Prayers for those who loved them
I will remember their sacrifice for our country and for me.
Posted on 04/28/2008 2:36:15 PM PDT by The_Republican
BAGHDAD - Bombardments by suspected militants killed four U.S. soldiers Monday as troops tried to push Shiite fighters farther from the U.S.-protected Green Zone and out of range of their rockets and mortars.
At least 44 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces since September.
The U.S. military said three soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad by indirect fire, a reference to mortars or rockets. The statement did not give an exact location for the attack, but the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City has been the scene of intense fighting recently with Shiite militiamen.
A fourth U.S. soldier was killed by a shell in western Baghdad, the military said.
A showdown between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army — led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — has increasingly drawn U.S. forces into the battles. American commanders are particularly focused on trying to curb a rise in mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone.
At least three more salvos hit the Green Zone in central Baghdad, but there were no reports of injuries. In Sadr City — the stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia — U.S. soldiers battled deeper into the district a day after fierce clashes that killed at least 38 suspected militants, the military said.
U.S. soldiers killed seven more extremists Monday after coming under small-arms fire in Sadr City, the military said. Four of the suspects were killed in an airstrike and three others by an Abrams tank crew, according to a statement.
On Monday, 30 Iraqi lawmakers from various political parties urged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to end the monthlong confrontation, saying innocent civilians and children were the main victims of the fighting.
"Yes, you can do it if you remember your own children," said a joint statement read by Mustafa al-Heeti, a Sunni member of parliament. "Your people (are) are demanding of you to intervene and solve the crisis peacefully."
Their appeal came after U.S. forces, backed by Abrams tanks and Bradley armored personnel carriers, fired on insurgents positions in Sadr City. The military said 38 militants were killed. Iraqi health officials said 58 people, including five children and eight women, were injured.
The fighting erupted after militants took advantage of a sandstorm to unleash a barrage of 107 mm rockets and 82 mm mortar shells at the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies and some key Iraqi government offices.
The near-daily shelling of the Green Zone has become acutely embarrassing for both Iraqi authorities and the U.S. military.
Rather than mount an all-out assault, U.S. commanders have tried to limit the shelling by walling off the southern third of Sadr City and trying to put the Green Zone out of range of light rockets and mortars.
Chinese-made 107 mm Katyushas have a range of about five miles, while 82 mm mortars can exceed three miles. Much of the Green Zone is more than five miles from firing positions beyond the new wall.
"It's a tried and true strategy that we'll continue to prosecute here because it has worked well in other locations, and we think it'll work well here," said Brig. Gen. Will Grimsley, an assistant division commander.
Col. John Hort, who commands U.S. troops on the southern edge of Sadr City, said the heavy sandstorm sharply limits sensors and targeting lasers on helicopters and unmanned drones used to identify firing positions.
AMEN!
Glad your over here.
Embarrassing??? Good grief, the media never ceases to simultaneously amaze and disgust me.
Embarrassment is NOT what we feel when we are being shelled and running for cover. Not remotely. We don't even have time to contemplate crap like that.
This battle with the Shia militias has been a long time coming and was going to have to happen sooner or later. We all knew that. The fact that Maliki and the Parliament initiated the crackdown a month or so ago is no cause for embarrassment at all. What the stupid media won't report or focus on is the casualties the Mehdi Army has suffered and Sadr's two attempts to surrender, using his "conditions" that would allow his thugs to have to time to rebuild (via the vermin in Iran.)
No, Maliki has refused Sadr's ridiculous conditions and the pounding on militant strongholds has continued unabated. But all the lowly media cares to report is the Mehdi Army's cowardly hit-and-run tactics on the Green Zone.
I'm glad I am, too. I got about the first three weeks of that and it was certainly stressful. I feel (and pray) for my "brothers-in-arms" back there and stay in touch reguarly - both to make sure they're OK and to keep an eye on what is really happening.
Five years later and the Green Zone is still under attack....who are the gutless cowards who refuse to unleash the real weapons of war?
RIP.
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