Only the Times Noticed
As I track the action in Iraq, I often find curious gaps in the information coming from our military. Here is one such. Curiously, the New York Times has the details [behind a sign in]
FORWARD OPERATING BASE CALDWELL, Iraq, Nov. 23 — Sunni Arab militant groups suspected of ties to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia have established training camps east of Baghdad that are turning out well-disciplined units willing to fight American forces in set-piece battles, American military commanders said Thursday.
American soldiers fought such units in a pitched battle last week in the village of Turki, 25 miles south of this Iraqi Army base in volatile Diyala Province, near the Iranian border. At least 72 insurgents and two American officers were killed in more than 40 hours of fighting. American commanders said they called in 12 hours of airstrikes while soldiers shot their way through a reed-strewn network of canals in extremely close combat. [snip]
Senior commanders training Iraqi Army units here say other rural areas of eastern and central Diyala where American forces have had little oversight have been transformed into camps similar to the one at Turki. The “graduates,†many of whom belong to an umbrella group called the Sunni Council, then spread to urban areas such as Baquba, the provincial capital, said Maj. Tim Sheridan, an intelligence officer. Sectarian violence is rampant in Diyala, where Sunni Arab and Shiite militants are vying for control.
The battle at Turki began after Colonel Poppas and other soldiers flew over the area on a reconnaissance mission on Nov. 12. From the helicopters, they spotted a white car covered by shrubbery and a hole in the ground that appeared to be a hiding place. The colonel dropped off an eight-man team and later sent other soldiers to sweep the area.
Gunfire erupted on Nov. 15 when one unit ran into an ambush. The fighting eventually became so intense that the Americans called in Apache attack helicopters and F-16 fighters, which dropped bombs and strafed the area for hours. An American captain and a lieutenant, both West Point graduates, were shot dead by insurgents in separate firefights.
Here’s the slide from MNF on the operation, though no press release is to be found. Click on the thumbnail.
I don’t quite know what to add to the Terrorist Death Watch. All the info on this series of battles comes from the New York Times and a briefing held in theater on November 20.
Army Capt. Rhett W. Schiller, 26, of Wisconsin, died Nov. 16 in Balad Ruz, Iraq, of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Army Capt. John R. Dennison, 24, of Ijamsville, Md., died on Nov. 15 in Balad, Iraq, as a result of small-arms fire. Dennison was assigned to 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Thank you so much for tracking this. My estimates are about 12,300 since the start of the war. I lost alot of brothers on 9/11 and have been looking for any kind of payback. I really wish we published body counts. I guess I can take solace ib the sectarian fatalities. Call me vengeful but I can’t forget and I’ll never forgive.
Thanks again.