Posted on 10/25/2007 6:57:59 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
Coalition forces have seized the largest cache ever found in Iraq of explosively formed penetrators, an especially lethal type of bomb, according to military officials.
Acting on a tip from a local Iraqi, soldiers descended on a home in Saada Village and discovered a stockpile that included 124 fully-assembled EFPs, according to a release issued Wednesday by MultiNational DivisionNorth.
The cache also included 159 copper disks, a component of EFPs, 600 pounds of C4 and other explosive materials, 100 mortar rounds, 31 rockets (107 mm), two mortar tubes and 20 claymore-type mines, the release stated.
I was worried that the room was unstable because it smelled like explosives and nitric acid, said Capt. Jason Rosenstrauch, commander of Troop B, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team.
Rosenstrauch led the raid, which unfolded about five miles south of Khan Bani Saad in Diyala province.
U.S. military officials say citizens in the area have been cooperating with the troops more since an operation was launched six weeks ago that cleared the area of many insurgents.
The Surge has Worked and Victory is Ours, in Spite of the Rats
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
Good to see you friend.
Amen and Amen my brother.
LLS
Amen!
LLS
With the price of copper so high, many low-paid insurgents would do better to sell it for scrap.
They’d only have to desert, accept their whole family as dead, and then flee the rest of their lives.
Bumme that we could not have detonated the room .... while the insurgents were assemblying a weapon. 500 lbs of HE in small room = fewer insurgents = more insurgent parts and pieces = more peace
BTTT!!
I’m not good at math. Can you explain that again? ;-) Just kidding
Yes, I know it's been recently cleared of AQI. My Brigade did the clearing. However, nature abhors a vacuum, and the locals over there are cracking down on AQI all by themselves. Finding such a large cache of Shi'ite weaponry in that area is an interesting development.
AQ of various branches have been tracked to Iran as a safe haven. Why is it expected that there’d be no support from Iran filtered in to AQI as well as the Shiites?
We are dealing with a culture that has an extremely flexible concept of honor and loyalty.
Thank you for a job well done and your insight. I try to follow Iraq as closely as possible and appreciate input from someone who has been a part of it.
Ahh. Well you would certainly know better than me. Sitting thousands of miles away I draw my conclusions, with no attachments at this point to boots on the ground. Although my neice’s husband will be heading over there shortly.
Because, in this case, it's not honor or loyalty in any shape--it's sectarian, it's Islam. AQI is not supported with such weaponry, otherwise, EFPs would be used FAR more widely than they are right now.
I doubt sectarianism goes all that far when it comes to mutual enemy.
Iranian and syrian scientists worked together at a syrian military base to attempt mounting a deliverable chemical warhead on a soviet supplied missile system just recently.
That’s shiite and baathist sunni mixing for a common goal.
There’s also personal linkages and networks. It is not all that uncommon to find those in the sociopathic thug world that are very good at developing personal networks that transcend the usual boundaries.
There is also the possibility that ali babba of a flavor acceptable to both extremes set up a transfer deal and made their grease from the middle.
Not saying it is so, or whatever and not trying to pick a fight. But going just on the info in the article, it does give the impression of an established workshop.
I suspect you’ve seen such shops before with direct eyes on. Is it possible this one was set up since your guys swept the area? I’m just SWAGing without the Science part.
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