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U.S.: Iraq Insurgency Highly Coordinated
By SABAH JERGES
.c The Associated Press
SAMARRA, Iraq (AP) - One of the bloodiest engagements since the fall of Saddam Hussein showed a new, deadlier side of the Iraqi insurgency: stepped up, coordinated assaults by groups of guerrillas bent on battle rather than a hit-and-run attack, the U.S. military said Monday.
"Here it seems they had the training to stand and fight,'' said Capt. Andy Deponai, whose tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the firefight Sunday in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Residents disputed U.S. assertions that dozens of Iraqi fighters died, saying fewer than 10 were killed and that most of those were civilians.
The well-coordinated ambushes signaled an escalation of guerrilla tactics, although the attack in Samarra was unsuccessful. A dozen cars lay gutted and wrecked in the streets Monday, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A mosque and a kindergarten also were damaged.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said that in one of the ambushes, a dozen attackers dashed out of a mosque and opened fire on U.S. military vehicles. They also fired from alleyways and rooftops.
"It was a large group of people,'' Kimmitt said in Baghdad. "Are we looking at this one closely? Yes. Is this something larger than we've seen over the past couple of months? Yes. Are we concerned about it? We'll look at it and take appropriate measures in future operations.''
Insurgents struck elsewhere Monday. West of Baghdad, gunmen ambushed a U.S. military convoy, killing one soldier, the U.S. military said. The attack with small arms fire occurred near Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
A U.S. Army general said Iraqi insurgents in Baghdad appear to have a central leadership that finances attacks and instructs eight to 12 rebel bands operating in the city when to attack and when to lie low......
The fighting in Samarra, 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital, represented a greater level of coordination in the Iraqi insurgency, although U.S. forces said they had anticipated the attacks and blunted them with superior firepower.
Deponai said he was surprised by the scale of the attack on the convoys, which were carrying bundles of new Iraqi currency, and that 30-40 assailants lay in wait near each of the two banks where the money was being delivered.
"Up to now you've seen a progression - initially it was hit-and-run, single RPG shots on patrols. Then they started doing volley fire, multiple RPG ambushes, and then from there, this is the first well-coordinated one,'' he said.
"It's hard to tell on the basis of one attack exactly what tactics may or may not be changing,'' Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Brussels.
"The fact is that in this particular case, about 50 or so of the enemy did collect together for whatever reason they thought was appropriate,'' Pace said. ``They attacked and they were killed. So I think it'll be instructive to them for future analysis when they're thinking about what they're going to do next.''
The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed. But Iraqi residents and hospital officials said the toll was much lower.
Five American soldiers were wounded, the U.S. military said. Soldiers said there was sustained firing at both banks for about 45 minutes, but that heavy fire from U.S. tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles overwhelmed the attackers.
U.S. commanders said some of the insurgents were wearing dark clothing and scarves over their faces, the favored garb of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force.
Residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing, civilians got their guns and joined in the fight. Residents said they were bitter about recent U.S. raids.
"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?'' asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?''
Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the wounded. Although a kindergarten was damaged, no children were hurt.
At least 104 coalition troops died in Iraq in November, including 79 Americans. In terms of coalition losses, it was the bloodiest month of the war that began March 20....
12/01/03 15:32 EST
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.
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A Soldier Reflects On Thanksgiving
A Soldier Reflects on Thanksgiving
This is an email received by the wife of a HHC/3-66 Armor soldier:
It is the day after Thanksgiving here in Iraq, and I have time to reflect on yesterday. Many would wonder what I as a soldier have to be thankful for. True, the separation from my wife and two beautiful daughters is rough, but it is something I chose to do a little over eleven years ago.
You see I am thankful that I can be a part of something bigger than myself, that I can volunteer to ensure that a terrorist, who believes his ideology should be violently imposed on all peoples around the world, will never see his goal. I am thankful that I was given the opportunity to raise my right hand and pledge my life in my nations defense.
I am very thankful that I have a wife and children that support what I do. They have endured having their lives uprooted, shook up and interrupted. They watch the news with dread hoping not to see any negative news from my corner of the world. Yet they never waver in their commitment to me. My Wife and my children are my heroes and I am thankful beyond everything else for their support.
I am thankful for the soldiers around me, going through the same thing I am going through. I feel a kinship with my fellow soldiers here with me and feel a responsibility to them. I honestly feel that I did spend my Thanksgiving with a large part of my family, here in Iraq. Over the past eight months we have developed a bond that can never really be explained to someone that hasn’t been through what we have been through. We have been through many attacks, many problems, some tragedies, and many victories together. Through it all we have stood side-by-side, ready to give our lives in each other’s defense.
