Story is here:
WASHINGTON – Ten Marines on foot patrol were killed and 11 wounded by a roadside bomb near Fallujah,
Iraq, in one of the deadliest attack on American troops in recent months, the Marine Corps announced on Friday. A brief statement said the Marines were from Regimental Combat Team 8, of the 2nd Marine Division.They were hit Thursday by a roadside bomb, which the military calls an improvised explosive device, or IED, made from several large artillery shells, the Marines said. IEDs are the most common cause of U.S. casualties in Iraq.
The Marines were attacked outside of Fallujah, about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Of the 11 who were wounded, seven have returned to duty, the Marine Corps statement said. It added that Marines from the same unit continue to conduct counterinsurgency operations throughout Fallujah and surrounding areas.
Guess the Battle for Fallujah continues.
This is an open thread.
I overslept this morning and turned over to click on CNN, and heard this news first thing. My heart sank.
And 11 wounded …. and god knows how horrible their wounds are.
This is ALL GOT TO END — NOW!
Old news that bears repeating: the weapons dumps were left unguarded and Donald “Free People can loot whatever they want” Rumsfeld let 250,00 TONS of ammo disappear from our control.
Any idea how many IED’s can be made from 500 Million pounds of ammo?
From a December 1 email to me, a friend, a ret Vietnam (and Afghanistan, the first time around, on the ground with the mujahedeen) vet
Bring them home. Our worst mistake… end it.
I too heard this first thing this morning on CNN Susan. First thought…How can anayone in their right mind support this illegal occupation based on lies.
Second thought…and we have more dead soldiers and how many lives does that really affect? The families, the friends, the mothers and fathers, the children all left behind to deal with these tragedies. F’ing stay the course Bush. Merry F’ing Christmas.
And of course it happens near Fallujah where, as the article about Jack Murtha tells us:
150,000 people homeless. That’s four times the number of people in the county I grew up in. That’s about four times as many people that fill a sold-out football stadium.
Full story
The toll this illegal occupation is taking on a country destroyed, lives wasted, money disappearing by the billions al makes me so sick. I want our reprentatives to call this cabal on the bullshit and lies and get us the hell out of there. If they are not willing to do that, then start sending their own children over to that clusterfuck. Sorry about the language.
How is it possible to bury “several large artillery shells” on a roadside, in one of the most heavily patrolled areas in Iraq, without being seen by the locals? Answer: it isn’t possible. Coupled with the fact that most deaths are caused by IED’s and/or car bombs, makes me wonder when the field commanders will get that overdue anal-cranial surgery.
If the enemy is “mining” the roads, stay the f*ck off them.
It’s Stalingrad in slow motion. Exactly what happened to the German Army — urban warefar is hell; urban guerilla warfare is worse. A few more incidents like this and the troops will stop going on patrol. It’s suicide for no reason.