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1 posted on 03/23/2003 11:14:38 AM PST by hole_n_one
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To: hole_n_one
U.S. Soldier Held in Attack on Own Troops

By PATRICK McDOWELL
Associated Press Writer

KUWAIT CITY (AP)--A U.S. soldier was detained Sunday on suspicion of throwing grenades into three tents at a 101st Airborne command center in Kuwait, killing one fellow serviceman and wounding 15, at least three of them seriously.

The motive in the attack ``most likely was resentment,'' said Max Blumenfeld, a U.S. Army spokesman.

The soldier in custody was identified Sunday as Sgt. Asan Akbar of the 326th Engineer Battalion. Fort Campbell, Ky., spokesman George Heath said Akbar had not been charged with any crime. He did not release Akbar's hometown or say how long he had been in the service.

Fort Campbell is the home base for the storied 101st Airborne Division.

``Incidents of this nature are abnormalities throughout the Army, specifically in the 101st,'' Heath said. ``Death is a tragic incident regardless of how it comes, but when it comes from a fellow comrade, it does even more to hurt morale. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the soldier. We pray that incidents of this nature do not happen again in any military organization.''

In Washington, a spokesman for the Pentagon said only that the attack was under investigation.

Initially, the military suspected the attack was the work of terrorists using two grenades and small-arms fire, Heath said. Two Middle Eastern men who had been hired as contractors were detained and released.

An Interior Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity said Sunday that Americans still were investigating all locally contracted workers in the camp, such as cleaners, drivers and volunteer translators. Two Kuwaiti translators also were questioned and released.

``When this all happened we tried to get accountability for everybody,'' Hodges told Sky News. ``We noticed four hand grenades were missing and that this sergeant was unaccounted for.''

The suspect, found hiding in a bunker, is an engineer from an engineering platoon in the 101st Airborne, said Col. Frederick B. Hodges, commander of the division's 1st Brigade. His name was not released and he had not been charged, the Army said.

The attack happened in the command center of the 101st Division's 1st Brigade at Camp Pennsylvania at 1:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. EST Saturday). The commander learned of the attack when a sergeant woke him up.

``I immediately smelled smoke,'' Hodges told Britain's Sky News television. ``I heard a couple of explosions and then a popping sound which I think was probably a rifle being fired. It looks like some assailant threw a grenade into each of these three tents here.''

One grenade went off in the command tent, said Blumenfeld, the Army spokesman. The tent, the tactical operations center, runs 24 hours a day and would always be staffed by officers and senior enlisted personnel.

Ten of the injured had superficial wounds, including punctures to their arms and legs from grenade fragments, Heath said. Names of the wounded also were not released, and the Army did not say if any high-ranking officers were hurt.

The 101st Airborne is a rapid deployment group trained to go anywhere in the world within 36 hours. The roughly 22,000 members of the 101st were deployed Feb. 6. The last time the entire division was deployed was during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which began after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait.

Most recently, the 101st hunted suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan. Its exploits are followed in Kentucky with much pride.

Camp Pennsylvania is a rear base camp of the 101st, near the Iraqi border. Kuwait is the main launching point for the tens of thousands of ground forces--including parts of the 101st--who have entered Iraq.

News of the attack at the camp compounded the anxiety of relatives of the division's soldiers.

``I get a little worried but when I think I should be crying, I'm not,'' said Chelsey Payne of Clarksville, Tenn., whose husband, Sgt. Robert Payne, is with the division. ``I just don't get scared about my own husband, I just know that he's a good soldier and he's coming home. He promised me.''

AP-NY-03-23-03 1431EST

Source

35 posted on 03/23/2003 12:02:23 PM PST by hole_n_one
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To: hole_n_one
ASAN AKBAR'S PICTURE
37 posted on 03/23/2003 12:04:17 PM PST by Marianne
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To: hole_n_one
Yesterday I watched Ashleigh Banfield (MSNBC?) interviewing wives, mothers, children, brothers of members of the 101st, standing along side a street, waving their flags and so excited and proud of America.

This makes me doubly Pi$$ed.

43 posted on 03/23/2003 12:13:55 PM PST by Humidston (Do not remove this tag under penalty of law)
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To: hole_n_one
This is precisely why the 442nd fought in the European Theater in WWII. Have we not remembered the lessons so painfully learned in our history?
45 posted on 03/23/2003 12:18:29 PM PST by Natural Law
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To: hole_n_one
Shoot Him, his allies at al Jazeera.
46 posted on 03/23/2003 12:20:16 PM PST by johnfl61
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To: hole_n_one
How many more Americans must be killed and injured in the name of Political Correctness?
47 posted on 03/23/2003 12:21:29 PM PST by MCH
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To: hole_n_one
I think it should be taken up in a plane and
dropped over a mosque to see if it can fly !
48 posted on 03/23/2003 12:22:02 PM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (chIRAQ & sadDAM are bedfellows & clinton is a raping traitor!)
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To: hole_n_one
Is the media (including FOX) still putting out the bullsh/t that this Islamoterrorist in U.S. military garb was "upset about not being placed at the front lines?" The real reason for his actions - the ONLY reason, in fact - is that he's a Jihadist, and he's merely following what the Koran tells him to do: kill the (non-Muslim) infidel.
50 posted on 03/23/2003 12:26:48 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: hole_n_one
gee couldn't have guessed that. rule #1 never let anyone with name akbar give you cover or guard you.
53 posted on 03/23/2003 12:30:00 PM PST by GoMonster
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To: hole_n_one
Will the White House now face reality?
54 posted on 03/23/2003 12:30:20 PM PST by AmericanVictory
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To: hole_n_one
I, at one time worked with a couple Muslin converts, I often wondered about their motivation. I never fully trusted these guys and that was in the early '90s....
60 posted on 03/23/2003 12:36:27 PM PST by thinking
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To: hole_n_one
I think Akbar should be parachuted into the Tigris in front of the media hotel where there was all that commotion over supposed downed pilots.
68 posted on 03/23/2003 12:46:14 PM PST by hotpotato
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To: hole_n_one
I can't believe that the military released his name. Makes me question MSNBC.
80 posted on 03/23/2003 12:56:01 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: hole_n_one
I was having a discussion on another forum and someone pointed out that they don't recall any executions for fraggings that took place in Vietnam. I just did a search and could find no information to refute his claim. I saw that there were anywhere from 350 to 1,400 incidents of fragging in Vietnam by US soldiers. Please, someone tell me that I just did a lousy search and that there's plenty of information about how these were handled. Please tell me we didn't 'punish' them by putting them in prison. If anything is worthy of death it's fragging during a time of war.
97 posted on 03/23/2003 1:26:31 PM PST by Frapster (*cough*)
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To: hole_n_one
It's a trap!
100 posted on 03/23/2003 1:37:57 PM PST by Saturnalia
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