Regardless of what I hear on the news, regardless of the political spin put on the everyday occurrences here, I am convinced we have done the right thing. I have seen the opulent palaces Saddam constructed while his people suffered. I have seen the effects of Saddam skimming funds off the top of the Oil for Food Program and thirty-five years of abuse the people of Iraq endured. I am more convinced now that we did the right thing.
You see I chose this life over eleven years ago. I had the freedom to decide if I wanted to commit to this life, I have had many chances to enter civilian life but I chose to remain. I feel that I am part of something more important than myself, something that needs to be done and I believe that if I don’t do it than who will.
Recently I participated in the Rest and Recuperation leave program that is being offered to as many troops as possible over here. While I was home, I was exposed to very little positive press reporting from Iraq, there were no stories of the advances we have made rebuilding schools, reestablishing the electrical system, and bringing water plants back to life so they treat more water than before the war. I grew so frustrated with the news reports that my wife actually banned me from watching the news.
A few days before Thanksgiving Fox news sent a crew up here that included LTC Oliver North, he reported on some positive advances we have made here and that was refreshing. He was here when we first deployed and found the advances we had made in this corner of Iraq truly a success story. LTC North was here as we were invited to share in three days of traditional feasts called Eid-Al-Fitr with our Iraqi friends at the end of Ramadan. If the Iraqis opposed us being here, they never would have invited us to participate with them in Eid-Al-Fitr.
Yes a few terrorists that believe they can bring a defunct regime back to power still attack us. These terrorists have everything to lose now that Saddam isn’t in power. They will not win; they will only sacrifice their lives for no reason. Saddam’s regime is dead and gone, blown away by the wind. I have been told by several Iraqis that Saddam will never return, that if they ever saw him they would kill him themselves for what he had done to their nation and denied them for so long.
You see it is hard to explain why we choose to be soldiers, we know that at anytime we could be faced with life or death situations, we know the risks, we were not drafted into service; we chose this mantel of responsibility freely. I am proud to be a soldier in Iraq. I am proud to serve my nation, earn my battle stripes defending my nation, and ensure the freedom we enjoy with my life.
I could have followed a different path; those of you that knew me in High School remember a longhaired kid that really expressed no interest in the military. In fact I was probably believed to be the least likely to join the military.
I am thankful for so many things, some of them here in this letter, some of them deep within my heart. I hope you can understand now that I am Thankful for every experience, every problem I have encountered, and every freedom that we enjoy. I am thankful I have been given the opportunity to represent my country, and ensure that you have the freedom you deserve. I hope this sheds some light on why, even through this holiday season, I am not depressed and I do not feel like I am in the wrong place. I know that this is where I need to be, to do my duty.
Remember us in your prayers, remember that we are out here, but also remember that this is the life we chose. We will be home soon.
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What Our Families Are Hearing From Our Soldiers in Iraq:
1) Back from visiting my son in Fort Hood. This was the best Thanksgiving I have had to see my child, hold him, hug him, kiss him and thank God he is still alive. He is returning to Iraq on Tuesday, but we made this a special time for him. He got things done so his family would not have to worry about anything and he got plenty of whatever he wanted to eat. He shared some of his experience with us and we did not push the conversation. By my husband being an ex Vietnam Vet he said he will talk when he want and we are just to listen. Now is the countdown for his safe return home in April.
2) I have had a great week. My son (1/68 AR C Co) has internet and phone access now! He has been calling every couple of days (he gets up at about 3:30 a.m. Iraq time so he doesn't wake me in the middle of the night). It has been great talking to him so much. He's probably sick of all the emails from me! I write him about 3 times a day. The best news is that he should be home next Wed. or Thurs. if all goes as planned. I'm a nervous wreck about the travel out of Iraq, but so happy that he will be here to celebrate Christmas with all of us. He wants to surprise his grandparents and dad and I'm having the hardest time keeping my mouth shut. I did tell my older son, so he is going to help me get the house decorated, something I hadn't planned on doing. He says they are not getting shot at so often, although a few days ago they had to hit the bunkers. They had turkey for Thanksgiving and another highlight for him was that Gen. Abizaid was at their compound and spoke to all the soldiers and did a Q & A session. He was pretty impressed by that. Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and happy shopping!!
3) Our weekend was made complete by a phone call from our son at 12:30 this morning (Sunday). He is with A-CO 1-22. He sounded real good....Bless him! He said that they have been really busy with raids and successful captures. They were served a very nice Thanksgiving dinner, which made me feel good. He asked for me to send him Christmas cookies, so I will be doing all my baking in the next day or two. He asked if our Christmas tree was up, as he said, "the tree is up right?" I have always put the tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I just haven't been in the mood, for obvious reasons. Well, the tree will be going up, as he expects it to be! He received both of his birthday boxes and got a kick out of them.(he turns 20 on Dec. 3rd) Students from his middle school had made him cards....there were literally hundreds of them! He said it took him hours to read them all, but he appreciated them very much! All in all he sounds so good, it just amazes me. I am so very proud of him and all of our men and women in uniform. I am trying so hard to get into the holiday spirit.....it is difficult with my son over there....his first Christmas not being spent with family....but he expects us to carry on with life....so for his sake I will go through the motions....can't really say that my heart will be in it though. This is, without a doubt, the hardest thing I have ever dealt with. I know that so many families are going through the same thing....and I guess if nothing else, just knowing we're not alone in this helps.
