12 Marines killed in new fighting

[Sparrowhawk]

International News

NBC News: 12 Marines killed in new fighting
U.S. and allied troops battling militants in five Iraqi cities




Patrick Baz / AFP-Getty Images
A U.S. missile hit a vehicle in Sadr City, a Baghdad suburb that saw clashes between U.S. troops and supporters of a radical Shiite cleric.
April 6: Christian Science Monitor reporter Dan Murphy, who is in Iraq, describes the scene in Ramadi in an interview with MSNBC’s Lester Holt.
MSNBC



NBC News and news services
Updated: 6:21 p.m. ET April 06, 2004Fighting between U.S. forces and Iraqi militants spread to at least five cities Tuesday, leaving as many as 12 U.S. Marines dead and 20 others wounded in a particularly fierce firefight, U.S. military officials told NBC News.

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The casualties were reported in a heavy clash Tuesday night at an Iraqi government compound in Ramadi, near the Sunni Muslim hotbed of Fallujah west of Baghdad, the officials told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski in Washington.

A senior defense official confirmed the report, telling The Associated Press that reports from the field said dozens of Iraqis attacked a Marine position near the governor’s palace in Ramadi.

Heavy casualties were inflicted on the insurgents as well, U.S. officials said. No other details were immediately available, including who the attackers were.

Anti-U.S. militant factions also launched strikes directly on the headquarters of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority in Ramadi and in Kut, southeast of Baghdad, military officials told NBC News. It was not immediately clear whether the attacks were coordinated.

In all, 66 Iraqis, 13 Americans and a Ukrainian soldier died Tuesday, officials said, bringing the three-day total to more than 130 Iraqis and more than 30 coalition troops killed in the worst fighting since the war that toppled President Saddam Hussein.

Battles on two fronts
Sunni Muslim insurgents and Shiite Muslims loyal to a militant cleric challenged U.S.-led forces on two fronts Tuesday, mounting battles across four southern Iraqi cities and taking on U.S. Marines in Fallujah, where several columns backed by tanks met heavy fire as they tried to move in.


Defense officials said that opposition forces in Fallujah had suffered “significant casualties” and that several suspects identified only as “high-value targets” had been taken into custody.

In the south, supporters of the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, rose up again Tuesday, killing 30 Iraqis and a Ukrainian soldier and wounding at least 18 coalition troops.

Al-Sadr issued a statement saying he had left the mosque in Kufa that he had been holed up in and denouncing President Bush as “the father of evil.”

An aide later told reporters that al-Sadr had moved to nearby Najaf and that the uprising would continue until coalition troops were withdrawn from populated areas and prisoners were released.



Dozens of heavily armed militiamen were outside al-Sadr’s office in a small alley near Shiism’s holiest site, the golden-domed shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf. The black-garbed gunmen, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, crowded the narrow alley and roamed nearby streets.

There was no way to confirm reports that al-Sadr was inside.

A move from Kufa to Najaf would be unexpected. Al-Sadr is widely unpopular in Najaf, where most Shiites support older, more moderate clerics. By contrast, his al-Mahdi Army has been in virtual control of Kufa since Sunday, holding the police station and patrolling the streets.

Fallujah surrounded
The confrontation with al-Sadr — whose militia waged fierce battles with coalition troops Sunday — and the offensive against Fallujah appeared to represent a tougher approach by U.S. forces ahead of the planned handover of power to an Iraqi government on June 30.

Hundreds of Marines and Iraqi troops began ringing the city this week. As Marines moved in Tuesday night, tank guns and grenade launchers were used to eliminate rooftop sniping positions, and at least three houses were demolished in the process. Two Marines reportedly were wounded when they were fired upon.




The military reported that four Marines were killed by hostile fire in the area Monday, bringing to five the number of Marines killed in one day. The military gave no details on the deaths, saying only that they took place in Anbar province, where Fallujah is located.

In the Khazimiya district of northern Baghdad, a U.S. soldier died after his Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a grenade Tuesday. Two other U.S. soldiers were killed Monday when they came under attack by rocket-propelled grenade fire in separate incidents. The names of the three soldiers, all of them members of the 1st Armored Division, were not released.

The deaths in the past two days brought to at least 626 the number of Americans killed in Iraq since the war began.

A U.S. official in Washington said on condition of anonymity that all U.S. officials in Iraq, including those working for the provisional authority, had been told to remain inside their compounds since Monday because of security worries.

