R
Raymond
Guest
The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.
George Orwell (1903 - 1950), Polemic, May 1946, "Second Thoughts on
Rockets Hit Iraq Housing Complex, Kill 5
Two U.S. Soldiers Among Those Wounded In Attack Near Baghdad Airport
And Military Base
The surge is in trouble.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 18, 2008
AP) Rockets slammed into an Iraqi housing complex near the Baghdad
international airport and a nearby U.S. military base, killing at
least five people and wounding 16, including two U.S. soldiers,
officials said.
American troops acting on strong evidence arrested six Iraqi suspects
Monday in the vicinity of the apparent launching sites, a military
official said.
The brazen attack followed a weekend in which U.S. and Iraqi officials
touted the security gains of a year-old operation in Baghdad that
included an influx of some 30,000 extra American troops. Rocket and
mortar attacks were once a daily occurrence but have tapered off with
a general decline in violence in the capital.
Twelve 107 mm rockets fell in and around the airport and the nearby
Camp Victory, the main U.S. military base on the western outskirts of
Baghdad, the U.S. military official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity ahead of the official release of the information.
He said Camp Victory was hit and two soldiers suffered light injuries
but that most of the casualties were in a housing complex for airport
employees, about half a mile from the airport. Camp Victory, on the
western outskirts of Baghdad, is the site of the main U.S. military
headquarters.
Five Iraqis were killed and 14 wounded including five children, one
baby, one adult and a teenager who were taken to a nearby U.S. medical
facility, the official said.
The U.S. military did not respond with fire but sent a team in the
direction of the launching sites, arresting six people in the area,
the official said. One unexploded rocket also was recovered, according
to the military.
Residents in the housing complex said it includes 250 to 300 trailers
primarily occupied by airport employees. They said two trailers were
destroyed in the attack.
"One of these two families lost four of its sons, three of them were
buried under the debris," one resident said, adding that killed were
between 10 and 20 years old.
Iraqi police earlier reported that six to 13 rockets also struck the
U.S.-protected Green Zone on Monday afternoon, but the U.S. military
official denied that report.
In Other Developments:
A roadside bombing in the northwestern city of Mosul killed three
civilians and wounded four others, police said. The U.S. military has
described Mosul as the last major urban stronghold of al Qaeda in
Iraq.
Iraqi officials spent the weekend celebrating the successes of a
crackdown that began a year ago and saw the eventual buildup of some
30,000 extra American troops. But the U.S. military has been more
cautious, warning that Shiite and Sunni extremists remain a serious
threat.
Earlier Monday, U.S. troops acting on a tip captured a Shiite militia
leader suspected of being a powerful criminal boss and providing
Iranian weapons to fighters in western Baghdad, the military said.
The arrest occurred a day after a U.S. military spokesman said that in
the past week, Iraqi and U.S. forces had captured 212 weapons caches
around the country, with growing evidence of an Iranian link.
"This is a significant capture of a top special groups leader," said
Navy Capt. Vic Beck, a military spokesman. "Special groups" is a term
the U.S. uses to describe Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militias that
it says have broken with anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and refuse
to follow his cease-fire order, which expires at the end of this
month.
The detained man was reportedly in charge of all Shiite militia
fighters in the western half of Baghdad. He was allegedly responsible
for providing weapons to militia members, including armor-piercing
bombs that U.S. officials say come from Iran. Tehran denies the
allegation.
The suspect also allegedly selected fighters for paramilitary training
and was an associate of other senior criminal leaders involved in
attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, the military said.
Separately, the leader of a U.S.-allied Sunni Arab group said his
fighters were returning to posts they abandoned Saturday in protest
over what he said was a U.S. air strike the previous day that killed
three of the group's members in the village of Jurf al-Sakr, south of
Baghdad.
It was the latest claim of a mistaken killing of civilians or U.S.-
allied fighters by American forces. The cases have raised concern
about future cracks in Sunni cooperation with U.S. forces, which the
Pentagon credits as key to the sharp drop in violence in recent months
throughout Iraq.
Sheik Sabah al-Janabi, the chief of the local Awakening Council, as
the groups are known, ordered a three-day walkout, demanded that the
U.S. military apologize, provide compensation for relatives of the
victims and promise it won't happen again. He reversed that decision
Monday.
