Marines hold south bank of Euphrates in Nasiriya (ARMS FOUND IN MOSQUE)

CNN ^ | March 30, 2003 Posted: 0536 GMT | Art Harris contributed to this report

[11th_VA]

NASIRIYA, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. Marines appear to have secured the southern bank of the Euphrates River and are taking heavy fire from the other side Sunday in a town that has become the scene of a drawn-out battle.

For almost a week, the former tourist town of Nasiriya has seen intense fighting. (Map of Iraq) Last Sunday, a group of U.S. Army soldiers took a wrong turn and were ambushed by Iraqi forces, who killed 10 and captured at least five others.

[11th_VA]

FYI

[thatdewd]

Exploding Mosque Bump.

[bybybill]

Please break all the clocks in Iraq! How can you "time" a military op? They will be done when the`re done and that`s what counts.

[Doomonyou]

The Marines also said they found more than 10,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, hundreds of mortar rounds, artillery and chemical suits. Nearby were warehouses of food, including macaroni and rice,

HA!

Sounds like my garage just before Y2K!

[teletech]

I bet we find a lot more "Mosque ammo" before were through with Iraq. Perhaps some WMD'S too.

[Russell Scott]

This post is for Pentagon planners. Make sure the soldiers take one day of each week, preferably Sunday, to rest, pray, and meditate, and God will compeletely discomfit the enemy on your behalf.

[EternalVigilance]

Frankly, the mosques would be the first place I would look; either for weapons, or for Fedayeen death squad types. Then, schools, hospitals, day care centers, libraries, etc....

I notice that in the article, when they mention the bloody uniforms that were found, they don't even mention that they were female uniforms, or that torture devices were found as well. That's CNN for you.

[Future Useless Eater]

I'll bet in every town HOSPITALS carry the biggest cache of arms and chem/bio weapons.

Mosques would be 2nd, probably with just guns and rockets.

[ikka]

Nearby were warehouses of food, including macaroni and rice, which the U.S. forces are going to distribute to the population.

Disgusting evidence of Hussein's malfeasance.

[MEG33]

Grade schools .

[KaiserofKrunch]

"The Marines said the blasts indicated that munitions had been stored inside the mosque."

What's the big deal? This sounds just like your run of the mill mosque in London or New Jersey!

[wretchard]

The Euprates runs northwest to southeast, diagonally downward left to right. Where it does it get a "southern bank"?

[Irish Eyes]

Bump

[Toddsterpatriot]

Saturday, the Marines took fire from a mosque on the northern bank of the Euphrates. The U.S. forces fired back, destroying machine gun positions at the mosque. Secondary explosions and a resulting fire sent smoke rising hundreds of feet into the air.

We fired at a mosque? Those peaceful moslems are really gonna be mad at us now.

[Enduring Freedom]

Note to Pentagon planners:

When the enemy hides within civilian populations, sets up camps within schools, hospitals, mosques - you have a choice.

Blow them off the face of the earth, or take higher U.S. casualties.

If you don't know what decision to make, you have no business being in the American military.

[section9]

The Euprates runs northwest to southeast, diagonally downward left to right. Where it does it get a "southern bank"?

Okay, I suppose you could call it a "southwestern" bank.

This article gives the impression that we're not on the "north" side of the river. We have been there for almost a week, in fact. The bridges at Al Nasiriyah have been secure for about that long. What's happening is that we've divided the town into smaller "killboxes" in which our guys are doing infiltrate and kill operations before moving on to the next box. It's a bit like what the Brits are doing in Al Basarah, only on a smaller scale.

You'll notice, btw, that the ambush rate has gone down? It's still Indian territory out there, but thousands of the Fedayeen have gone to meet their maker.

Or, should I say, have gone to that Roach Motel in the Sky.

Be Seeing You,

Chris