Related story
Al-Qaida purportedly vows more attacks in Iraq





Second front against al-Sadr
The offensive against Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad, comes as the United States is taking a tougher approach against al-Sadr, who has long spoken out against the U.S. occupation and has built up his al-Mahdi Army, although he has not called for anti-U.S. violence in the past.

Fighting was reported in at least four other cities, all of them in the south:

In Nasiriyah, supporters of al-Sadr clashed Tuesday with Italian soldiers, leaving 15 Iraqis dead and 35 wounded, an Italian news agency reported. A dozen Italian soldiers reportedly were wounded.
In Amarah, where British troops are responsible for security, fighting overnight killed 15 Iraqis and wounded eight others, a coalition spokesman said.
In Kut, a Ukrainian soldier was killed and six others were wounded. Ukraine has about 1,650 troops in Iraq, the third-largest contingent among countries that did not take part in last year’s major combat operations.
South of Karbala, Polish soldiers wounded two militiamen, a local government official said.
U.S. administrators declared al-Sadr an “outlaw” Monday and announced a warrant for his arrest, suggesting they would move to arrest him soon.

Al-Sadr launched a wave of protests over the arrest of a top aide last week, sparking gunbattles Sunday between his militiamen and coalition troops in Baghdad and near Najaf that killed at least 52 Iraqis and nine coalition troops, including eight Americans.

The showdown with al-Sadr threatens to heighten tensions between the U.S. occupation and Iraq’s Shiite majority, who have largely avoided anti-U.S. violence — although al-Sadr’s popularity among Shiites is limited. U.S. officials appear to be counting on Shiites to shun al-Sadr, who is seen by many in his community as too young and fiery to lead.

Al-Sadr’s main support is among young seminary students and impoverished Shiites, who are devoted to him because of his anti-U.S. stance and the memory of his father, a religious leader who was gunned down by suspected agents of Saddam in 1999.

The arrest warrant charges al-Sadr with involvement in the murder of a rival cleric who was stabbed to death in April 2003 by a mob in a Shiite shrine in Najaf soon after Saddam’s fall.

Washingtonpost.com
Young cleric inspires uprising





Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said military commanders would get more troops to quell violence before the June 30 handover date if they requested them. A senior officer in Washington said U.S. military commanders had begun studying ways they might raise the troop level in Iraq should violence spread much more widely.

Generals believe they have enough forces to handle the attacks, including the Shiite militia violence, but want to know what is available if the situation gets worse, said the officer, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

[lippoldmj]

this is insane. we need to bomb the whole sunni triangle! screw Iraq!

[d c taveapont]

I was out posting delinquent notices for water bills, and i heard on the radio s,hannity telling some one the iraqis are happy that they are free from saddam, will they sure don't seem like it now do they?, as far as the weapons of mass destruction, who supplied them with it, we did, who helped put him in power we did, geez, we keep stepping in our own crap, what i don't get is why? are we losing good men and women fighting a war about weapons that we supplied to him, we won now let them rebuild on their own, as far as the terrorist, they are all over the country, and our own laws protect them because until they break the law they can't be touched, as far as them being in cells they don't know each other, in case they get caught,,,,

[SheWolf]

well,, all I know is I am worried about my son,, cuz I think that's where he's at,,,,

[sgt.lane]

Hang in there sheWolf.....

[d c taveapont]

SheWolf: think positive thoughts and every thing well be fine, he has good men around him,

[namgrunt]

SheWolf:

I've got your son's six covered by prayers, to the best of my capability to pray. He and all my younger brothers are in my thought and prayers these days. In the midst of the danger, remember he is surrounded by brothers who look after him. Hang tough, Sarge.

If I wasn't an old crippled knucklehead, I'd be trying to get back in to go and help out. Even standing guard with a Ma Duece on a wall would be a help to our men. We Michiganians have to stand together, don'cha know.

Semper Fi!

P.S.: I haven't gotten to try Kimchee yet.

[USMC-FO]

Hang tough "She Wolf" we know this is a difficult time for every parent who has a son or daughter in Iraq. You and the Marines in the sand at this moment have all our support and are in our thoughts every day !

Semper Fi is forever....