4) I need some advice from the women on how to package baked goods "sweets". I sent my soldier some cookies and things, and he said they were in crumbs when they got to him, I don't know where I went wrong.
My husband was able to call home yesterday he is with the 890th Engr Unit Co. B. He sounded a little down. He was able to talk to several of his Aunts and cousins which was a nice suprise for him! He said it was good to hear all their voices, but he just wishes he was home with us! We all tried to pump him up and put a smile on his face! I just finished making a DVD with a power point slide show of pictures for my husband. The DVD includes pictures of me, my husband, family, and friends. It has background music and special features. It turned out really great, this is going to make an awesome Christmas present for my husband!!! I know it might be depressing to watch and make him a little home sick, but I really think he'll enjoy it and will be able to turn on the DVD player or TV and look at pictures of everyone whenever he wants!!! I just thought it was a great way to express my love and support for him!!! May God Bless Everyone and may God protect and watch over our troops!!!!
5) My daughter took a call from our son, who is with the 1-10 CAV. He called on Friday to tell us that he was supposed to be on the plane home for R&R, but something happened and he had to stay behind. The good news is that he is scheduled to come home for 2 weeks around Christmas. This, of course, will be the BEST Christmas present I've ever received. Also, I was so proud of our President for boosting our troops' morale with his visit and speech. As I watched him pose for pictures with individual soldiers, hug their necks, and give them a reassuring nod or smile, my heart was lifted. This was a great Thanksgiving blessing.
6) Last night I received one of the best gifts from my husband who is stationed out in Tikrit right now. When I met him online last night to I.M. each other (closest contact we get since the phone lines aren't running very well out there) he told me that he had a surprise for me. Next thing I knew he was on the screen thanks to another unit's webcam!!! This was a HUGE deal for my sons and I since this is the only way we will be able to see my husband before he comes home for good since he isn't coming home on R&R!! My Husband also was able to "come home" for a couple hours (since I had him on screen and there was no line I wasn't about to let him go anytime soon!) since I also have a webcam. My 4 year old was running around the house screaming "I can see my Daddy, I can see my Daddy", I was in tears of joy, and my 6 month old got to see his Daddy move instead of only being shown his pictures. It was the second best thing to him coming home. I was able to see that he WAS okay and he could see that we were as well. I also was able to look at him and tell him how much I love and miss him, something that I have wanted to do since he left 249 days ago! My 4 year old when I tucked him in said, "Momma, I finally got to see me Daddy again" and we both REALLY smiled again. (No unit given).
7) Hi just wanted to say that my husband of 1/10 CAV 4TH ID made it home safely
for mid-tour leave. It's so wonderful to see him home, even though it will only be for a couple of weeks it's better than nothing. We went to see some family for Thanksgiving, and surprised them. They loved it. He has to go back to Dallas on the 6th, this saturday, but at least he'll only be gone for 4 months right. It was so great to run up into his arms and not wake up from a dream. The first 2 nights or so I would wake up and grab him just to make sure he was really there and I hadn't dreamed him coming home again. It's been heaven having him home. God Bless all our troops.
8) Hi I am going to share my families Christmas for this year..Instead of the traditional Christmas, my daughters and I are going to Florida for 2 weeks with grandma and grandpa. I felt gulity at first since my husband is in Iraq, so I discussed it with him and he feels we should go. We haven't had a vacation in 6 years so I think it's a great way to see a place I have never been before and it will help pass the time. And we will pick up presents along the way. Merry Christmas to you and thank you for all the updates, I appreciate the information. God Bless you and All our Wonderful and Brave Troops..Stay Safe!!!!!! God Bless America. (Editor's Note: Excellent idea - it's better to be with family than to sit at home by yourself - and most soldiers will be exactly like your husband, highly supportive of the idea if you can pull it off).
