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Adversary's Tactics Leave Troops Surprised, Exhausted
Washington Post via Yahoo ^ | Fri, Jun 25, 2004 | Scott Wilson

Posted on 06/25/2004 6:17:09 AM PDT by Max Combined

BAQUBAH, Iraq (news - web sites), June 24 -- The 1st Infantry Division soldiers who walked off the battlefield Thursday, exhausted by the frantic pace of combat and a baking summer sun, had seen nothing like it in their three months here.

In dawn-to-dusk fighting, more than 100 armed insurgents overran neighborhoods and occupied downtown buildings, using techniques that U.S. commanders said resembled those once employed by the Iraqi army. Well-equipped and highly coordinated, the insurgents demonstrated a new level of strength and tactical skill that alarmed the soldiers facing them.

(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: 1stid; baqubah; iraq
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Adversary's Tactics Leave also leave a lot of dead adversaries in the street. This looks like an Arab version of the Tet Offensive.
1 posted on 06/25/2004 6:17:09 AM PDT by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined

"Several U.S. commanders suggested the insurgents had learned the tactics in recent weeks from skilled guerrilla commanders from outside the city, perhaps led by foreign fighters who came to Iraq to fight the occupation."

Chechens?


2 posted on 06/25/2004 6:19:55 AM PDT by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined

Time to absolutely turn the military loose. No quarter. No quarter!!! Do it now!!! Stupid idiots. Put the generals in charge, not the politicians, Bush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


3 posted on 06/25/2004 6:22:10 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: Max Combined

"For the past several weeks, Bullimore has been sending sniper teams into the city to kill insurgents planting roadside bombs under cover of darkness. The bombs, made of artillery shells or tank rounds and detonated by remote control, have ravaged his soldiers as they move along main supply routes.


Late Wednesday night, Grider, the platoon leader, worked with a sniper team in the Tahrir district, just south of the government center. Overlooking Canal Street, a main avenue through the city of 250,000 people, the sniper on the team fired on two men setting bombs. Grider said both fell dead -- the fourth and fifth of the week."


4 posted on 06/25/2004 6:22:56 AM PDT by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined

"Bullimore said he tracked groups of men entering the buildings and taking up fighting positions inside. He called in an airstrike.

Minutes later, three 500-pound guided bombs fell through the buildings, collapsing them in heaps of rubble."

Good job!


5 posted on 06/25/2004 6:32:50 AM PDT by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined
Late Wednesday night, Grider, the platoon leader, worked with a sniper team in the Tahrir district, just south of the government center. Overlooking Canal Street, a main avenue through the city of 250,000 people, the sniper on the team fired on two men setting bombs. Grider said both fell dead -- the fourth and fifth of the week.

WOOOHOOO! A twofer! I wonder if he was using a Barret .50 or just a magnum rifle?

6 posted on 06/25/2004 6:33:26 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Stupid idiots. Put the generals in charge, not the politicians, Bush!

Did you read this story?

Army Told Not to Use Israeli Bullets in Iraq

We wouldn't want them to get mad at us for using Israeli bullets to kill them, now would we?

7 posted on 06/25/2004 6:36:18 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

Probably the Remington Model 700's in a 308. I saw some photos of them in a post last year. Really good out to 600+ yards round drops about 8 ft. which is good enough in a urban environment. If they have rises from which they can shoot(mountain or high hill overlooking city), maybe the 50, but this sounds like in town.


8 posted on 06/25/2004 6:41:53 AM PDT by shawnlaw
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To: Max Combined

"Adversary's Tactics Leave Troops Surprised, Exhausted"

OK, is this headline good enough evidence of the liberal press' desire to sow defeatism among its readers?

I cannot fathom why American media outlets are so eager for defeat, or how more dead soldiers is good news to them.


9 posted on 06/25/2004 6:43:01 AM PDT by Gefreiter
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To: shawnlaw

.308? Maybe, but from what I have seen, the snipers prefer the .300 Winmag round. They had a documentary on the History channel about snipers and showed the Marine Corps snipers shooting 300 Winmags. There is a lot more casing volume to push a bigger bullet to the +3,200 fps range.


10 posted on 06/25/2004 7:30:52 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Even if the government took all your earnings, you wouldn't be, in its eyes, a slave.)
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To: Gefreiter

Plese God keep the Soldiers Safe from harm. we think about them everyday and night. please dont forget them.


11 posted on 06/25/2004 8:02:36 AM PDT by lillybet
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin

"Time to absolutely turn the military loose."

July 1st.


12 posted on 06/25/2004 8:04:14 AM PDT by Rebelbase ( aka Gassybrowneyedbum)
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To: Max Combined
The more dead adversaries in the street the more new adversaries are created.

Still waiting for anyone to tell me how when we leave there won't be total chaos in Iraq followed by the installation of a fundamentalist Islamic government bent on killing us like all of the other fundamentalist Moslem states.

And staying will create even more problems. Anyone have a working solution to this mess? No one I know in public life or anywhere else seems to know.

13 posted on 06/25/2004 8:08:23 AM PDT by sakic
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To: sakic

I disagree with your premise. The more dead advesaries on the street, the more cooperation we will get on rooting out the terrorists.

Places like Fallujah should be intimidated daily. Dropping Daisy Cutters outside of town in the early morining hours, tank convoys through the suburbs at midnight, random incursions with infanty and random house searches, low passes by jet aircraft, helicopters patrolling constantly, hidden snipers and scout teams placed throughout town. These people were only kept in check by Saddam's intimidation. This is all they know. Our pussyfooting only encourages acts of defiance with this culture and is seen as a weakness.

I disagree with the current administration's premise that we can turn Iraq into a stable democracy. What we should be doing is leaving a very bad taste in the mouths of Iraqis and enough fear to keep them from ever wanting us to come back.


14 posted on 06/25/2004 8:31:48 AM PDT by ChinaThreat
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To: sakic

"The more dead adversaries in the street the more new adversaries are created."

Didn't work that way in Japan or Germany or the South for that matter.


15 posted on 06/25/2004 1:10:12 PM PDT by Max Combined
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To: Max Combined
This looks like an Arab version of the Tet Offensive.

Wasn't Tet a stunning vistory for the NVA?

/sarcasm

16 posted on 06/25/2004 1:12:05 PM PDT by CholeraJoe ("Scottie doesn't know, Scottie doesn't know. Don't tell Scottie.")
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To: sakic

"And staying will create even more problems. Anyone have a working solution to this mess? No one I know in public life or anywhere else seems to know."

You might try stiking your head in the sand, while the adults sort things out.


17 posted on 06/25/2004 1:13:02 PM PDT by Max Combined
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To: CholeraJoe

"Wasn't Tet a stunning victory for the NVA?"

Only in the media, but perhaps the terrorists are counting on our MSM to come through for them again.


18 posted on 06/25/2004 1:15:19 PM PDT by Max Combined
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To: sakic
The more dead adversaries in the street the more new adversaries are created.

Bull Crap.....

19 posted on 06/25/2004 1:22:30 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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To: Max Combined; TexKat; blam; Ragtime Cowgirl; Grampa Dave

Sounds like it could be!

These terrorists were much better organized and discipled.


20 posted on 06/25/2004 1:25:56 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (The terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States - and war is what they got!!!!)
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