The Grim Reaper Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post
Tuesday 19 April 2005
Marines recount dramatic assault at base near Syria.
Qaim, Iraq -- Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Butler shook himself from
the rubble of a suicide truck bombing. He staggered to the ledge of
his three-story guard tower and stared into a cloud of white smoke.
Butler, 21, of Altoona, Pa., was temporarily deafened by the
blast, but he recalled what came next with cinematic clarity. The
white smoke parted to reveal a clean red fire engine. It sped past a
mural bidding travelers "Goodbye From Free Iraq" and hurtled directly
toward Butler, who shot at the fire engine until it exploded about 40
yards away from him.
This true-life nightmare occurred last Monday. The attack on this
remote Marine outpost abutting the Syrian border caused only minor
injuries, but it signaled a dramatic change in the methods of the
insurgents, who have staged mostly guerrilla-style hit-and-run attacks
against the U.S. military for two years.
In interviews and in after-action reports, Marines who
successfully defended the base that morning described a sophisticated
assault that involved 50-100 insurgents.
The insurgents distracted Marine guards with well-aimed mortars
and rocket-propelled grenades, then launched three successive suicide
bombing strikes in an attempt to blow up the base and overrun it. The
fire engine had both a driver and a spotter, a bullet-proof windshield
and was packed with dozens of propane tanks filled with explosives.
The blast rained jagged red shrapnel for over a minute and unhinged
doors and cracked the foundation of buildings well inside the Marine
base.
The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable
insurgency," said Maj. John Reed, executive officer for the 3rd
Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, which commands U.S. troops here. "It
showed its ability to mass a very complex attack very quickly."
The attack, along with a similar assault on April 2 against the
U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in which 44 American soldiers were wounded,
presents a new challenge for the U.S. military, which is seeking to
wear down the insurgency before transferring security responsibilities
to U.S.-trained Iraqi forces. American commanders have expressed
optimism that the insurgents, while far from defeated, have been
significantly degraded as a fighting force; they said attacks have
been less frequent and less effective since Iraq's Jan. 30 elections.
The number of attacks each day in cities such as Baghdad and Mosul
has dropped by as much as 50 percent. Until recently, those attacks
had largely been with roadside bombs and suicide car bombs aimed at
platoons of U.S. military vehicles that conduct hundreds of patrols
each day.
U.S. commanders said they interpreted the attack here as a
desperate attempt by insurgents to reenergize the conflict. "I think
they're losing, so they're looking at the big attacks to gain some
momentum back," said Marine Capt. Frank Diorio, commander of India
Company at Camp Gannon, the Marine base near the city of Qaim on the
border with Syria. "I give them credit it for it; they're looking for
a big score. We're going to see this a lot more. But now we know so we
can address it." Opening Salvo
The battle here began around 8:15 a.m., shortly after India
Company's 2nd Platoon set up for guard duty on the base's eastern
perimeter. Four mortar rounds overshot the base and landed about 300
yards inside Syrian territory, said Cpl. Roy Mitros, the senior Marine
on guard, who climbed into a tower to register where they landed.
Inside Post 8, a bunker on the southeast corner of the base, Lance
Cpl. Joe Lampe, 22, of Lacey Township, N.J., and Cpl. Anthony Fink,
21, of Columbus, Ohio, began to receive reports that other guard
positions were taking sporadic fire. Then, at 8:25 a.m., a
rocket-propelled grenade slammed into their bunker.
Lampe and Fink were unharmed, but the bunker filled with dust from
dozens of protective sandbags. "You couldn't see like an inch in front
of us," Lampe said. "It's like it just went 'whoof,' and then it was
just dust collapsing all around us."
Moments later, Lance Cpl. Diego Naranja, 22, of the New York City
borough of Queens, radioed from a guard tower just north of Post 8
that he had spotted a white dump truck moving north on a one-lane road
the U.S. military calls West End. "But as soon as he called it in, it
was like, Blam!," Lampe said "That's when we got hit by another blast.
That one knocked us to the ground."
Fink said he was convinced that the insurgents concentrated fire
on Post 8 as a diversion. "There's no doubt in my mind," he said.
"They knew that was the closest post to them. If they could keep us
down, then they could pull the [explosives-laden vehicles] out onto
the road." Naranja said he managed to shoot several rounds at the dump
truck but it soon disappeared.