9) In a conversation with my son (555 14th EN BE from Fort Lewis) last month he relayed the concern that many soldiers were apprehensive about the upcoming holidays. He said some don't receive much from home and that the holidays would be especially hard on them. This sparked an idea in the hearts of a local ABWA (American Business Women's Association) group and we went into action based on the list in your updates. Along with other community supporters we sent lots of holiday cheer to my son's unit and other local Pocatello, Idaho soldiers in 6 locations. The amount of supplies and gifts donated were amazing; soaps and lotions from hotels, razors, batteries, socks, candy canes, beef jerky, powerade, sunflower seeds, pillows, etc. along with 4 artifical trees complete with decorations for them all. Letters and cards were sent from local elementary schools and a note from our group wishing them all a speedy journey home in the new year. Packages were stuffed into large holiday burlap bags that resembled potato bags, straight from Idaho. My son thinks we'll be sending a few extra boxes and will be very surprised when over 27 show up! After it was all boxed and taken to the USPS even I was stunned, 520 lbs. of goodies and it's all on its way! Thanks for the suggestion list and of course the soldier's updates. Happy Holidays to everyone, we're especially thankful this year for our own angel, Bob Babcock. From a proud and hopeful
Mom! Stay safe, work together to get through the holidays and hurry back 4th ID!
10) I just wanted to share our creative idea for a Christmas tree with everyone. I was not planning on even putting a tree up since I felt it would make us all sad whenever we looked at it and thought of spending Christmas without my husband. But a good friend convinced me that it would be good to put one up for the sake of my children, so I went shopping for a tree. My five year old wanted to get a white tree and we decided to decorate it in red, white and blue. This is good because it does not look like a traditional Christmas tree so it doesn't make us remember Christmas in the past and it also helps us to think of our soldier and how proud we are of him for serving our country.
11) For the first time my daughter called and she was very lonesome for home. She was not as upbeat as usual. I wasn't sure how to comfort her only by telling her we are feeling the same way here. We are lonesome for her too. But we will get through this together, as a family. I think she felt better after calling us, she didn't call for over a week because she wanted to be in a better frame of mind before she called anyone. These are the hard times, the holidays, any advice would be appreciated as this is my first time dealing with a soldier deployed. She is with the 704th DSB.
12) I was able to chat with my fiance (HHC, 2nd BDE) for a couple of hours today, through AOL instant messenger! He's at Camp Warhorse and said that since the weather has cooled down quite a bit (esp. at night), he would like some flannel PJ pants and some handwarmers like the ones we used to go skiing with, last winter. His room and work environment both do not have working heaters. I found flannel PJ pants at Old Navy on sale for $12.50 a piece and found the handwarmers at Wal-Mart in the hunting/camping section. I got the "Hothands-2" brand, which are non-toxic, and only require the package to be opened to activate the heat. They were about $2.50 for a package of 6 handwarmers and give off about 10 hours of heat. Thought I'd pass along the info--since I had never even thought of sending him these!
13) Well, my husband's R&R trip went really well and I just wanted to share a little of our experience. He is in A/ 1-10 CAV, a mortar squad leader. He got to spend from the 15th of Nov. to the 1st of Dec. with us. We all adjusted quickly to having him back home, and it was so special to have him home with our boys and myself over Thanksgiving and also to get our Christmas Tree on Saturday. He brought back lots of pictures and talked little about Iraq. We didn't watch too much news and made the best of our time together. He got to spend some awesome bonding time with our 9 month old, and 4 yr. old, and we also got to do the Christmas shopping for the kids together which was very special. I am so thankkful for the opportunity to have him home with us, and have to say that yes, saying goodbye again this time was the hardest ever. I am looking forward to when they are all home again, for good!!!!
14) Just wanted to let you know that I heard from my daughter, "A" Company, 704th DSB by email. She apologized for not contacting us sooner, but that she had been extremely busy and it was going to get busier but at the end of each day, she's one day closer to coming home!!! I asked her if she had found anything to be thankful for on Thanksgiving and this is what she said: "I did find something to be thankful for. My safety. And that I've never been hurt or seriously attacked on a convoy. I wish I could have been at home though. At least 2 guys got to have your cooking!! I bet they loved it." (We hosted 2 Marines who just finished infantry training for the day, we're from So. Cal and we have a Marine base kind of nearby. It wasn't the same as having my daughter home, but it was wonderful extending a welcome and a thank you to two very nice young men. My husband was in 7th Heaven...one was from Wisconsin and a Packers fan just like him, and the other was also from the Midwest, Minnesota.) She also mentioned the following: "we haven't had any mail in like a week cuz a helicopter carrying mail got shot at, so they put a stop to stuff for a while, but we're supposed to get some tomorrow.".......PS I told you a while back about the school I work for sending packages to each soldier in the 704th DSB...well, if my list of soldiers was correct, all packages were sent off last Friday, Priority Mail...wow! It was awesome to see what care and love went into each package. I was amazed at what a mailing like that cost...over 2,000.00. I totally misjudged the cost of postage. Oh well, if it brings a smile to their face and a little bit of home, it was worth it!
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