125 KIA'a are only what they found with enough parts left to count. And they are still counting.Of the wounded terrs that escaped, at least 20-30% will die and another 10% won't fight no mo'. The Marines are fighting a dug in enemy on the bad guys own turf. Building/crossing a pontoon bridge under mortar fire is really on my "don't ever want to do list", but these kids did it while kicking butt. I imagine the intel value of this op will be far reaching, also. Ops are on going, the Syrians are watching, and this is a good way to see where the rats run so's to light up another nest. I mourn the loss of every one of our troops, but don't sell em' short based on MSM reports.
ErnBatavia seems to have gone bye bye. Well said. Our Intel continues to gain in effectiveness. Your point on the pontoon bridge crossing is most appropriate. I suspect based on a few dribbles of news, that the Syrians may be actually starting to capture incoming/outgoing terrorist along the border in the vacinity of these battles. I should have posted the article, but was 2pm this morning and I was ready to sign off. We obviously know at this point that quite a few may have escaped once again. They are snakes, most are not ready to receive their 72 white grapes. Those that run appear to return to their homelands a bit dis-allusioned as to what M. Zarqawi is asking of them, once they see with their own eyes how badly it goes for them each time they are caught.