In Mosul, Insurgents Have Become Road Warriors

[leftchick]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mosul13mar13,1,2733323.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Instead of packing their vehicles with explosives and detonating them in suicidal attacks, insurgents are more likely to fire on troops as they speed past their patrols and combat outposts.

Soldiers say the insurgents seem to favor Opels, because they have a reputation for being fast. Cars are also becoming insurgents' preferred hiding place for weapons.

"What's happening is, they realize we're finding the weapons they try to bury and hide in warehouses," said Lt. Col. Michael E. Kurilla, commander of the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25th Infantry Division, the Army unit responsible for Mosul's crowded west side.

"What they're doing now is hiding all of their weapons in cars," Kurilla said. "That way they can keep it moving around and out of sight."

Sometimes U.S. soldiers pursue the drive-by shooters in 21-ton Stryker armored vehicles, jumping curbs and barreling down rutted dirt roads.

[Name removed]

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[da_chimperor]

5. Eh, 'dead-enders'?

That term is SO 2 years ago. Do they look dead yet?

[NNN0LHI]

6. Rumsfeld said there were only a few dead enders about 2 years ago n/t

[w4rma]

7. Uninformed. (nt)

[Tempest]

8. Or misinformed

Probably a Faux News viewer.

[Tempest]

9. It's called adapting

You apparently have never been in the military, nor have you ever read The Art of War.

Funny how your "son" or "father" who are in the military never explained this to you.

[bpilgrim]

10. Bring It On!!!

http://images.globalfreepress.com

peace

[leftchick]

11. I thought they were "homicide bombers"

according to Faux. Anyway all that is happening here, as in any resistance to an occupation force, is the fighters are using different methods to see what works better and all. It won't stop until the US is out of there. Which won't happen anytime soon since rummy and the other insane neo-cons are planning a Permanent presence in Iraq. Building bases and towers and all sorts of big new targets for the Iraqis to fixate on. Oh yeah, and more dead soldiers. But rummy doesn't give a shit about that.

For your reading pleasure....http://www.thenation.com/blogs/outrage?pid=2132

While the exact figure may change, suspicions of undisclosed US imperial plans--exemplified by permanent military bases--rightfully linger. Before the war, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz suggested moving US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia into Iraq. In October, a survey by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes found that two-thirds of respondents disapproved of a permanent military presence, even though more than half thought the US would build the bases anyway.

Now comes a report in the New York Sun by Eli Lake revealing that the Pentagon is building a permanent military communications system in Iraq, a necessary foundation for any lasting troop presence. The new network will comprise twelve communications towers throughout Iraq, linking Camp Victory in Baghdad to other existing (and future) bases across the country, eventually connecting with US bases in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan.

"People need to get realistic and think in terms of our presence being in Iraq for a generation or until democratic stability in the region is reached," Dewey Clarridge, the CIA's former chief of Arab operations (and Iran-contra point man), told the Sun.

The fabled "exit strategy" may be not to exit. Thomas Donnelly, a defense specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, said the new communication system resembles those built in West Germany and the Balkans, places where American troops remain today. "The operational advantages of US bases in Iraq should be obvious for other power-projection missions in the region," Donnelly wrote in an AEI policy paper.

Next time the Bush Administration hints at withdrawing troops, keep these grand plans in mind.

[mistertrickster]

13. You wish, heh. You apparently missed the post a few days ago

that of the 1500 American soldiers that have died, the length of time for the last 500 was many weeks sooner than the first two 500 death periods.

In other words our guys are dying faster now than they have at anyother period in the war.

So much for the dead-enders . . .

The dead end is Bush's policy.

*****
And the smart-assed crack about "virgins" is not going to help understand why someone might rebel against an invasion by a foreign army.

[leftchick]

14. yes indeed, not looking good...

http://icasualties.org/oif/


Military Fatalities: By Month
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
3-2005 18 0 2 20 1.54 13
2-2005 58 0 2 60 2.14 28
1-2005 107 10 10 127 4.1 31
12-2004 72 2 3 77 2.48 31
11-2004 137 4 0 141 4.7 30
10-2004 63 2 2 67 2.16 31
9-2004 80 3 4 87 2.9 30
8-2004 66 4 5 75 2.42 31
7-2004 54 1 3 58 1.87 31
6-2004 42 1 7 50 1.67 30
5-2004 80 0 4 84 2.71 31
4-2004 135 0 5 140 4.67 30
3-2004 52 0 0 52 1.68 31
2-2004 20 1 2 23 0.79 29
1-2004 47 5 0 52 1.68 31
12-2003 40 0 8 48 1.55 31
11-2003 82 1 27 110 3.67 30
10-2003 44 1 2 47 1.52 31
9-2003 31 1 1 33 1.1 30
8-2003 35 6 2 43 1.39 31
7-2003 47 1 0 48 1.55 31
6-2003 30 6 0 36 1.2 30
5-2003 37 4 0 41 1.32 31
4-2003 74 6 0 80 2.67 30
3-2003 65 27 0 92 7.67 12
Total 1516 86 89 1691 2.33 725

[leftchick]

15. why do I hear.....

<chirping crickets>????

[Maple]

2. Mad Max

comes to mind. Maybe they've seen the movie.

[madrchsod]

4. i`m sure they have..

i`m sure the movie is available in iraq on vhs and dvd...

[bemildred]

3. Interesting story.

I wonder if the reporter left Baghdad?

[amandabeech]

12. In the '70s I had an Opel Manta. It had an absolutely wicked 3rd gear.

I could beat out much meaner looking vehicles off the light with that 3rd gear. I'd just pull away from 'em.

If the present Opels are anything like that, they'll leave the humvees in the dust.

And the thing had good gas mileage to boot!

Why these things did not sell in the U.S., I'll never know. Maybe the returning GI's will demand them.

[DulceDecorum]

16. Trouble is

if the Opels are THAT good,
there may not be that many GIs returning.

(Probably didn't sell because of speeding tickets
and the inability of the Crown Victoria to catch up with them.)

[leesa]

17. What other possible outcome could one have expected from this mess.