"Our fighters have resumed their patrolling and their checkpoint
duties as of today after the Americans responded to our demands," he
said without elaborating.
Col. Tom James, commander of the 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division,
which is responsible for the area, acknowledged U.S. forces killed two
members of the Awakening Council and a third man but said they were
acting in self-defense after coming under small-arms fire during an
operation targeting an extremist.
He said American troops take great care to pinpoint Awakening Council
checkpoints so they can avoid targeting them during operations, but
claimed the killed men had left their posts and were mistaken for
insurgents.
"You're not a Son of Iraq if you're engaging coalition forces and are
not at a checkpoint," he said during a telephone interview, using the
military term for the U.S.-allied fighters.
He also stressed the importance of getting the Sunnis to return to
their posts to maintain the security successes in the former al Qaeda
in Iraq stronghold.
"There's always a threat to that area and we cannot afford for them to
come off of those checkpoints," he said.
Iowan Killed In Diyala Province
A soldier from northwest Iowa has been killed in Iraq, his family said
Monday.
Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, of Kingsley was shot Sunday morning in the
Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, leaving behind a wife and 4-
month-old daughter, the family said.
"He wasn't scared of anything," Dave Groepper, the soldier's father,
told The Associated Press. "That's why he was infantry."
The father called Chad Groepper an "action figure" who always wanted
to be in the front line. He had been serving in Iraq for nearly one
year with an Army infantry unit from Fort Lewis, Wash., and was
scheduled to return to the United States as early as May.
"We had just been counting the days until he came home," Darcy
Groepper told the Des Moines Register.
Dave Groepper said the military told him Sunday his son was fatally
shot in the head during combat. The Department of Defense had not
announced Chad Groepper's death by late Monday afternoon.
Chad Groepper enlisted in the Army after graduating in 2004 from
Kingsley-Pierson High School, his mother said.
Kingsley Mayor Wayne Plendl said his community of 1,200 people is in
shock about Chad Groepper's death.
Plendl had known Groepper for his work on a local farm operation and
many people had known him while he worked at a plumbing shop, the
mayor said.
"We are pretty close and everybody knew this young man well," Plendl
said. "It's such a tragic thing."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
By Kim Gamel
George Orwell (1903 - 1950), Polemic, May 1946, "Second Thoughts on
Rockets Hit Iraq Housing Complex, Kill 5
Two U.S. Soldiers Among Those Wounded In Attack Near Baghdad Airport
And Military Base
The surge is in trouble.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 18, 2008
AP) Rockets slammed into an Iraqi housing complex near the Baghdad
international airport and a nearby U.S. military base, killing at
least five people and wounding 16, including two U.S. soldiers,
officials said.
American troops acting on strong evidence arrested six Iraqi suspects
Monday in the vicinity of the apparent launching sites, a military
official said.
The brazen attack followed a weekend in which U.S. and Iraqi officials
touted the security gains of a year-old operation in Baghdad that
included an influx of some 30,000 extra American troops. Rocket and
mortar attacks were once a daily occurrence but have tapered off with
a general decline in violence in the capital.
Twelve 107 mm rockets fell in and around the airport and the nearby
Camp Victory, the main U.S. military base on the western outskirts of
Baghdad, the U.S. military official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity ahead of the official release of the information.
He said Camp Victory was hit and two soldiers suffered light injuries
but that most of the casualties were in a housing complex for airport
employees, about half a mile from the airport. Camp Victory, on the
western outskirts of Baghdad, is the site of the main U.S. military
headquarters.
Five Iraqis were killed and 14 wounded including five children, one
baby, one adult and a teenager who were taken to a nearby U.S. medical
facility, the official said.
The U.S. military did not respond with fire but sent a team in the
direction of the launching sites, arresting six people in the area,
the official said. One unexploded rocket also was recovered, according
to the military.
Residents in the housing complex said it includes 250 to 300 trailers
primarily occupied by airport employees. They said two trailers were
destroyed in the attack.
"One of these two families lost four of its sons, three of them were
buried under the debris," one resident said, adding that killed were
between 10 and 20 years old.
Iraqi police earlier reported that six to 13 rockets also struck the
U.S.-protected Green Zone on Monday afternoon, but the U.S. military
official denied that report.
