ANATOMY OF THE ATTACK--Ambushed American Contractors in Wrong Place at Wrong Time

ABC News ^ | April 2, 2004

[beaversmom]

Anatomy of the Attack Ambushed American Contractors in Wrong Place at Wrong Time

ABCNEWS.com

April 2 — The four American contractors who were killed and mutilated in Iraq were "targets of opportunity" who had the bad luck to drive into a pre-planned ambush site, U.S. intelligence sources say. New Crest Whitestrips Premium

Iraqi insurgents had set up several ambush points around Fallujah, the city west of Baghdad that is a hotbed of anti-American sentiment, and had stocked them with gasoline on the morning of the attack, intelligence sources told ABCNEWS.

Some townspeople had been warned to stay inside.

"This was clearly an attack to get maximum media exposure," said one source.

The four contractors left the Iraqi city of Taji on Tuesday to escort a convoy of several flatbed trucks full of goods. The plan was to spend the night at a U.S. base called TQ, west of Fallujah. Instead, the convoy ended up at a base east of Fallujah.

On Wednesday morning, with two contractors in the lead SUV and two others in an SUV at the rear of the flatbeds, a decision was made to drive through Fallujah.

Each of the security guards was armed with an assault rifle and an automatic pistol. The contractors also had satellite communications on board.

At around 8 a.m., the convoy approached a traffic circle on highway 10 going into the city.

According to intelligence sources, eyewitnesses say a vehicle full of gunmen pulled in front of the lead SUV, while occupants from several other vehicles fired Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

The contractors were killed, but the truck drivers escaped by driving away.

Another vehicle full of attackers then pulled up and dragged two of the bodies out of the SUVs, doused them with gasoline, set them on fire, and dragged them behind vehicles.

Insurgents Fled After Attack

After the bodies were hung from a bridge, the assailants fled into a neighborhood where some were well-known by the locals.

Eyewitnesses put the number of Iraqi assailants between seven and 18. U.S. investigators have identified several of the assailants, and intelligence sources say they include former members of Saddam Hussein's paramilitary forces and some "non-Iraqi Arabs."

U.S. forces are expected to take decisive action against the attackers within the next several days, and intelligence sources say they know who they are going after.

[txzman]

some "non-Iraqi Arabs

This is what American public does not fully grasp - the insurgency is being fueled by the same folks bombing Israeli buses.

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[Destro]

"Contractors "

They knew who they were hitting. These men were body guards of some sort - ex special forces. They were guarding the people in the other vehicle which was allowed to escape. The Arabs went for the "contractors" not the other civilians. The troubling thing about this is that this indicates that our foes have better intel then we do.

PS: Why call them contractor? Makes them sound like they were there to put up drywall or something. The men who died were professional soldiers for hire serving as legit body guards.

[sheik yerbouty]

All of the jihadists are cut from the same cloth.

[Eagle Eye]

The local subcontract truck drivers are often the targets of violence themselves. I know, I've counted bullet holes in truck cabs before. Only they don't get compensated like the direct hire contractors for damages.

All I'll say at this point is it is a complex issue.

[Destro]

They knew who they were hitting.

[Allegra]

PS: Why call them contractor? Makes them sound like they were there to put up drywall or something. The men who died were professional soldiers for hire serving as legit body guards.

While I understand your point about the description of the Blackwater guards, we government contractors do a lot more diversified things than putting up drywall.

:-)

[Fledermaus]

If we don't hit back HARD in the next 48 hours or less...this will continue.

[Destro]

Sometimes I wonder what the media is playing at with the use of certain words. Why use of "contractors"? Is it to reduce impact of the severity of the attack?

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Demo-pathogens!

[Allegra]

Sometimes I wonder what the media is playing at with the use of certain words. Why use of "contractors"? Is it to reduce impact of the severity of the attack?

Goodness...I never thought of it like that.

I hope my loved ones back home never have occasion to think about that.

{sputter!}

(To people like us FReepers who know better, I don't think it does reduce the severity of the attack in the reporting. But you never know....an awful lot of people voted for Gore in 2000 and that says something about public perceptions and the power of the media. YIKES!)

[Eagle Eye]

It doesn't take much to figure it out.

[TomB]

They knew who they were hitting. These men were body guards of some sort - ex special forces. They were guarding the people in the other vehicle which was allowed to escape. The Arabs went for the "contractors" not the other civilians. The troubling thing about this is that this indicates that our foes have better intel then we do.

It always helps to read the article:

The four contractors left the Iraqi city of Taji on Tuesday to escort a convoy of several flatbed trucks full of goods.

Here's a hint Destro, the "mercenary" meme has been tried, and it is dying a horrible death

[Travis McGee]

My first choice of target among the enemy would be anyone with a TV camera. Those, I would shoot first. If you are filming atrocities and ambushes for propaganda purposes, you die first.

[Ajnin]

Haha...you're just mean Travis.

[Bon mots]

How did the Reuters cameraman that filmed it know this was going to happen in advance? Why didn't he warn someone?

I hope our boys fire a couple of rounds in the direction of the guys behind the camera next time.

[Travis McGee]

Forget "in the direction of." Put the rounds right through the lens, camera, eye and brain. Who knows, in a firefight, if it's a TV camera, or the optical sight on an RPG about to be fired?

[Bernard Marx]

This is what American public does not fully grasp - the insurgency is being fueled by the same folks bombing Israeli buses.

Another thing it doesn't yet grasp: these terrorists had just as well be on the Kerry campaign staff. Their goal is to ramp up the war's savagery and propagandize it to help defeat Bush. They know who their long-term enemy is.

Bon mots, fill me in on the Reuters cameraman. I haven't heard about this. Was he there at the time of the attack? How did he escape unharmed? This is worrisome given Reuters' political bias.

[Destro]

I never wrote that they were mercenaries - learn to read.