The dump truck reached a fork, then turned west. It traveled
beneath four concrete arches and sped toward the base, located next to
the border crossing. The U.S. military closed the border for security
reasons before the January elections and has not reopened it. The area
is now a ghost town of abandoned customs and insurance houses and a
30-foot concrete mural painted with the Iraqi flag.
The dump truck headed directly toward Butler, who was standing
guard under camouflage netting in Tower 2. Butler opened fire, and the
truck veered left, ramming a cluster of trucks the Marines had wired
together to block access to the base entrance. The dump truck then
exploded, sending Butler flying into the tower's ledge as concrete
debris rained on him. Phantom Firetruck
Camp Gannon was now under full-scale attack. Mortars and rockets
pelted the base from the south and east as most of the Marines, still
in bed, scrambled toward the safety of bunkers.
About 45 seconds after the dump truck exploded, its purpose became
clear: It was to serve as a battering ram to clear the base entrance
for the fire engine.
The firetruck had become something of phantom for India Company.
The Marines had heard that insurgents might use one as a suicide bomb.
For two months, they had been warned by commanders to be on the
lookout for a firetruck, but it had never been seen and some Marines
had concluded it wasn't real.
Now, the fire engine was roaring north along the West End. "When I
seen it, my heart stopped," said Lance Cpl. Sebastian Lankiewicz, 20,
also of Queens. "It was like I was looking at the Grim Reaper himself
coming down freakin' West End."
The fire engine followed the same route the dump truck had taken,
turning left at the fork, going beneath the arches and roaring toward
the entrance to the base. Butler, who had staggered to his feet, could
hear it before he could see it, the whining diesel engine getting
louder behind a cloud of smoke.
"It was like a movie," he said. "It reminded me of 'Lethal
Weapon.' The smoke was all there and then he just rolled through it,
just like in the movie." Smoke "just rolled off the windows. I
couldn't believe what was happening."
Suddenly it was upon him, and Butler could see inside the vehicle.
"It had two individuals in it," he said. "They were dressed in all
black, and their faces were veiled and covered. I could see the slits
of their eyes."
Butler fired approximately 100 rounds at the firetruck. Like the
dump truck, it turned left just before reaching the entrance. Butler
said he thought the driver was either distracted by the withering fire
or was unable to locate the entrance.
The sound of the explosion was "really unexplainable, just the
noise and the violence about it," said Diorio, the company commander.
Although the fire engine had failed to penetrate the entrance, "they
were basically inside our perimeter," he said. The blast was so loud,
Diorio feared the worst.
Slowly the reports began to filter in over the platoon network.
"Second platoon all accounted for."
"Third platoon all accounted for."
"Fourth platoon all accounted for."
"Thank you, Lord," Diorio whispered to himself.
"They were definitely close enough to cause a lot of damage," he
said. "It was where they detonated it: It was a miracle. If I had to
pick a place for them to detonate a firetruck full of explosives, if I
had to pick one, I would have picked that place." 'Welcome to Iraq'
The vehicle exploded near the "Welcome to Iraq" mural, which
absorbed some of the blast. So did a huge corrugated metal overhang
that had provided shade for vehicles waiting in line at the border. It
was obliterated, along with a low-slung blue-and-white building that
also took some of the blast.
Only three Marines were wounded, none seriously. A piece of
shrapnel pierced Butler's plastic goggles but did not penetrate the
helmet they were attached to.
First Sgt. Don Brazeal, 39, of Riviera Beach, Md., was inside the
company command post when the firetruck exploded. He had also feared
the worst and rushed out to the base perimeter. "It's kind of a
parental instinct that took over," he said. "A lot of these guys are
young enough to be my sons. Right away I had a mental picture that my
kids were not in a good way."
Brazeal arrived at Post 8 to find Fink firing at about a dozen
insurgents. They were shielded by a wall on the other side of the
road.
Brazeal grabbed a rocket launcher and climbed atop a dirt barrier,
exposing himself to enemy fire. He fired the rocket at the wall. Fink
then did the same. Then the shooting stopped, they said.
For nearly an hour, mortars and RPGs -- Marines estimated as many
as 30 -- pelted the base. The unit summoned F-18 fighter jets and
Cobra helicopter gunships; the Cobras fired machine guns and Hellfire
missiles at what an after-action report described as vehicles
transporting weapons. The small-arms fire around the base subsided at
9:30 a.m. but continued sporadically for nearly 10 hours.
The Marines said 19 insurgents were killed and 15 were wounded
during 24 hours of fighting. An unknown number of civilians were also
reported killed.