In Other Developments:
A roadside bombing in the northwestern city of Mosul killed three
civilians and wounded four others, police said. The U.S. military has
described Mosul as the last major urban stronghold of al Qaeda in
Iraq.
Iraqi officials spent the weekend celebrating the successes of a
crackdown that began a year ago and saw the eventual buildup of some
30,000 extra American troops. But the U.S. military has been more
cautious, warning that Shiite and Sunni extremists remain a serious
threat.
Earlier Monday, U.S. troops acting on a tip captured a Shiite militia
leader suspected of being a powerful criminal boss and providing
Iranian weapons to fighters in western Baghdad, the military said.
The arrest occurred a day after a U.S. military spokesman said that in
the past week, Iraqi and U.S. forces had captured 212 weapons caches
around the country, with growing evidence of an Iranian link.
"This is a significant capture of a top special groups leader," said
Navy Capt. Vic Beck, a military spokesman. "Special groups" is a term
the U.S. uses to describe Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militias that
it says have broken with anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and refuse
to follow his cease-fire order, which expires at the end of this
month.
The detained man was reportedly in charge of all Shiite militia
fighters in the western half of Baghdad. He was allegedly responsible
for providing weapons to militia members, including armor-piercing
bombs that U.S. officials say come from Iran. Tehran denies the
allegation.
The suspect also allegedly selected fighters for paramilitary training
and was an associate of other senior criminal leaders involved in
attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces, the military said.
Separately, the leader of a U.S.-allied Sunni Arab group said his
fighters were returning to posts they abandoned Saturday in protest
over what he said was a U.S. air strike the previous day that killed
three of the group's members in the village of Jurf al-Sakr, south of
Baghdad.
It was the latest claim of a mistaken killing of civilians or U.S.-
allied fighters by American forces. The cases have raised concern
about future cracks in Sunni cooperation with U.S. forces, which the
Pentagon credits as key to the sharp drop in violence in recent months
throughout Iraq.
Sheik Sabah al-Janabi, the chief of the local Awakening Council, as
the groups are known, ordered a three-day walkout, demanded that the
U.S. military apologize, provide compensation for relatives of the
victims and promise it won't happen again. He reversed that decision
Monday.
"Our fighters have resumed their patrolling and their checkpoint
duties as of today after the Americans responded to our demands," he
said without elaborating.
Col. Tom James, commander of the 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division,
which is responsible for the area, acknowledged U.S. forces killed two
members of the Awakening Council and a third man but said they were
acting in self-defense after coming under small-arms fire during an
operation targeting an extremist.
He said American troops take great care to pinpoint Awakening Council
checkpoints so they can avoid targeting them during operations, but
claimed the killed men had left their posts and were mistaken for
insurgents.
"You're not a Son of Iraq if you're engaging coalition forces and are
not at a checkpoint," he said during a telephone interview, using the
military term for the U.S.-allied fighters.
He also stressed the importance of getting the Sunnis to return to
their posts to maintain the security successes in the former al Qaeda
in Iraq stronghold.
"There's always a threat to that area and we cannot afford for them to
come off of those checkpoints," he said.
Iowan Killed In Diyala Province
A soldier from northwest Iowa has been killed in Iraq, his family said
Monday.
Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, of Kingsley was shot Sunday morning in the
Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, leaving behind a wife and 4-
month-old daughter, the family said.
"He wasn't scared of anything," Dave Groepper, the soldier's father,
told The Associated Press. "That's why he was infantry."
The father called Chad Groepper an "action figure" who always wanted
to be in the front line. He had been serving in Iraq for nearly one
year with an Army infantry unit from Fort Lewis, Wash., and was
scheduled to return to the United States as early as May.
"We had just been counting the days until he came home," Darcy
Groepper told the Des Moines Register.
Dave Groepper said the military told him Sunday his son was fatally
shot in the head during combat. The Department of Defense had not
announced Chad Groepper's death by late Monday afternoon.
Chad Groepper enlisted in the Army after graduating in 2004 from
Kingsley-Pierson High School, his mother said.
Kingsley Mayor Wayne Plendl said his community of 1,200 people is in
shock about Chad Groepper's death.
Plendl had known Groepper for his work on a local farm operation and
many people had known him while he worked at a plumbing shop, the
mayor said.
"We are pretty close and everybody knew this young man well," Plendl
said. "It's such a tragic thing."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
By Kim Gamel
