War stories: An al-Qaida financier goes down fighting

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Soldiers from Crazyhorse Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and Iraqi police killed Noman Jawar Deahim, their top high-value target, and another insurgent during a firefight Jan. 16 that lasted more than three hours. The soldiers pictured here took part in the gunbattle. Shown from left are: Spc. Michael Jacobson, 24, of Janesville, Wis.; Sgt. 1st Class Jonathan Mullins, 36, of Charleston, W.Va.; Staff Sgt. Ron Aguilar, 39, of Midland, Texas; Staff Sgt. Gene Spears, 28, of Panama City, Fla.; Pvt. John Barrett, 20, of Manchester, England and Spc. Patrick Modarelli, 25, of Raleigh, N.C.


War stories: An al-Qaida financier goes down fighting
By Drew Brown , Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, February 16, 2008

SHARQAT, Iraq — Noman Jawar Deahim was a hard man to kill.

With just two armed companions, Deahim held off more than 60 U.S. and Iraqi troops in a firefight that lasted more than three hours.

He was killed by Iraqi police, but only after a U.S. helicopter shot a Hellfire missle into the cement block house where he and two other fighters made their last stand during the Jan. 16 gunbattle.

Even at that point, Deahim, badly wounded, managed to shoot one Iraqi policeman dead and wound two others before he and one fighter were killed by a point-blank blast of machine gun fire. The third managed to get away.

A month later, soldiers from Crazyhorse Troop, 1st Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment still speak of Deahim and the two other insurgents with a grudging respect.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52519