Posted on 06/12/2003 10:41:42 AM PDT by Destro
US Troops Raid Iraqi 'Terrorist' Camp, Apache Down
Thu June 12, 2003 12:15 PM ET
By Andrew Marshall
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces attacked a guerrilla camp northwest of Baghdad on Thursday with air raids and ground troops, and battled irregular Iraqi fighters who brought down an Apache helicopter in the west of Iraq.
Lieutenant General David McKiernan, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq, declined to say whether the Apache was shot down during the assault on what the U.S. army called a "terrorist training camp." He said the camp was attacked with "lethal force" in an operation that was still under way.
A U.S. army statement said the two-member crew of the Apache AH-64 were rescued unhurt, and two other Apaches engaged Iraqi fighters in the area. It was the first time a U.S. helicopter had been shot down since the end of the Iraq war.
Officials in the U.S.-led administration said several Iraqis had been killed in the raid on the guerrilla camp 150 km (90 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
The army said the raid was part of "the continued effort to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements," but gave no details on the camp.
The U.S. army said it launched a coordinated air strike on the camp in the early hours of Thursday, before soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division moved in.
"A direct firefight ensued with ground forces," it said. "One coalition soldier received minor wounds."
In a separate incident, a U.S. F-16 fighter plane crashed on Thursday southwest of Baghdad, but the pilot ejected safely, the U.S. military said. The crash was under investigation.
DEADLY ATTACKS
U.S. commanders say supporters of Saddam Hussein are behind a wave of deadly attacks on U.S. troops in recent weeks.
McKiernan said leaflets had been found in the restive areas around Baghdad offering locals rewards for killing U.S. troops. But he said pro-Saddam fighters were on the defensive.
"Are there bad guys still out there? Absolutely," he told a news conference. "Are we going after them? Absolutely."
The United States launched a major operation on Monday to crack down on Iraqi guerrillas north of Baghdad.
Operation Peninsula Strike, the largest U.S. operation in Iraq since the end of the war, involves some 4,000 troops scouring an area around the Tigris river northeast of the tense town of Balad, U.S. officials said.
A combined U.S. force, Task Force Ironhorse, has been raiding suspected guerrilla hideouts from the air, land and river. A curfew has been imposed in the area.
Angry locals near Balad showed a Reuters television crew ransacked houses, and said residents had been assaulted during the U.S. operation. In some houses, furniture had been overturned and beds upended. Books and ornaments were scattered on the floor. Locals said U.S. troops had caused the damage.
"We couldn't communicate with the soldiers when they came into the house," Hudhifa Mohammed said. "They hit my father, and fired shots. They handcuffed us and took us away."
Locals say recent attacks have been sparked by rising anger at the behavior of U.S. troops, not by loyalty to Saddam.
The U.S. army said 397 Iraqis were detained in the raids this week and four U.S. troops were wounded by Iraqi resistance. It said 59 of the detainees had been released.
Some 40 U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks and ambushes in Iraq since Saddam's overthrow two months ago.
The attacks have been concentrated in Baghdad and two nearby areas -- to the west around Ramadi and Falluja, and to the north around Balad, Baquba and Tikrit, Saddam's home town.
McKiernan said the attacks were locally organized and there was no sign that it was being directed centrally by senior Saddam loyalists -- or the elusive Saddam himself. "There is no evidence to say that Saddam Hussein is behind it," he said.
Oh, yeah. I prefer Al Jazeerah - they're rooting against us less.
Gittin' down to business.
Sorry you're wrong. A terrorist is someone who attacks innocents to create fear in the mind of the populace. Someone who attacks soldiers they view as an enemy is a soldier or maybe a guerilla or some such. Not a terrorist.
Politicians, propagandists and people who need to embelish a weak case like the throw words like "terrorist" around in order to create a response in people who don't have a clue.
I have to agree with you. The Khobar tower bombing and USS Cole were not acts of terrorism, they were acts of war. They should have been handled as such at the time.
I don't have a problem with that per se, but we all know that the next militia whitey who farts upwind will be labeled a "terrorist". This is what happens when people torture the English language.
So, residents had been "assaulted". Examples: "books" and "ornaments" "scattered on the floor".
The horror!
Saddam was nothing compared to this.
So, residents had been "assaulted". Examples: "books" and "ornaments" "scattered on the floor".
The horror!
Saddam was nothing compared to this.
You have a point.
It would make sense to me to call them "terrorists" if they had Ties To Al Qaeda (tm) or something like that, since Al Qaeda is a group which among other things commits terrorist attacks. However, it's not clear that they do, and initially I even got this story confused with another story posted currently (about arrests of people which are supposed to have ties to Al Qaeda...)
Heard that too. F-16's dropping JDAMS, sounds like a sizeable operation. Suspected most are foreigners, not Iraqi's.
They aren't terrorists
If some dudes invaded our country we would also fight back, it is simple human nature.
Yea, right, I seriously doubt that these soldiers would attack any civilians, given the chance. I mean its not like the Baathists were using women and children as shields.
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