[thedrifter]

U.S. Hits Fallujah Mosque; 40 Said Killed
12 minutes ago

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S. Marines in a fierce battle for this Sunni Muslim stronghold fired rockets that hit a mosque filled with people Wednesday, and witnesses said as many as 40 people were killed.


The fighting in Fallujah and neighboring Ramadi, where commanders confirmed 12 Marines were killed late Tuesday, was part of an intensified and spreading uprising involving both Sunni and Shiites stretching from Kirkuk in the north to near Basra in the south.


An Associated Press reporter in Fallujah saw cars ferrying the bodies from the mosque, which witnesses said had been hit by three missiles. There was no immediate confirmation of casualties.


Until the mosque attack, reports had at least 30 Americans and more than 150 Iraqis dead in fighting for the two cities.


Anti-American violence intensified and spread to cities in northern Iraq (news - web sites) on Wednesday as a U.S. helicopter went down and a Marine commander confirmed 12 of his men had been killed in fighting west of Baghdad.


Scores of Iraqis also have been wounded, as mosques called for a holy war against Americans and women carried guns in the streets.


American and allied forces fought both Sunni and Shiite Muslim militants nationwide in a continuation of the heaviest fighting since Baghdad fell to U.S. troops a year ago this week.


Marines fought for control in the Sunni Triangle cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, and soldiers battled Shiite militiamen in cities stretching from near Kirkuk in the largely Kurdish north to holy cities in the Shiite heartland to the south of Baghdad.


U.S. Marines have vowed to pacify the violent towns of Ramadi and Fallujah that had been a center of the guerrilla insurgency seeking to oust the U.S.-led occupation force. The 12 dead Marines were killed Tuesday in Ramadi, where Maj. Gen. James Mattis, 1st Marine Division commander, said his forces still were fighting insurgents that included Syrian mercenaries along a one-mile front.


Sixteen children and eight women were reported killed when warplanes struck four houses late Tuesday, said Hatem Samir, a Fallujah Hospital official.


A U.S. helicopter crashed in Baqouba, 30 miles north of Baghdad, as American soldiers fought militiamen of fiery anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose forces have been responsible for much of the violence outside of Ramadi and Fallujah. There was no word on casualties in the crash in a residential neighborhood, which was witnessed by Associated Press photographer Mohammed Adnan.


Ukrainian-led forces and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army clashed in the city of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, overnight, and at least 12 Iraqis were reported killed and 20 wounded, hospital officials said. Witnesses reported the gunmen killed a British civilian working for a foreign security company in the city.


The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said its troops were forced to evacuate Kut early Wednesday after al-Sadr forces hit the position with mortar fire throughout the night.


"There were no Ukrainian casualties, but several dozen militants were killed," said Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Andriy Lysenko.


In a significant expansion of the fighting, Iraqis protesting in solidarity with Fallujah residents clashed with U.S. troops in the northern town of Hawijah, near Kirkuk. Eight Iraqis were killed, and 10 Iraqis and four Americans were wounded, police said.


In Baghdad, a top American general said the United States would press the offensive.


"The coalition and Iraqi security forces will continue deliberate, precise and powerful offensive operations to destroy the al-Mahdi Army throughout Iraq," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. military's deputy head of operations, told reporters in Baghdad.





He called for the surrender of al-Sadr, who is named in an arrest warrant for involvement in the murder of a rival Shiite cleric almost a year ago. "If he wants to calm the situation ... he can turn himself in to a local Iraqi police station and he can face justice," Kimmitt said.

Despite the call, there was no sign al-Sadr's forces had eased their attacks:

_ Shooting was heard as his militiamen took the streets of Baqouba and blasted the governor's office with rocket-propelled grenades.

_ Militiamen battled Spanish soldiers in Najaf, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi taxi driver was killed in the crossfire, a hospital official said.

_ Clashes erupted overnight in Baghdad's Sadr City, killing four Iraqis and wounding seven others, doctors said.

_ Militiamen traded fire with Polish troops in Karbala overnight, killing two Iranian tourists, witnesses said.

_ Gunmen attacked a police car Tuesday night in Youssifiya, south of Baghdad, killing two policemen.

Al-Sadr had urged Iraqis to rise up against the U.S. occupation and vowed to die rather than be captured by U.S. forces. "America has shown its evil intentions, and the proud Iraqi people cannot accept it," he said in a statement. "They must defend their rights by any means they see fit."

