Posted on 09/19/2003 3:29:19 AM PDT by kattracks
TIKRIT, Iraq, Sept 19 (Reuters) - U.S. forces captured 40 suspected Iraqi guerrillas in a night-long battle near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit after three U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush, a U.S. commander said on Friday.
Backed by attack helicopters, U.S. troops battled guerrillas until first light after the 4th Infantry Division soldiers were ambushed and killed in part of a series of coordinated attacks east and west of the Tigris river late on Thursday.
Colonel James Hickey said U.S. forces encircled an area of farmland on the east side of the river near Tikrit and captured 40 suspected Iraqi fighters.
"We were involved in direct firefights throughout the night," said Hickey. "We feel confident we now have under our control the individuals who attacked our patrol."
The ambush brought to 76 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in guerrilla attacks since major combat operations were declared over on May 1 after the U.S.-led invasion which ousted Saddam.
It was one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. soldiers which have been concentrated in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," the heartland of support for Saddam which stretches west from Baghdad and north to Tikrit.
Two U.S. soldiers wounded in the ambush were raced in the back of a Humvee all-terrain vehicle to Saddam's former palace in Tikrit, now an American military base. They were taken on stretchers to a field hospital, leaving pools of blood in the back of the vehicle.
The fighting began at 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) when assailants in a pick-up truck fired on a U.S. infantry unit south of Tikrit which responded with mortar and heavy machinegun fire.
At the same time, a U.S. army camp nearby came under attack and returned fire. Hickey said the apparent coordination of the attacks marked a change in tactics for the anti-American fighters whose attacks in the past have appeared to be spontaneous or opportunistic.
"It seemed to be coordinated," he told reporters. "We saw action from the west and east side of Tikrit. That is unusual."
But Hickey denied anti-American resistance was on the increase, saying there had been a fall-off in attacks in the Tikrit area in recent weeks.
"This is a handful of rearguards attempting to maintain a degree of political relevance here," Hickey said. "They will not succeed."
(Editing by Diana Abdallah)
09/19/03 05:46 ET
If you listen carefully, you can hear the champagne popping at Reuters.
How do they expect to discourage these ambushes with this wishy washy response? How do they even expect these same 40 from doing the same unless they're held permanently?
Believe me, plenty of people who needed killin' were killed.
Notice that the Americans didn't leave the scene of the ambush in order to secure the column, but immediately counterattacked and killed bad guys, while capturing 40 others for interrogation.
No more attacking with impunity. The concept of agressive infantry tactics has taken hold in the Sunni heartland. All to the good.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Everone of these rags mention May 1st.
Information. Getting information out of these types is very important.
Her earlier work included stories on the death of a family by an American JDAM in the early stages of the war, with her friend Baghdad Bob providing comedy relief.
She has also written stories for the BBS (which should tell you something).
Further, she wrote a story earlier entitled "What Liberation? Iraqi Women Pay the Price of War." (how nice of her).
You can also find some work covering Ethiopia from the 90s (who would have guessed that?).
When in the souther town of Basra during the early stages of the war, THIS is the quote that she chose to include in her hit piece.
Rosalind is a stooge for enemy forces with a clear history of bias, and reporting from an anti-American perspective.
Somebody in CentCOM (hello) should examine her press credentials.
Take a look at her debates with BBC Fellows regarding war coverage. She has an agenda.
Russell would rank high on the list of journalists who would be pleased to see America "humbled" in Iraq.
I'm certainly glad you know exactly what went on. You might want to ask one of the troops involved that very question. Hope you have a good dental plan.
If the terrorist-appeasers knew how many bad guys our troops were taking out regularly, we'd have more human shields to plow through and lies to debunk. Who needs it. Our military has enough to do without babysitting.
Colonel James Hickey said U.S. forces encircled an area of farmland on the east side of the river near Tikrit and captured 40 suspected Iraqi fighters.
"We were involved in direct firefights throughout the night," said Hickey. "We feel confident we now have under our control the individuals who attacked our patrol."
If you want on or off my PRO-coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
We have 40 very nice intel sources on our hands.
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