Insurgent car bombs rock US marines

[Judi Lynn]

Insurgent car bombs rock US marines
From correspondents in Baghdad
April 11, 2005
From: AAP
THREE suicide car bombs hit a US military position in the western Iraqi city of Al-Qaim near the border with Syria today, the military said, adding that at least two Iraqi or US soldiers were wounded.

"What we have right now is three confirmed suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices," First Lieutenant Kate VandenBossche, a spokeswoman for the US marines, told AFP.

"We are still trying to determine if the casualties were coalition or Iraqi security forces."

Iraqi police in the city, 305 kilometres west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar province, said the attack took place at about 1.30 pm (AEST)
(snip/...)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12821980-23109,00.html

[still_one]

1. this won't stay in the headlines long

by late morning it will be gone

more than any group responsible for pushing us into this war, and not fairly reporting I blame the U.S. media

International news is so much more informative the the crap we get here

I wish nothing but ill for the corporate news

CNN is worse than faux, at least you know what you are getting with faux, cnn is like a rattlesnake without a rattle

either way I haven't watch U.S. news since November 2004, and am more informed than I was when I did

[leftchick]

3. CNN

the Cartoon News Network. It is indeed worse than faux I agree.

[saigon68]

23. CNN = Disgraceful Boot Licks for the Bush Criminals

A lot of crappy news and feel good stuff like why men wear jeans and women carry purses.

A lot of pro-military stuff like GI's giving candy to kids along the road.

[RebelOne]

2. Why is that posted twice? n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. Insurgent car bombs rock US marines

Insurgent car bombs rock US marines
From correspondents in Baghdad
April 11, 2005
From: AAP
THREE suicide car bombs hit a US military position in the western Iraqi city of Al-Qaim near the border with Syria today, the military said, adding that at least two Iraqi or US soldiers were wounded.

"What we have right now is three confirmed suicide vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices," First Lieutenant Kate VandenBossche, a spokeswoman for the US marines, told AFP.
"We are still trying to determine if the casualties were coalition or Iraqi security forces."

Iraqi police in the city, 305 kilometres west of Baghdad in Al-Anbar province, said the attack took place at about 1.30 pm (AEST)

"The blast was incredible," said Lieutenant Yasir al-Hadithi adding that US helicopters were over the scene of the attack which was followed by the sound of heavy gunfire.
(snip/...)

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12821980-23109,00.html

[still_one]

5. shhhhh not so loud

we don't want anyone else in America to know the truth

[rooboy]

6. By the time that headline reaches Fox News...

it will read "Bon Jovi rocks marines". The truth may be out there, but by God they'll make sure it stays 'out there'.

[southernboy]

14. The truth may be out there-a demented XFiles?

http://wagnews.blogspot.com/2005/04/media-disinfo-as-afghan-chopper-crash.html

[davhill]

7. Iraqi or US?

There seems to be a trend to avoid identifying the nationality of casualties lately.

[Frederik]

8. Three car bombs followed by heavy gunfire

Sounds like a repetition of the Abu Ghraib attack

[leftchick]

9. Sounds like it could be very bad....

<snip>

"The blast was incredible," said Lieutenant Yasir al-Hadithi adding that US helicopters were over the scene of the attack which was followed by the sound of heavy gunfire.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Ah, good morning Iraqnam

Same crap, different day.

When will it ever end?

[saigon68]

24. "BRING EM ON" shouted the AWOL CHIMAPNZEE

"We'll KILL all the Islamics", he continued

[xchrom]

10. do the iraqi's have marines?

they seem to know who the bombs ''rocked'' -- but not whether they were irqi casualties or american -- and with sooo many dead -- does it matter?

[Teaser]

12. This is clearly going to be a recurring tactic.

It is a direct response to the fact that Americans are no longer sending out significant numbers of patrols into territory dominated by insurgent forces. The insurgents only have two options, then:

1) attack Iraqi security forces, which they have been doing with vigor.

2) attack (using massive force) fortified American installations. We've seen two attacks like this in 9 days. They are effective enough so far to cause serious wounds, perhaps fatalities (we don't know about today's attack). Eventually they will calibrate the necessary amount of force to stage an attack with heavy fatalities.

