Sgt Sostand
07-16-03, 03:16 PM
Other attacks
kill U.S. soldier
and 3 Iraqis
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 16 — Suspected pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. military aircraft approaching Baghdad on Wednesday — a day in which another U.S. soldier was killed, along with an Iraqi child and a mayor and his son. The missile missed the C-130 transport plane, but the attack showed a new level of resistance, which until now had relied largely on ground attacks.
“A C-130 WAS flying into Baghdad. It was fired upon by a surface-to-air missile,” a coalition spokesman said. He had no information on how close the missile had come to hitting the aircraft, which landed safely at Baghdad International Airport.
Another spokesman said a similar incident occurred last week. “Actually it’s the second incident,” he told Reuters Television. “We had an incident last week where two missiles were fired at a similar aircraft, and in this instance as well no missiles hit the aircrafts.”
He gave no other details. That incident had not been reported earlier.
Airport security is a major concern for the U.S.-led coalition. Baghdad International Airport is home to an estimated 10,000 U.S. soldiers and is used to ferry troops and supplies into the capital. The United Nations and international aid agencies also use the airport in their reconstruction efforts.
Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, had said he wanted to get commercial air service restarted by mid-July, but the coalition has since backed off that date, citing security concerns.
“We are still working with problems related to security, immigration and customs,” Bremer said Tuesday. “We’re not ready at this time.”
GUERRILLA TACTICS’
At the Pentagon, meanwhile, the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, told reporters that it was accurate to describe the resistance as a guerrilla war. “I think describing it as guerrilla tactics being employed against us is, you know, a proper thing to describe in strictly military terms,” he said.
This contrasted with an assessment given by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on June 30 that what U.S. forces were encountering was not “anything like a guerrilla war or an organized resistance.”
kill U.S. soldier
and 3 Iraqis
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 16 — Suspected pro-Saddam Hussein insurgents fired a surface-to-air missile at a U.S. military aircraft approaching Baghdad on Wednesday — a day in which another U.S. soldier was killed, along with an Iraqi child and a mayor and his son. The missile missed the C-130 transport plane, but the attack showed a new level of resistance, which until now had relied largely on ground attacks.
“A C-130 WAS flying into Baghdad. It was fired upon by a surface-to-air missile,” a coalition spokesman said. He had no information on how close the missile had come to hitting the aircraft, which landed safely at Baghdad International Airport.
Another spokesman said a similar incident occurred last week. “Actually it’s the second incident,” he told Reuters Television. “We had an incident last week where two missiles were fired at a similar aircraft, and in this instance as well no missiles hit the aircrafts.”
He gave no other details. That incident had not been reported earlier.
Airport security is a major concern for the U.S.-led coalition. Baghdad International Airport is home to an estimated 10,000 U.S. soldiers and is used to ferry troops and supplies into the capital. The United Nations and international aid agencies also use the airport in their reconstruction efforts.
Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq, had said he wanted to get commercial air service restarted by mid-July, but the coalition has since backed off that date, citing security concerns.
“We are still working with problems related to security, immigration and customs,” Bremer said Tuesday. “We’re not ready at this time.”
GUERRILLA TACTICS’
At the Pentagon, meanwhile, the head of U.S. Central Command, Gen. John Abizaid, told reporters that it was accurate to describe the resistance as a guerrilla war. “I think describing it as guerrilla tactics being employed against us is, you know, a proper thing to describe in strictly military terms,” he said.
This contrasted with an assessment given by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on June 30 that what U.S. forces were encountering was not “anything like a guerrilla war or an organized resistance.”