So Just How and Where Did Those 8 Marines Die on Saturday?

[leftchick]

This original story sounds like they were trying to enter Fallujah and came under attack. The link is gone for this story...

<snip>
The U.S. military said nine Marines were also wounded in the fighting in Anbar province west of the capital which includes the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. The statement gave no further on how or where they were killed.


The deaths came as U.S. forces are gearing up for a major assault on Fallujah, seen as the toughest bastion of Sunni Muslim guerrillas, ahead of crucial elections due by Jan. 31.


Fierce clashes erupted Saturday in Fallujah as an American military convoy entered the southeastern industrial Shuhada neighborhood and nearby Nueimiya village — an apparent probing foray on the city's edges. Explosions and gunfire rocked the area and smoke was seen billowing in the air, witnesses said.


Marines responded with heavy artillery fire after insurgents shot mortar shells from positions in the southeast of the city. About 4 p.m. a Marine Harrier jet bombed a mortar position inside Fallujah and strafed it with machine-gun fire, "neutralizing the target and any threat," said Marine spokesman 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert

...Now the New story today seems to imply they were not in Fallujah but 'south of Baghdad' and it was a car bombing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A12454-2004Oct30?language=printer

<snip>

Eight of the Marine deaths and the nine injuries occurred when a car bomb detonated next to a truck southwest of Baghdad, Maj. Clark Watson of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force told the Associated Press. The attack took place in Anbar province, which extends west from the capital to the borders of Syria and Jordan. A ninth Marine was also killed Saturday, officials, who gave no other details, said.


Anbar province includes the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, against which U.S. forces are preparing a major offensive. On Saturday, they unleashed an artillery barrage and an airstrike on targets in the city. U.S. military patrols elsewhere in Anbar are frequently ambushed by roadside bombs and, increasingly, cars laden with explosives.

.... Seems to be some story sanitizing again from Iraq.

[vinnievin777]

1. I heard only about that breifly

You would think that it would be a bigger story.

Vinnie Vin
http://www.vinnievin.com

[GaryL]

2. Chimpy's number seem to go up when the US attacks.

So time to start a major incursion into Fallujah. The press doesn't seem to be biting but they been ignoring deaths in Iraq for some time. Get the word out chimpster is wagging the dog and also let people know they're actually HAPPY OBL poked his head up again.

[leftchick]

3. "probing foray"!!!

It looks to me like the US started the advance into Fallujah and it went FUBAR fast so they rewrote history.

[catmandu57]

4. They don't know which version

to put out, more than likely it was some kind of probing mission. I can't see how a convoy of well armed Marines would let a car bomber close enough to do that much damage.
I would bet that there are traps set all around Fallujah, made with the missing explosives.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

5. Here is what I think went down - and why they are trying to distort ...

Ok, we have the first report that says a convoy was attacked while entering Fallujah with "explosions and gunfire" rocking the area, and we have second report which says the truck that was carrying the 8 dead marines was destroyed by a car bomb that detonated next to it. Note the second article says the truck was in Anbar province which contains Fallujah, while the first article says the convoy was on the OUTSKIRTS of Fallujah at Nueimiya village.

Now lets piece the two stories together and what do we get?

A convoy, including a truck that contained a number of US marines, was in a village on the outskirts of Fallujah - technically not actually in Fallujah, and thus could be said to be in the Anbar province. The convoy is struck by a coordinated attack that includes the use of a large car bomb - which destroys the truck carrying the marines - and gunfire from unmentioned Iraq resistence fighters.

Now why would the Bush cabal want to confuse the story of this attack? Consider that this attack comes immediately AFTER the Al Qaqaa explosives story, and immediately BEFORE the soon to be attack on Fallujah.

Piecing those two stories together could lead to some rather disturbing thoughts, such as what if a significant portion of those explosives from Al Qaqaa are now sitting in "booby traps" such as cars, drains etc - just waiting to be command detonated as US troops move in?

In fact what if only one tenth of the explosives was being used in this manner? It would mean that there could be 30 odd TONS of extremely high explosives waiting for unprotected troops and even tanks and amoured personel carriers.

The attack on Fallujah could very well be a blood bath like nothing the US has seen since WW2.

On edit:

Just to give you an idea of what 30 tons of RDX would be capable of doing have a look at this:



This damage was cause by a ONE TON fertiliser bomb - far weaker than RDX or HMX. This was the bomb the IRA detonated in London in 1993. Here is a better description of the damage:

The explosion shook buildings and shattered hundreds of windows, sending glass showering down into the streets below. A mediaeval church, St Ethelburga's, collapsed; another church and Liverpool Street underground station were also wrecked.

The cost of repairing the damage has been estimated at more than £1bn.

Police had received coded warnings, but were still evacuating the area when the bomb went off. Most of those injured were security guards, builders and maintenance staff, and those who had come into their offices to work at the weekend.

Police said the bomb was hidden in the back of a dark blue tipper truck, parked in Bishopsgate.

It was home-made, with about a ton of fertiliser - similar to the bomb which devastated the Baltic Exchange a year ago, killing three people.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/24/newsid_2523000/2523345.stm

Now imagine what damage could be cause by 30 TONS of RDX or HMX?

[leftchick]

6. Sounds very plausible to me Devils Advocate NZ...

and absolutely horrifying! I say let's bring the troops home now and let the Resistance keep Fallujah and anything else they want.


:(

[Devils Advocate NZ]

7. Have another look at my first post - I added some info...

It shows what a one ton fertiliser bomb can do in a built up area which can give us and idea of what 30 tons could do in Fallujah.

[leftchick]

8. frightening beyond words....

and you know what is sad? I would be willing to bet most of the Marines who have been around Fallujah for the last month have no idea what is going to happen. I am willing to bet the story of missing explosives has not made it to them.

[leftchick]

9. Add some Chemical weapons to the Mix!!

Rebels vow to use chemical weapons

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page