COMBAT:How Green Berets Overcame the Odds at an Iraq Alamo

NY Times ^ | September 22, 2003 | THOM SHANKER

[snippy_about_it]

This is great isn't it!

Thanks for the ping.

[Pharmboy]

Hey ma, I know what I want for Christmas...

I ALMOST had my coffee to my lips when I read this--luckily I didn't. It's my company's laptop and they would've been mad.

[MortMan]

The battle is reconstructed here from interviews with five participants: three sergeants, a captain and a major, all far removed from efforts in Washington to recapture the glory of the military victory in this current much-debated period of postwar reconstruction.

While this paragraph gives much-needed background on the story, the ob(li)vious bias of the reporter is still galling, IMHO.

[optimistically_conservative]

Rangers review Javelin 'flawless' effectiveness during OIF

[MattinNJ]

Great find.

Sparta-Ping.

"It was like a magic show. You know, now you see 'em, now you don't. The S.U.V.'s, the guys in the white robes — they simply vanished."

Made my day.

[maica]

Don't miss this one!

[TADSLOS]

Did I miss something re: the Alamo?

I believe the young SF Sergeant coined the term for the engagement. It belies their intent to hold ground at all costs. Fortunately, due primarily to their superb killing skills, dieing in place was reserved for the Iraqis.

[Ichneumon]

In a prescient decision early in the mission, Captain Wright had ordered his team to gather Iraqi land mines by hand and blast a breach in an Iraqi defensive berm,

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[Pharmboy]

Yes...I had the same reaction to that. I had to read it several times to figure out what he was saying. It very well could have been something an editor inserted and was not originally in the author's text.

[CheneyChick]

Thanks for the post, Pharmboy - and the pix!! Very cool.

Cheers, CC :)

[eureka!]

Bump for later. Thanks for the post...

[ArrogantBustard]

Under fire from artillery, tank shells, mortars and antiaircraft artillery bursts fired in a low arc toward them, Sergeant Brown squatted and fired shoulder-launched Javelin antitank missiles to take out two armored personnel carriers and ignite a troop truck full of Iraqi infantrymen. An hour before, Sergeant Brown had fired his very first Javelin at an Iraqi troop truck in the distance.

Do I understand correctly that SGT Brown had never fired a Javelin prior to this engagement? Wow! Good shooting!

[Rebelbase]

""Enforcers. Flowing white robes. Flowing black robes... sounds familiar. Enforcers. Federal judges, enforcers"

Good grief.

[Wright is right!]

I think the article to mean that he fired his first Javelin OF THE ENGAGEMENT. I'm sure he was trained on the missile before he got there. That, of course, takes nothing away from his superb marksmanship. Just he and one other marksman wiped out the whole formation.

Michael

[Sparta]

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.

[MistyCA]

Thanks for the ping. :)

[MistyCA]

Bless our military! They are truly awesome!

[Dr._Joseph_Warren]

"In a prescient decision early in the mission, Captain Wright had ordered his team to gather Iraqi land mines by hand and blast a breach in an Iraqi defensive berm, and that gap now provided a route for needed supplies , including more Javelins."

Now that is way cool.

Sure beats digging with a shovel!

[FreedomPoster]

You have to wonder if this wasn't published because of the Jim Marshall (D-GA) AJC article and the press conference the Dems held saying that Iraq coverage is biased.

• Press slants Iraq news: Members from TheHill.com, a newpaper focusing on Congress.

• Media's dark cloud a danger - Falsely bleak reports reduce our chances of success in Iraq (from U.S. Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.)) .