Non-Fatal Strikes in Iraq Rattle GIs but Go Uncounted

[Karmadillo]

Note: I used the second half of the headline as it seemed to better reflect the content of the article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28712-2003Jul8.html?nav=hptop_tb

BAGHDAD, July 8 -- The combat engineers inside the tan Humvees had traversed the Wedding Island Bridge dozens of times to fetch their translator. It was a routine trip, soldiers in the unit said. Cross the narrow bridge. Pick him up. Drive back over the bridge to complete their assignment for the day.

But today, as they headed onto the bridge at 9:10 a.m., the lead Humvee encountered what has become another routine for U.S. forces in this simmering city. A bone-rattling explosion punched the vehicle several feet into the air and spewed an orange fireball and a cloud of black smoke.

The Humvee fell back to the bridge, its left wheels touching down and bouncing back up before the right side, propelled higher by the blast, smashed into the ground. Shrapnel and flying asphalt shattered the windshield and dented the vehicle's body.

After the Humvee stopped, the driver appeared to pause for a split second before restarting the engine and flooring the accelerator, swerving to the left and right as he sped off the bridge and veered onto a connecting road.

The explosion, which military investigators say they believe was caused by a land mine planted on the side of the bridge, was witnessed by a Washington Post correspondent who was less than 30 yards away, driving onto the bridge and toward the Humvee. Although none of the Humvee's occupants was killed, the incident illustrated how resistance attacks have become an everyday occurrence for U.S. forces in Iraq.

more...

[priller]

1. Good thing to keep in mind

Far more troops are being injured and returned home than are being killed. I wish they had some kind of statistics on the injured and incapacitated, but it wouldn't surprised me if it was 5-10 injured for each killed. Or even more. Shrub is claiming we don't need more soldiers, what doesn't go reported is we're *losing* many soldiers every day.

[pfitz59]

2. Stupid soldiers.......

#1 rule: Vary routine.

[MountainLaurel]

3. You have to wonder

If this article wouldn't have been written had a Postie not been 30 yards away from the explosion. Did it not occur to the correspondents to check out injury figures before that point?

[northzax]

4. this article brought to you by

the good people at the HumVee corporation, who remind you that if Hummers can survive land mines, think of what they'll do to the pot holes when you have to make an escape from an unsavouy neighborhood.

[Greyskye]

5. Has anyone heard about this before?

This sentence from the article stuck out:

"He said the fatal, point-blank shooting of a soldier on Sunday at Baghdad University was the eighth incident that involved a shot to the neck area, above the soldier's flak jacket but below the helmet."

(emphasis mine)
Sounds pretty organized to me...

[ZenLefty]

6. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=4117&mesg_id=4117&listing_type=search