the future the "Defeatists" should try to amend the Constitution to include the following:
Stop the war and retreat if the number of dead troops exceed 1000, or the war costs more than 50 billions dollars, or if it lasts more than one year, whichever comes first.
Perspective
It is nearly 4 years since the invasion of Iraq began. Let's compare the progress to date with the same period during the Civil War.
Year 1: Iraq War
- major fighting ends in less than 2 months, Saddam is captured in 9 months
Civil War
- The Army of the Potomac is defeated in nearly every battle - Lincoln relieves Gens McDowell and then McClellan, and nearly relieves Grant after losing 13,000 men at Shiloh
Year 2:
Iraq - provisional government formed. First elections held. In the 2nd battle of Fallejuh, the Marines lose 95 men with 500 wounded.
Civil War - Union loses again at Bull Run, wins, but suffers horrible losses at Antietam - 2100 dead, 9500 wounded, then suffers a terrible loss at Fredricksburg - another 12,000+ killed or wounded. Lincoln goes through 3 commanders of the Army of the Potomac
Year 3
Iraq - While the media reports that the insurgency is tearing Iraq apart, the Iraqis hold two elections - one to ratify a Constitution the other to select an assembly. Turnout is higher than in most U.S. elections.
Civil War - Union loses at Chancellorsville - with 17,000 casualties, Lincoln selects his 5th Commander of the Army of the Potomac - the Union actually turns the corner and wins at Gettysburg thanks to tremendous leadership by several senior officers on the Union side. Riots take place in New York, killing 120 people.
Four years after the invasion of Iraq, there government is still operational, most provinces are peaceful and the control of the security responsibility is gradually being turned over to the Iraqis Casualties: 3047 US Dead, 22,834 Wounded
Four years after the bombing of Fort Sumter, Lee finally surrenders Casualties - Union Only - 140,414 battle deaths, 224,097 non theatre deaths, 281,881 Wounded.
According to the media, Democrats and some Republicans, we are losing the War in Iraq. What would these same people have said 3 years into the Civil War? Would they have suggested a rapid re-deployment into Vermont? Perhaps Jack Murtha would have suggested basing the Army of the Potomac in Iceland?
Lincoln's words at Gettysburg:
"It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced"
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