Marines Find Cache of Suicide Bomb Vests

AP ^ | April 11, 2003 | RAVI NESSMAN

[Ooh-Ah]

U.S. marines have found an enormous cache of suicide bomb vests in a school in central Baghdad. On the floor of the science classroom - with a picture of Saddam Hussein on the green chalk board - there lay nearly 50 black leather vests each packed with C4 explosives and ball bearings.

In the neighborhood school Friday, less than 20 feet from the nearest home, the vests nearly covered the floor, sealed in plastic and still on hangers. Each powerful bomb weighed at least 20 pounds and was lined with long rectangular blocks of C4 explosives and hundreds of ball bearings. Wires ran through them.

In the school's courtyard, Marines found cardboard boxes filled with detonators with two red switches on one side and Velcro on the other. They also found a roll of red detonation chord, three boxes of dynamite, a crate of electrical chords in a box marked explosives, and stacks of empty hangers.

Nearby, they discovered stacks of plastic bags filled with blocks of reddish brown putty that the Marines said could be explosives.

U.S. troops in Iraq have been on high alert against suicide attacks.

Followers of al-Qaida and other radical Islamic groups calling for a holy war have used the fighting in Iraq to recruit and reconnect with like-minded warriors committed to attacks on Americans. Volunteer fighters from other Arab countries reportedly have moved into Iraq in sizable numbers.

U.S. soldiers killed six Iraqi fighters wearing the head bands and clothes of Islamic suicide attackers Sunday on the southern outskirts of Baghdad.

The week before, two Iraqi women blew themselves up in an attack on U.S. forces, killing three American soldiers in western Iraq.

In the first suicide attack against American forces early in the war, a bomber posing as a taxi driver pulled up to a roadblock north of Najaf, waved to American troops for help, then blew up his vehicle up as they approached, killing four. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein rewarded the attacker with a posthumous military promotion, two medals and a financial reward for his family.

On Friday, a car carrying an Iraqi family drove through a checkpoint in Baghdad without stopping, and Marines opened fire fearing a possible suicide attack. Three adults were killed, and a 5-year-old girl was wounded.

The night before, a vehicle containing explosives was driven to a checkpoint near the Saddam City section of Baghdad and detonated. Four Marines and one medical corpsman were wounded.

Radical Palestinians fighting for statehood have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombing in the past 30 months. Palestinians have been strong backers of Saddam in the current war with the U.S.-led coalition and backed him as well in the 1991 Gulf War.

Saddam has paid thousands of dollars to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers as an incentive to attack Israelis.

[xm177e2]

Either the terrorists couldn't find 50 people to use the vests or they are planning a long-term campaign.

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[TXnMA]

But...Sodom said their was no connection between Iraq and terrorists... < /sarcasm >

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Damn!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Taxbilly]

Saddam has paid thousands of dollars to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers as an incentive to attack Israelis.

Me thinks Saddam is out of that business.

[doug from upland]

Isn't it obvious? Working coverty for the CIA, Mark Fuhrman planted them.

[Publius6961]

less than 20 feet from the nearest home, the vests nearly covered the floor, sealed in plastic and still on hangers. Each powerful bomb weighed at least 20 pounds and was lined with long rectangular blocks of C4 explosives and hundreds of ball bearings. Wires ran through them.

Did anyone read the labels?
Were they domestic models? or the fancy imported "Made in Ramallah" models?

[swheats]

This was so appropriate at the time for the American flag. This day was/is a day of liberation for all freedom loving people.

Cpl Edward Chin from New York of the 3rd battalion, 4th Marines regiment, set up the star and stripes flag on the face of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's statue before to tear down it, in downtown Bagdad, Wednesday, April 9, 2003. (AP Photo/Laurent Rebours)

[Jhoffa_]

and stacks of empty hangers...

That doesn't sound good.

[swheats]

Let's hope the hangers were for those vests still covering the floor.

[goldstategop]

They're quite effective against civilians. Against military personnel wearing Kevlar flak vests and shielded by armored vehicles its quite limited. Most of these homocide bombers end up dying for nothing.

[goldstategop]

Which is why more of them are victims of "work accidents" than succeeding in blowing themselves up with Israeli civilians on busses or in malls.

[Kudsman]

This is the mindset we are dealing with. Make no mistake, there are plenty of Islamofascists waiting for their turn at martyrdom. The key is learning to spot them coming and ventilate them before they detonate. IDF tactics are needed. They deal with this crap everyday. Until the entire Muslim community condemns this stuff, good faith peace negotiations are just a dream.

[Mike Darancette]

We should install transmitter/remote detonators in them, let them be distributed and let nature take it's course.

[Jeff Chandler]

>>Isn't it obvious? Working coverty for the CIA, Mark Fuhrman planted them.<<

Ah, yeah! The bloody vest.

"If the fuse ain't lit, you must acquit!"

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Is it true that if a suicide bomber blows it self
up along with a group of suicide bombers, it gets
the 72 virgins of each of the bombers it takes out?

[battlegearboat]

This, alone, justifies the Liberation.