[bemildred]

13. Yep. nt

[warrens]

15. You haven't been paying attention

Smirky the Giggling Murderer says that attacks have nearly ended since the elections. Who are you going to believe, him or your lying eyes?

[TexasLawyer]

25. Right! Even today's NYT says...

U.S. Commanders See Possible Cut in Troops in Iraq
By ERIC SCHMITT

Published: April 11, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 10 - Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the American-led military campaign in Iraq is making enough progress in fighting insurgents and training Iraqi security forces to allow the Pentagon to plan for significant troop reductions by early next year, senior commanders and Pentagon officials say.

Senior American officers are wary of declaring success too soon against an insurgency they say still has perhaps 12,000 to 20,000 hard-core fighters, plentiful financing and the ability to change tactics quickly to carry out deadly attacks. But there is a consensus emerging among these top officers and other senior defense officials about several positive developing trends, although each carries a cautionary note.

Attacks on allied forces have dropped to 30 to 40 a day, down from an average daily peak of 140 in the prelude to the Jan. 30 elections but still roughly at the levels of a year ago. Only about half the attacks cause casualties or damage, but on average one or more Americans die in Iraq every day, often from roadside bombs. Thirty-six American troops died there in March, the lowest monthly death toll since 21 died in February 2004.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/politics/11military.html?hp&ex=1113278400&en=2630fbfad9e0eaea&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[cal04]

16. Suicide blasts hit US Iraq base

At least two suicide car bombs have exploded at the entrance to a US military base in Qaim, western Iraq.
The blasts caused several casualties, but it is not know how many were American or Iraqi troops, or civilians.

The first blast came after a car rammed a checkpoint outside the base but failed to breach its defences.

Qaim, near the border with Syria, has been the scene of frequent violence and is used for smuggling insurgents and weapons into Iraqi, the US believes. US helicopters flew over the base after the attack and heavy exchanges of gunfire were heard as insurgents clashed with troops.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4432009.stm

[Clark2008]

17. Let's see... what can the corporate media focus on today so that

they can almost completely ignore this.

:grr:

[TexasLawyer]

26. Here it is!!! Right on cue...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1386262

CNN on-air: suspicious man with 2 suitcases in Capitol

Edited on Mon Apr-11-05 12:26 PM by DeepModem Mom
Tourists re-routed. People told to stay away from windows. Large police presence. Could be protest, or disgruntled employee.

No link yet.

[Straight Shooter]

18. bush administration will link the attack to Zarqawi in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...

:nuke:

[Teaser]

19. The insurgents are more than happy

to have it linked to Zarqawi. Every time the insurgents do something, they also blame Zarqawi.

He is a mutually beneficial figure for blame, given that he may or may not even exist!

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. I've noticed that the media, or the military, seems to present these

attacks a 'just' bombings -- the futile efforts of a die-hard desperate few.

But time and again I look farther down in the column and see that the bombings are accompanied by coordinated attacks with small arms. I wonder how many of these 'suicide' bombings really are such, and how often the driver bails after guiding the car to it's targer under covering fire from other insurgents.

It is unfortunate that there is no independent media to tell us what is really going on.

[bemildred]

21. They are large well-planned attacks.

Not the sign of a waning resistance, but that is a really off-message
idea, so is it suppressed. I suspect that - as Teaser points out in
post #12 - there is an element of tactical probing going on, looking for
more effective tactics to breach the defenses of the US troop positions.
That the resistance has not fully solved that problem yet is the reason
for the reduced US casualties lately. Not that that is a bad thing, but
the best way to reduce US troop casualties is to return them to their
homes and familes promptly.

[leftchick]

22. a trickle of truth from MSRNC this morning....

they did their usual 2 second update on Iraq this morning with the report coming from their reporter in the GZ,Baghdad. :eyes:
I was actually surprised to hear it reported correctly. This was a bigtime attack with the fighters attacking the US again and again as they were evacuating wounded. The US Military has not given out any figures on casualties yet. Probably waiting for the next pope to be announced to give them, if at all.

[yellowcanine]

27. But the NUMBER of attacks is down, so things are getting better, right?

And we are WINNING, right, just like we were winning right up to 1968 when the shit hit the fan during Tet.