Posted on 01/28/2007 11:06:07 AM PST by cgk
Edited on 01/28/2007 11:44:41 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
| U.S., Iraqi forces kill 250 militants in Najaf Sun Jan 28, 2007 2:16 PM ET
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen in a fierce battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a senior Iraqi police officer said. The day-long battle was continuing after nightfall, Colonel Ali Nomas told Reuters, as tens of thousands of pilgrims converged on the nearby city of Kerbala for the climax of the Ashura commemorations. A U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fighting, Iraq security sources said. The U.S. military declined comment. A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter come down trailing smoke. Shi'ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites loyal to a cleric called Ahmed Hassani. In Baghdad, 13 people were killed in bombings in mainly Shi'ite areas, police said. Twin car bombs targeting ethnic Kurds killed 16 people as night fell in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, whose population is a volatile mix of Kurds, Turkmen and Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have converged on Iraq's other main Shi'ite holy city, Kerbala, for Ashura, marking the 7th century Battle of Kerbala, which helped consolidate the schism between Shi'ite and Sunni Islam. It ends on Monday. It is the first time the 10-day annual ritual has been held since violence erupted last February between Iraq's majority Shi'ites and once-dominant minority Sunnis. Tens of thousands have since been killed in tit-for-tat killings. The governor of Najaf province said Iraqi troops fought a day-long battle with up to 200 Sunni gunmen, including foreign fighters, holed up in orchards on the northern outskirts of the city, seat of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite clerics. Governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura. "There is a conspiracy to kill the clergy on the 10th day of Muharram," Najaf governor Abu Gilel said, referring to the day of the Muslim calendar on Monday. A Reuters reporter about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the fighting said he heard intense gunfire and saw U.S. helicopters rocket groves sheltering militants. He saw smoke trailing from one helicopter before it came down in the midst of the fighting. He was unable to see what had happened to the helicopter, but officers in Iraq's 8th Army Division and policemen said it had crashed and that the two crew members were dead. The U.S. military said it did not comment on operations still taking place. (Additional reporting by Aseel Kami, Sherko Raouf in Sulaimaniya) |
|
|
|
Was the Reuters reporter heard to be cheering?
Oh yeah, NeoCom! Your foreign branch, members of the Lefty Islamofascist Caucus, armed with AK-47 and RPGs. They were protesting in an orchard in parallel with your D.C. rally. I gotta give it to you, superb coordination indeed.
They didn't mean any harm. They were eating some apples and while at it, why not kill some Iraqi and Iranian Shi'aa civilians and clerics.
I thought you worried about civilians? Well, I thought so. This is why you should be thankful to the Iraqi and American troops who prevented a massacre by massacring your buddies.
I told you to ride the trolley bus but alas, you'll be zotted instead. Anticipating the stench, I better put a mask on.
Media bias reeks.
I know, unbelievable, isn't it? The storyline is already written: "We lost and our boys are dying in vain." If facts get in the way of this, simply do not report them.
The troll duplicate is gone!
Whoever got FReep mails from "IT" need not bother.
Happy Zotting!!!!!!!!!!!
You need help alright. You have full fledged Bush Derangement Syndrome, and it's turned you stark raving mad.
There's a cure. Logic. Reason. Common sense. Education.
Try it, and you'll feel better soon.
btw, Bush didn't 'loose' the election. To my knowledge, it was never tied up.
Our new friend ....michaelbanderas.....seems to have vanished...
---
Bugged out early last night.. Good news!
Where's me hanky? He made it 23 days at FR .. I hope he donated... but I doubt it. ;-) lol
It's funny that she should protest so loudly that she's not afraid of him. Who's afraid of him?
Oh..........that's right............the enemies of America.
Methinks thou dost protest too much, Maxine.
Yeah, that's the ticket, when all else fails, LIE about what another poster said. You need to get a clue!!! Btw, all, here's a poster who is so stupid he can't comprehend what he reads, so be very careful what you say to him!! LOL!
Now he's putting words into my mouth. What an imbecile! You need to leave the forum to people who can actually read and comprehend what people are saying. Go back and play in your sand box and quit bothering us!!
But I fear they will just find another angle to try to defeat America and demoralize our troops.
The only conclusion that one can come to is that our 'journalists' hate the country that gives them the freedom to publish lies about it.
I think some of them should spend some 'quality time' in Iran and away from America, and then maybe they'd begin to care about this great country that they are now trying to destroy.
LOLOLOLOL!!
Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, commander of the 8th Division that is in charge of Najaf and other provinces told The Associated Press that so far they have 200 bodies of the gunmen in addition to 60 wounded and 150 prisoners.Down from previous reports but indeed a good days work.God Bless them all!
Good morning, "melancholy"!!
:-)
Sometimes I just can't help myself. ;)
Look, I don't hate President Bush. I do hate sending tons of unaccounted for money to New Orleans, not securing our borders, and generally spending like a drunken democrate.... i.e. the education bill, prescription drugs, etc.
I always tell liberals that they utterly lost in '06, by winning!!! Can't just criticize any more, you're in charge (my foot) and you gotta come up with solutions!! LOL
Our troops won't be demoralized by anybody, thanks to the Internet; they know who is saying what and why. Case in point: J Fn Kerry's troops-in-Iraq honorable mention! The fun the troops had with him and the silent treatment in Baghdad that ended his political life. He's more irrelevant now than Pee Wee Herman!!!
You're so far off topic, you can't even been seen on the horizon.............right OR left.
(And your election theory is downright bizarre).
The ridiculous thing is, we'll completely kick their stand and fight army's ass but it'll be a defeat in the news. Unreal.
You make a really good point.
I guess to be clear I should have said that one of the goals of the left is to demoralize our troops.
The troops are too disciplined, focused, patriotic and brave to yield to the pressure of the anti-American left and lose heart.
But that's not going to stop the traitors from trying.
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.