This week, the city remained tense. The Marines, surrounded by
neighborhoods of hostile residents to the south and east and the
Syrian border to the north, believed they had scored a decisive
victory, tempered only by the realization that they faced an adversary
perhaps more sophisticated than they had known.
"These guys knew what they were doing," said Lt. Ronnie Choe, 25,
of Los Angeles, the battalion's assistant intelligence officer. "These
weren't just random guys who decided, `Hey let's do something.' "
.
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| User: "Absolute Zero" |
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| Title: Re: The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable insurgency," |
21 Apr 2005 07:50:59 AM |
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wrote:
The Grim Reaper Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post
Tuesday 19 April 2005
but..but..
==>
Sandy, stop making an ***** out of yourself with your clueless posts, I
suggest you catch up on the news, which has been showing that attacks
against US forces are down over 50% since the Iraqi elections.
<==
Have YOU caught up on the news lately?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21455470.htm
"The attack comes amid a surge in guerrilla activity over the past two
weeks, with more than 20 car bombings in Baghdad and an increase in
ambushes, shootings and assassinations."
Not to mention:
50 bodies fished out of river...
Helicopter down, 9 dead
Assassination attempt on PM
-A
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable insurgency," |
21 Apr 2005 09:26:52 AM |
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Amy the Clueless One wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
The Grim Reaper Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post
Tuesday 19 April 2005
but..but..
==>
Sandy, stop making an ***** out of yourself with your clueless posts, I
suggest you catch up on the news, which has been showing that attacks
against US forces are down over 50% since the Iraqi elections.
<==
Yep, and it remains the case.
Have YOU caught up on the news lately?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21455470.htm
"The attack comes amid a surge in guerrilla activity over the past two
weeks, with more than 20 car bombings in Baghdad and an increase in
ambushes, shootings and assassinations."
Not against US forces, you boob.
Not to mention:
50 bodies fished out of river...
Helicopter down, 9 dead
Assassination attempt on PM
-A
Again, not on US forces.
Tony
.
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| User: "Perseid" |
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| Title: Re: The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable insurgency," |
22 Apr 2005 12:10:43 AM |
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Spat the Words
Amy the Clueless One wrote:
wrote:
The Grim Reaper Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post
Tuesday 19 April 2005
but..but..
==>
Sandy, stop making an ***** out of yourself with your clueless posts, I
suggest you catch up on the news, which has been showing that attacks
against US forces are down over 50% since the Iraqi elections.
<==
Yep, and it remains the case.
Have YOU caught up on the news lately?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21455470.htm
"The attack comes amid a surge in guerrilla activity over the past two
weeks, with more than 20 car bombings in Baghdad and an increase in
ambushes, shootings and assassinations."
Not against US forces, you boob.
Democracy is erupting all over Iraq.
Not to mention:
50 bodies fished out of river...
Helicopter down, 9 dead
Assassination attempt on PM
-A
Again, not on US forces.
Tony
.
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| User: "=?iso-8859-1?B?nJ2fqaqxx7a3uLkgKFRoZXJlIGFyZSBub3cgb25seSAyODAwIGRheXMgdW50aWwgdGhlIGVuZCBvZiB0aGUgTWF5YW4gQ2FsZW5kYXKZIDstKZk=?=" |
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| Title: Re: The attack "demonstrates an extremely mature and capable insurgency," |
22 Apr 2005 12:16:48 AM |
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Perseid wrote:
itwill@happen.com Spat the Words
Amy the Clueless One wrote:
itwill@happen.com wrote:
The Grim Reaper Riding a Firetruck in Iraq
By Steve Fainaru
The Washington Post
Tuesday 19 April 2005
but..but..
==>
Sandy, stop making an ***** out of yourself with your clueless posts,
I
suggest you catch up on the news, which has been showing that
attacks
against US forces are down over 50% since the Iraqi elections.
<==
Yep, and it remains the case.
Have YOU caught up on the news lately?
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21455470.htm
"The attack comes amid a surge in guerrilla activity over the past
two
weeks, with more than 20 car bombings in Baghdad and an increase in
ambushes, shootings and assassinations."
Not against US forces, you boob.
Democracy is erupting all over Iraq.
& "Freedom", Randy !!!
Don't forget "Freedom" !! ;-0 ;-)
Condy's catch cry !!!
HOOROO ;-)
UNCLE WALLY ;-)
================================
Not to mention:
50 bodies fished out of river...
Helicopter down, 9 dead
Assassination attempt on PM
-A
Again, not on US forces.
Tony
.
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