U.S. troops join Baghdad battle against militants

[IndianaGreen]

Our trainers were in a training firefight in which the enemy fired training bullets at them. Thankfully, there were no training casualties on the US side. Nothing to see here. Keep moving!

U.S. troops join Baghdad battle against militants

Fighting comes just days after official end to American combat operations

By BARBARA SURK

updated 2 hours 40 minutes ago

BAGHDAD — Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq's ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.

It was the first exchange of fire involving U.S. troops in Baghdad since the Aug. 31 deadline for formally ending the combat mission, and it showed that American troops remaining in the country are still being drawn into the fighting.

The attack also made plain the kind of lapses in security that have left Iraqis wary of the U.S. drawdown and distrustful of the ability of Iraqi forces now taking up ultimate responsibility for protecting the country.

Sunday's hour-long assault was the second in as many weeks on the facility, the headquarters for the Iraqi Army's 11th Division, pointing to the failure of Iraqi forces to plug even the most obvious holes in their security.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39019711/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa

[msongs]

1. just so you understand it is NOT COMBAT nt

[Skittles]

3. of course not.....the are, er, "assisting"

or, um, "training" - they are receiving combat pay but - that's just, well, BONUS money!!!

[jefferson_dem]

4. They are doing exactly what POTUS said they would do.

"Going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission: advising and assisting Iraq's Security Forces; supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counter-terrorism missions; and protecting our civilians."

[IndianaGreen]

6. Getting shot at in 'training' missions because the Iraqi Army is in sad shape

and in really sad shape if one reads the British press.

[jefferson_dem]

2. Good for them. Looks like they are performing admirably.

[xchrom]

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