U.S. Marines leave trail of death on road north

Reuters | 3/26/03 | Sean Maguire

[kattracks]

U.S. Marines leave trail of death on road north

By Sean Maguire

NORTH OF NASSIRIYA, Iraq, March 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Marines pushing north towards Baghdad left a trail of death on Wednesday as they fought off sporadic Iraqi attacks along the way.

This correspondent saw about two dozen corpses among wrecked vehicles littering the road north of Shatra, including a bus with its back end blown off and bodies hanging out of the back.

Iraqi small-arms fire had erupted earlier in the town of Shatra, 40 km (25 miles) north of Nassiriya, where the Marines had fought their way across the Euphrates river on Tuesday.

U.S. artillery fired back, allowing the Marines to get through Shatra after a two-hour delay.

A small armoured reconnaissance unit went ahead of the main convoy, clearing the road and setting up "security corridors" in each of several small mudbrick towns along the road.

The main convoy of several hundred military vehicles forged cautiously on, passing stark evidence of the firepower used by the advance unit to quell any Iraqi resistance.

A corpse sprawled by two charred trucks. Further down the dusty two-lane highway lay a burned-out car and a minivan with its windows shot out. Two handcuffed Iraqis appeared.

Near a wrecked bus were several corpses and scattered body parts on the road. A truck was still burning. To the right, a small fuel tanker truck was ablaze.

Two men knelt by the road with their hands in the air, watching the convoy head north through scrubby countryside dotted with palm trees, passing more destroyed vehicles.

Another bus, which appeared to have been heading northwards in the same direction as the Marine convoy, had bodies protruding from what was left of its shattered rear.

Marine officers had said they were ready for more resistance along Highway 7 leading to Kut, some 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, especially from militia units like the Saddam Fedayeen, who had held the Marines up for two days in Nassiriya.

They said they were using armour and tanks to protect the convoy, balancing the need to guard themselves against Fedayeen ambushes and the need to protect innocent civilians.

The Marine commander has told his men to fire only if fired on, and then only if they had "clear eye contact" with a target.

U.S. military officers have been warned that thousands of Fedayeen might be heading south from Kut down Highway 7. They were also expecting to meet regular Iraqi troops on the road.

03/26/03 07:19 ET

[RippleFire]

A corpse sprawled by two charred trucks. Further down the dusty two-lane highway lay a burned-out car and a minivan with its windows shot out. Two handcuffed Iraqis appeared.

Near a wrecked bus were several corpses and scattered body parts on the road. A truck was still burning. To the right, a small fuel tanker truck was ablaze.

Mess with best, die like the rest.

[speedy]

Sounds like this guy just figured out that people get killed in a war, and he isn't sure he likes it.

[Saturnalia]

No to mention the destruction.
A good thing the Marines don't have any baby milk factories to distract them!

[error99]

Sounds like a good start.

[mewzilla]

Better theirs than ours.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Maybe the Army Engineers can use the corpses to shore up the POS road system. How many R G soldiers does it take to pave a road?

[Redleg Duke]

Nobody ever told these towelheads to never let their mouths write a check their asses couldn't cash!

[blastdad51]

Prayers for the Lord's protection of our heros

[randita]

This correspondent saw about two dozen corpses among wrecked vehicles littering the road north of Shatra, including a bus with its back end blown off and bodies hanging out of the back.

Two dozen corpses qualifies as a "trail of death"? C'mon...

[oh8eleven]

"Two men knelt by the road with their hands in the air..."

Hmm, I didn't think the French were involved in this.
Give 'em hell Marines! Semper Fi.

[BunnySlippers]

Bump

[Moonmad27]

"US Marines Leave Trail of Death on Road North"? There's nothing like Reuters for biased headlines!

[joyful1]

When dealing with militant? Islam, for every one killed, three more are ready to take the dead's place. Big problem we have.

[facedown]

BTTT

[Teacher317]

This correspondent saw about two dozen corpses among wrecked vehicles littering the road north of Shatra, including a bus with its back end blown off and bodies hanging out of the back.
Iraqi small-arms fire had erupted earlier in the town of Shatra, 40 km (25 miles) north of Nassiriya, where the Marines had fought their way across the Euphrates river on Tuesday.

Every general throughout all of history would savage their own grandmother for a ratio of one-kill-for-one-mile of enemy territory.

Fer cryin' out loud, the US military seems to be winning this war with the fewest enemy battle casualties in history, and they're complaining about it!!

[75thOVI]

How many R G soldiers does it take to pave a road?


All of them!!!

[ItsOurTimeNow]

But...but...but...how many PUPPIES were killed!??!

PLEASE, someone inform us about the PUPPIES!!!

Sincerely,

CNN Media Wh0res

[Conspiracy Guy]

That is correct sir.

[peeve23]

Where is reuters main office? A missile should be used to quiet it, Iraqi TV, and Al Jazeeri.....we should get rid of all of Hussein's propaganda outlets.