The fighting that has killed 12 Marines began at the start of the week when they surrounded Fallujah, promising to capture or kill those responsible for the brutal slayings and mutilations of four American civilian whose bodies were hung from a Euphrates River bridge last week.

On Tuesday, however, insurgents opened a new front with a bloody attack on Marines in the nearby town of Ramadi.

Gunmen hiding in Ramadi's main cemetery opened fire on U.S. patrols, sparking a gunbattle in alleys and near the governor's palace, witnesses said, adding that at least two Iraqis were killed.

Signs were emerging of growing sympathy between Sunni Muslim insurgents and al-Sadr's Shiite movement. In mainly Sunni Ramadi, portraits of al-Sadr were posted on government buildings, schools and mosques, along with graffiti praising him for his "heroic deeds" and "valiant uprising against the occupier."

Iraq's Shiite majority has largely avoided anti-U.S. violence, shunning al-Sadr's virulent anti-U.S. rhetoric as well as the insurgency led by Sunnis in central Iraq. U.S. officials have expressed concern that al-Sadr could start cooperating with the Sunni guerrillas.

With fighting intensifying ahead of the June 30 handover of power to an Iraqi government, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said American commanders in Iraq would get additional troops if needed. None has asked so far, he said.

"They will decide what they need, and they will get what they need," Rumsfeld said.

U.S. authorities launched their offensive against al-Sadr and his militia after a series of weekend uprisings in Baghdad and cities and towns to the south that took a heavy toll in both American and Iraqi lives.

The fight against al-Sadr, who has drawn backing from young and impoverished Shiites with rousing sermons demanding a U.S. withdrawal, sent his black-garbed militiamen against coalition troops Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

With confirmation of the 12 dead Marines, the American death toll since the war was at least 626.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._re_mi_ea/iraq

Ellie

[usmcsupermom]

She Wolf
You and your son are in my prayers. Althought my son is no longer over there, I feel like all Marines
are my sons. Hang in there and if you need another Mom's support I'm always here

Brenda

[Sparrowhawk]

is that the news we are getting is being glorified by a liberal press.

My daughter just returned from London and she said the news there is much more supportive of the US then what is being reported here.

They look on us and often print it in the news that they enjoy a strong friendship with America.


What we see in the news that seems to make it look like the whole country side is against us is but small units and groups of gangsters and criminals trying to become war lords over certain sections of Iraq.

The majority of the Iraqi population are glad to be free of Saddam and others that restrict and are now trying to control their freedom.


What makes it worst is that passive wannabe John Kerry trying to act presidential tells the press that we shouldn't go after al-Sadr, but try to work with him.

The liberial press loves that, and so it fuels the need to show selective shots of uprising in the streets.

This week over 40,000 business people from around the world gathered in Bagdad for a conference to spearhead the reconstruction and building up of Iraq. Where was that reported? Only as a single sentence in the Wall Street Journal.

[yellowwing]

Oh come on! We have a republican Administration and Congress. Does the press run the country?

[ivalis]

there's a warrant out on Al Sadr for a year, some dipstick decides to enforce it a week after they close his newspaper.

now the Suni's are wearing shirts w/ Al Sadr's (a shia) picture on it.

who's in charge of this chicken outfit?

[stalkmaster]

I know I can only speak from own experiences but we all should
know that we have a liberal press in our country, I for one can
remember all the BS I read upon returning from overseas back
in the fall of 83 that was as far from the real reality at least from
what I remember, But that is what we are all about in this Country isn't it? Iam as hardcore Jarhead as the next guy but even the liberal press is better than state run press....... As for Al-Sadr he is nothing but a punk common criminal hiding behind religion and I have a 7.62 LC Match round with his initials on it..


Semper Fi

[Sparrowhawk]

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
April 7, 2004 1:14 p.m.

NEW YORK -- Two U.S. journalists were kidnapped south of Baghdad by a mob believed to be connected to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr , MSNBC reported Wednesday, citing unidentified Pentagon sources.

The journalists - a newspaper reporter and a photographer - were weeded out from a larger group of eight to 10 people who were traveling in two separate vehicles, the report said.

The remaining people in the group were told by the kidnappers that the two journalists were taken specifically because they were Americans, MSNBC reported.

The photojournalist that had been detained later was identified as Lynsey Addario, on free-lance assignment for the Times, according to a spokesman for Corbis, a Seattle, Wash.-based agency representing her.