Posted on 01/26/2007 1:44:39 PM PST by shrinkermd
Four American soldiers were abducted during a sophisticated sneak attack last week in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, the U.S. military confirmed Friday. It said three were shot to death and a fourth was mortally wounded with a gunshot to the head when they were found in a neighboring province, far from the compound where they were captured.
Two of the four were handcuffed together in the back seat of an SUV near the southern Iraqi town of Mahawil. A third dead soldier was on the ground nearby. The fourth soldier died on the way to the hospital, the military said in a statement issued late Friday that confirmed details reported by The Associated Press earlier.
On Jan. 20, the day of the raid on a security meeting in Karbala, the military said five soldiers were killed repelling the attack.
The brazen assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad, was conducted by nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team, according to two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles _ the type used by U.S. government convoys _ had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, and spoke English.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Don't even go over there and look because you will be disgusted beyond belief (I haven't looked there, but I'm SURE I'm correct in my prediction). They spew hatred and venom like I have never seen before.
That makes a great deal of sense. They were sophisticated enough to get by at least two check points. They also had to know the security routine of US forces.
Its terrible isnt it?/s
The objective is psychological. The same reason the Germans sent English speakint germans into US lines during th battle of the Bulge. To confuse Americans troops and create a morale problem. The insurgents want to instill doubt and confusion in the relationship between the US and Iraqis working with US troops. If the typical soldier or Marine has doubts about the Iraqi he is leading ,training, or fighting with the impact will be very apparent.
A look at those killed in Karbala attack
By The Associated Press
— "You don't have to love the war," Pvt. Johnathon M. Millican wrote on his MySpace page, "but you have to love the warrior."
He was one of four soldiers killed after militants abducted them Jan. 20 from the governor's office in Karbala, Iraq, in a sophisticated sneak attack, the military confirmed Friday.
The four soldiers, and a fifth killed in the attack itself, were remembered for their athleticism — one was a bobsledder who competed with the U.S. national team — for their compassion and their dedication.
"He always wanted to be in the military," said Karen Mezger, a friend of 1st Lt. Jacob Fritz's family and a counselor at the rural Nebraska high school he attended. "He was there because he believed in it."
The attackers posed as an American security team, speaking English, wearing U.S. military combat fatigues and traveling in the type of SUVs U.S. government convoys use, U.S. military and Iraqi officials said. The U.S. command initially reported that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack," but on Friday confirmed reports from Iraqi officials that four of the soldiers had been taken alive.
Millican, 20, of Trafford, Ala., had been talking with his wife, Shannon, by Web cam the day he was abducted, said Linda Hill of Locust Fork, whom Millican lived with for 2 1/2 years before graduating high school.
"She heard somebody holler for them to run, and John took off. She said it was later that his computer was logged off," Hill said. Hill said Shannon Millican told her that night her husband had been killed.
Millican, a former high school football player and a member of an airborne artillery brigade, had been in Iraq about three months.
Capt. Brian S. Freeman, who was not abducted but was killed in the attack, was a former member of the Army World Class Athlete Program who competed in bobsled and skeleton with the U.S. national team.
Freeman, 31, of Temecula, Calif., was 16th in the 2003 U.S. skeleton national championships and won a bronze medal as a four-man sled brakeman at a 2002 America's Cup race.
Freeman was willing to ride with any driver to help them gain experience, "even if that meant crashing a few times," U.S. Skeleton National Program Manager Steve Peters said Wednesday. Many of the drivers he helped went on to compete in last year's Olympics, he said.
Steven Holcomb, the World Cup overall bobsled leader and a 2006 Olympian who was in the WCAP program, called Freeman "one of the greatest men I have ever known."
"The time I spent with Brian not only made me a better person, but a better athlete," Holcomb said Wednesday.
Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Neb., was a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., who played football, basketball and ran track in high school.
"He was just a very kind, caring, compassionate young man," Mezger said in an interview Monday.
Fritz's 22-year-old brother, Daniel, followed in his footsteps and is to graduate from West Point next year, she said.
Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Homer, N.Y., followed three of his older brothers into the Army — all still on active duty but none currently in Iraq.
One of 13 brothers and sisters, Falter was remembered in his hometown as hardworking but easygoing.
"He knew how to lighten a moment just when you needed it," Homer High School Principal Fred Farah said earlier this week.
A military casualty assistance officer, Staff Sgt. Raymond Swift, answered the phone at Falter's house Friday and said it was the first he had heard of the new details surrounding the deaths. He said the family would not be making any comments.
On Tuesday, Swift released a statement in which Falter's family thanked their community south of Syracuse for their love and support.
"We are extremely proud of Shawn's service and sacrifice to our country," his family said.
Spc. Johnathan Bryan Chism, 22, of Prairieville, La., was a Boy Scout who enjoyed skydiving and rock climbing and became an artillery specialist in the Army.
He "like anybody and everybody," his mother, Elizabeth Chism, said Sunday. He had been due to come home next month for two weeks of rest and relaxation, she said.
Freeman was assigned to the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, based in Whitehall, Ohio. The other soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 377th Parachute Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4503024.html
Then you truly need to visit DU. Your eyes will be opened!
..LOL...and it all started with my post #7
My thoughts exactly. To pull of a convincing look of American paramilitary types takes a bit of training, this wasn't al-quida, they can't even keep those guys off little boys and goats.
Yes, it's true. If you haven't seen it, you must not read many posts. It wasn't till I went on there and read some of the stuff that I realized the joke about liberals being meaner than conservatives is true. The mean-spirited, vitriolic, literally hateful stuff on there could make you want to shoot your eyes out.
THEY ARE EVIL PERSONIFIED!
There is a rather well known video footage of six of those German spies, who posed as Americans, being executed by US soldiers.
I meant to just include you in my post. I know you have looked so my message is really to stuartcr. He obviously hasn't gone on their website much at all. Of course, it's pure torture to do so. I avoid it.
"..to drop "one large" on Mecca and Medina."
That action would solve almost all of the Muslim-caused problems in the world. Without Mecca and Medina, Islam is dead. And while you're at it, don't forget the mosque that stands where the Jewish temple once stood. Instant peace.
How about a nice green glow over Karbala .....something that can be seen from the moon but would not approachable by land for a couple of thousand years.
Too much Oprah, too many soap operas, too much MTV, too much...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.