6 Marines, scores of Iraqis killed in fierce battle

[floda]

HUSAYBAH, Iraq - (KRT) - Six Marines were killed and scores of insurgent Iraqis slain in a fierce 14-hour battle Saturday between Marines and mujahedeen fighters who slipped into this town near the Syrian border.

According to Marines, an estimated 300 Iraqis from Fallujah and Ramadi launched an assault against the Americans in Husaybah around 8 a.m. local time, beginning with a roadside bombing and a flurry of 24 mortars.

When Marines responded to the bombing, they were met with small-arms and machine-gun fire as they neared a former Baath Party headquarters.

Marines responding to the call for help were mortared and strafed as they made their way into the city. Additional Marines then joined in the fight.


http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/8456408.htm

[bluestateguy]

1. Despicable

Had we been listened to last year, these people would still be alive today.

[Voltaire99]

19. Exactly. The peace movement has been fully vindicated.

And I am sorry that it is so.

Yet 70% of the American public wanted this war. And despite sizable shifts in the numbers, nearly half the public thinks it's perfectly acceptable for young men and Iraqi civilians to be dying!

Let us dwell on that sour fact. And figure out some way to change it.

[expatriot]

2. That is at least 10 today...

I was about to post this myself, but was making sure it hadn't been posted yet... there seems to be 3 KIA in suburb east of Baghdad, and at least 1 killed by roadside bombs.

[Frederic Bastiat]

31. And 699 since the war started! n/t

[stopbush]

3. At the rate US forces are being killed,

bush will need to fast-track his next vacation...maybe move it up a few weeks.

[wtmusic]

4. welcome to DU floda

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[RoyGBiv]

5. Thanks

I can't currently find this on other news sources I use. I wonder how long it'll take them to pick it up since everyone seems fixated on Gaza and Woodward's book at the moment.

[SidDithers]

33. OT - Great name, btw :)

Sid

[bvar22]

6. This is the first time...

...I have heard the American Press label the Iraqi Resistance as mujahedeen.

[bemildred]

7. How did the Marines get "strafed"?

If we are to believe this story, 300 iraqis snuck a
bit over 200 Km with their equipment and performed a sneak
attack on the Marines there.

[ramapo]

8. Is this a secret?

Six marines dead and not a mention on the CNN website?

[Ilsa]

32. 35 minutes later and my husband still can't find it.

CNN is quite the shill for the * Admin and has become extremely pro-war, IMO, and their online polls are a joke as the results have multiple meanings. I don't like watching them. CNN World News is the only cable news I get on the weekend that's any good. I can't find BBC World on the weekend on TV.

[CabalBuster]

9. Mujahadeen=freedom fighters, Bush would be proud of their love 4 freedom

I wonder about those scores of insurgent iraqis killed, that's code word for civilians

[Neshanic]

10. Just have a tape of Walter Cronkite from 1967 evening news...

and dub in town and number of deaths. I thought the 1960's was a horror decade, never to be repeated. In my wildest nightmares....

[kclown]

13. Me too. The sins of the fathers etc.

I have an 18-yo and a 16-yo son.  I am actively encouraging
both to get out of this crazy country for a while.

[PurityOfEssence]

11. The 700 Club

Sad. Probably won't be there for long...

This is so wrong, and not only that: it isn't working.

[jmcgowanjm]

12. Alright here we go

I've been exploring the Battle of Ar Ramadi/ Al Fallooja.

You know, the one where we lost more USMarines
than any other battle to date in the Colonizing(that's right )
of Iraq.

This could compare with, well, I'm rating it.
Tet and Chosin Reservoir come up on "bad days for
Marines" list. Along w/ Ar Ramadi/Al Fallujah.

The two are linked.

The attack happened nearly simultaneously w/
the Marines being fully engaged at Al Faloojah.

Now:

Report on the Battle of Ar Ramadi/Al Falloojah

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/8440924.htm

[jmcgowanjm]

14. For Echo Company, fighting in Iraq takes a heavy toll

I finally picked this up from Knight Ridder.
Swanson, a photographer with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reported from Ramadi

Lance Cpl. Deshon Oety began to cry.


