Details emerge of gunmen, posing as soldiers, attacking U.S. troops in Iraq

Real Cities ^ | Jan. 21, 2007 | Leila Fadel and Hussan Ali

[TexKat]

KARBALA, Iraq - Chilling details emerged Sunday of gunmen posing as American and Iraqi soldiers in an ambush on U.S. troops in Karbala a day earlier that killed five Americans and wounded three.

On Saturday, a civil affairs team of American soldiers sat with local leaders in Karbala's provincial headquarters to discuss security for Ashoura, a Shiite commemoration of the massacre of the revered Imam Hussein that began Sunday.

Outside, danger was approaching. A convoy of seven white GMC Suburbans sped toward the building, breezing through checkpoints, with the men wearing American and Iraqi military uniforms and flashing American ID cards, Iraqi officials said. The force stopped at the police directorate in Karbala and took weapons but gave no reason, said police spokesman Capt. Muthana Ahmed in Babel province.

A call was made to the provincial headquarters to inform them an American convoy was on its way, said the governor of Karbala, Akeel al-Khazaali. But the Americans stationed inside the building, which acts as a coordination center for Iraqi officials, Iraqi security forces and U.S. forces, had not been informed, Iraqi officials said.

As the U.S. soldiers and the Iraqis scrambled to figure out if the men were Americans or an illegally armed group, the convoy arrived and the gunmen tried to break in.

The gunmen launched grenades, mortars and small arms fire, according to a U.S. military statement. The U.S. military said Sunday it was still not clear if the gunmen were Sunni or Shiite militia. Abu Abdullah, a commander in Karbala of the Mahdi Army, the militia led by firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, on Sunday denied involvement in the attack.

[La Enchiladita]

Some details are different: white Suburbans instead of black SUVs. Also, not all of the attacking militia dispersed upon return to Babel, but apparently some were apprehended by Iraqi police and are now in U.S. custody.

Obviously, someone in Karbala tipped off the "militia" to the U.S. presence at the provincial HQ. The question would be how many Iraqis on the Karbala end were involved; were our guys set up? Abu Abdullah, a commander in Karbala of the Mahdi Army, the militia led by firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, on Sunday denied involvement in the attack.

On another note, Solid Wood, what is the problem with the authors of the article? Thanks.

[La Enchiladita]

I was reading, thinking and writing while you were posting, but we arrived at similar thoughts/questions. In fact, a suspicion re American involvement occurred to me earlier. VERY creepy ...

[Justa]

It's a Shiite town. Which means Shiite guards, Shiite police and Shiite attackers. Probably retaliation from Iran/Al Sadr due to recent pressure from the US up in Baghdad.

[Thunder90]

Could these infiltrators be Iranians???

[La Enchiladita]

Yes, they could. We are noting more and more Iranian involvement in Iraq.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks TK for both topics and pings.

25 U.S. troops killed in Iraq Saturday
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq | January 21, 2007 | BUSHRA JUHI
Posted on 01/21/2007 10:58:14 AM EST by TexKat
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1771140/posts

[SolidWood]

My problem with MSM articles from Iraq, is the fact they are almost exclusively Reuters/AP/AFP written by Sunni Muslims with dubious loyalty, often quoting dubious sources or unauthorized sources. Several such reports have turned out to be bogus or details contradicting.

I'm only cautious to any such reports. I trust only authorized official US/MNF releases and statements.

[La Enchiladita]

Thanks for that... it's helpful.

[Americanexpat]

Thanks for the ping.

[livius]

Thanks. Then that would mean that some of the guard posts were in on it?

I also read a longer report this morning that said all of the attackers spoke English. They had American uniforms and more American uniforms were found in the SUV that they had travelled in.

Fortunately, the authorities seem to have caught several of them alive and have them in custody, and I hope they're interrogating away even as we speak. I doubt that we'll ever hear anything more about it publicly, however.

[Jezebelle]

Maybe they made the uniforms - had muzzie women sew them?

[Jezebelle]

Maybe Sadr was okay with the way things were going until Maliki said he would amp up the pressure on the Shia and we decided to send more troops, so now Sadr is giving a taste of what he plans to do about it.

Letting Sadr off the hook was as big a mistake as standing down in Afghanistan when we had Bin Laden. Actually, Sadr was a bigger mistake.

This is what happens when you appease the enemy.

[Jezebelle]

They watch Pelosi and many others on C-Span and CNN. This may be the needed last push to get the U.S. to stand down completely.