His Marine battalion had just lost more members - 16 -
than any other single U.S. unit so far in Iraq. Seven members
of his own platoon were now gone, their bunks vacant
before him.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/world/8409474.htm

Now, notice this:

One by one, Marines paced to the front of the hangar and
paused at a makeshift shrine made of a single M-16 draped
with 16 dogs tags, topped by a helmet.

16 USMarines have not been totaled on Centcom's lists.

Echo Company, a 165-man unit of the battalion based at
Camp Pendleton, Calif., now is down by 50 dead or
wounded, mostly since the devastating series of ambushes
on Tuesday.

[jmcgowanjm]

15. We ran out of Money in Al Anbar

Now, compare Saturday's battle w/ what Col. David A.
Teeples, commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry
Regiment did
when he was in charge of Husaybah;
In one of the largest home searches of the war, however,
the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment succeeded with
payoffs.

The regiment rounded up more than 350 guerrillas and
handed out more than $120,000 during 10 days in
November. The work paid off by eliminating attacks for more
than a month along the Syrian border and stopping the influx
of guns and guerrillas.


http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/iraq/military/092003cciraqstop.446ca07f.html.

[alcuno]

16. I think Geraldo is going to have something about 1 or more Marines

killed on the Syrian border. It was in the promo.

[jmcgowanjm]

17. 3 USsoldiers KIA baghdad Saturday

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 17 (UPI) -- Iraqi gunmen reportedly fired rocket propelled grenades at a U.S. patrol in a Baghdad suburb Saturday, killing three soldiers and wounding three others.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040417-082900-7059r.htm

Nine in one day.
Folks, WashDC doesn't care.

Oh, and I saw Kimmit collapse on the podium today/CNN.
Senor immediately said it was the flue.

Kimmitt says Baghdad is not cut off, adding there are many ways to get in and out of the city.

http://www.kctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1792979

[Athame]

18. SLO town?

Welcome to DU, floda. :hi:

San Luis is my home town, though I am now a bit further south. Glad to see ya here.

Ma

Grisly story with a bit too much positive spin, I think. Sounds like one horrible day in Husaybah!

[osaMABUSh]

20. I've seen nothing in the last week on US deaths in Iraq

What's up? Were too many killed in the first 10 days of April that word has gone out to downplay casualties?

I have seen squat on the mainstream web sites. cnn.com msnbc.com etc.

[Qanisqineq]

21. I heard CNN say there were

at least 93 so far this month. That was on Thursday(?) However, I haven't really seen all the usual sites (antiwar.com and lunaville.org, etc) updated much lately. I agree with you, they are downplaying it.

[HereSince1628]

22. another site that records US military fatalities...

http://www.militarycity.com/valor/honor.html

[Qanisqineq]

23. thanks (n/t)

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. And another site that is pretty detailed re casualties.

.
.
.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Details.aspx

Also, check the links at the bottom of my posts.

There's a note that the DoD since April 1st only updates on Fridays.

[Qanisqineq]

25. thanks, I always check that site

but I've noticed it hasn't kept up with what I have been hearing on the news lately. Which isn't much, but last week CNN said at least 93 American troops dead this month... lunaville isn't anywhere near that as I remember.

It's all too confusing. In some ways I feel sick for keeping track, but it keeps things in perspective for me. I'm just happy my husband came home before he was one of them.

[NNN0LHI]

26. You are right. They don't report them anymore n/t

[Sticky]

27. Another good site

for following the facts.

http://dailywarnews.blogspot.com/

[flamingpie2500]

28. Thank You

[flamingpie2500]

29. Fox news is just reporting the 3 in baghdad, and 1 roadside bomb.

Nothing on this story yet--they'll probably get to that one tomorrow! How frustrating!

[Qanisqineq]

30. yeah, CNN was reporting one in Baghdad

and MSNBC the 5 marines... guess you have to watch all the news channels to get the real total. :shrug:

[jmcgowanjm]

34. Notice the "5" when it was "6" in Husaybah

Notice the "12" when it was "16" in Ar Ramadi.

Notice the "1" when it was "3" in Baghdad.

[Sticky]

35. CNN just reported the 8 on tv

,,,,guess the Whitehouse gave them the okay.