[SpringheelJack]

I don't know, but I think they must have had accomplices in the Iraqi police/army, either feeding them information or actively helping them by waving them through, supplying them with uniforms, etc.

[TexKat]

Karbala's governor addresses a news conference in the holy Iraqi city on Monday.

Karbala attackers posed as U.S. military officials

KARBALA, Iraq (CNN) -- Attackers who killed five U.S. troops at a government building in Karbala posed as U.S. military officials to get past Iraqi guards, a Karbala police spokesman said.

The attack happened Saturday as the U.S. military convened a meeting to discuss security for Ashura, the upcoming Shiite pilgrimage to Karbala.

According to police spokesman Abdul Rahman al-Mishawi, about 30 gunmen traveling in a convoy of at least seven SUVs with tinted windows -- similar to the vehicles used by top U.S. military officials -- drove up to the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center wearing uniforms similar to those worn by the U.S. military.

About a dozen U.S. troops were inside the compound at the time, al-Mishawi said.

Around 5:45 p.m., the gunmen cleared an Iraqi police checkpoint outside the center by flashing fake identification badges and speaking some English, al-Mishawi said.

more...

New thread over here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1771600/posts

[Mr_Tiki]

Wrong!
The attackers came from the province of Babel according to the article. This province has a mixed population and a highly active sunni insurgency in the southern edge (bordering Karbala). Its what people call 'the triangle of death' as it involves three towns with sunni population. This area is also famous for countless abductions and beheadings, including beheadings of foreigners.
This well organized attack is clearly the work of sunni insurgency as the rag-tag army of Muqtada Al-Sadr is not up to it. Just shows who is the real evil in Iraq.

[Marine_Uncle]

One can only hope this is an isolated event that will not continue to happen as our forces attempt integrated missions with the Iraqi forces.
We mourn the losses of our men, but at the same time should remember small groups of American soldiers and Marines have for the past few years been operating in enclaves, a few of us amoung many of them with positive results.
A note I failed to make notice of on your ping regarding the Allawi interview. He seems not to understand what a civil war means. At least not in the context of historical civil wars. I continue to believe a lot is lost in translations, and how mideasterner's for instance ideas of some given thing would differ with westerner's thoughts.

[Justa]

Dude please, I've been living and working in Iraq for nearly 3 years now. My first year was in Babylon right outside Al Hillah. And Karbala is NW of of Al Hillah not south. And the 'triangle of death' is nothing more than a corridor of Sunnis living in close proximity to the highway which Saddam relocated there years ago. The Sunnis in that region are basically thugs and interlopers having previously been used by Saddam to keep the area's Shiites down and the roads open.

I guessed it was Shiites because the two groups have different demeanor and bearing and are easy to tell apart. I.e. Sunnis avoid the south now because they stick out and aren't appreciated by the locals if you know what I mean. That's why there isn't much media coverage of the south, the Iraqi 'media' are Sunni insurgents toting cameras and wouldn't last long in Shiite areas.

However, having said all that and in light of new information that some of the attackers were caught I'd have to agree that the attackers are Sunni. Al Hillah does have some Sunnis and they're hard core thugs, many are ex-Republican Guards and current insurgents. They used to run the Hadji Bazaar on Bablylon, complete with blast and bullet scars, injuries and even bleeding wounds. I doubt it was locals rather probably some associates from Baghdad or Al Queada.

The intent of the attack seems to have been to impede security operations to support intended attacks against Shiite pilgrims during Ashura.

[Seadog Bytes]

Nice one Devolve!

Did you by chance see this one...?

[La Enchiladita]

To state it briefly and bluntly, the generals were in a position to crush al Sadr in April-May 2004, when he operated in Najaf... basically thumbing his nose at us out in the open... but the interim government nixed it. That was also when we could have levelled Fallujah, and avenged the death, torture, mutilations of our American contractors.

But the U.S already had a view to "hearts and minds," caved in to warnings from the "Governing Council" and adopted a middle course, i.e., appeasement.

I haven't gotten around to reading *My Year in Iraq* by Paul Bremer and don't know if I will, but it covers that time frame. We learn, over and over again, that the military has been constrained from doing what they want to do and can do.

Now, as you pointed out Jezebelle, with the ascendance of Nancy Pelousy and the Cut'n'Run crowd, it is like another, brighter green light to al Sadr. They do watch our traitor media, for sure.

The best outcome of this is that their boldness makes them careless AND that our newly installed military leadership has an EVEN BRIGHTER green light to finally take out the "Mahdi Army."