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gotta love the headline.
canada.com
A day after George W. Bush declared that coalition forces in Iraq are strong enough to deal with any threat, U.S. troops came under fire again yesterday, with 10 soldiers wounded in three separate incidents as attacks on U.S. forces become bolder and more frequent.
The attacks, which appeared to answer the U.S. President's challenge to Iraqis planning assaults on U.S. troops to "bring them on," suggest the urban warfare that had worried military planners before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime is beginning to materialize.
Hostile fire has killed 26 Americans and six British soldiers since Mr. Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1. General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, said the number of shooting incidents in the country is averaging 13 a day.
"We're still at war," Gen. Sanchez said at a news conference yesterday. Although the attacks do not appear to be co-ordinated, he said there has been an "increase in sophistication of the explosive devices used."
One of yesterday's attacks, against a three-vehicle convoy of armoured Humvees on Baghdad's busy Haifa Street, was this week's second rocket-propelled grenade assault in broad daylight in the capital.
In both cases, the attackers escaped. Whether out of fear or sympathy for their cause, Iraqi bystanders have done nothing to help coalition forces apprehend the attackers.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bush challenged Iraqis attacking U.S.-led forces and said the assaults will not cause the United States to leave Iraq prematurely.
"There are some who feel that the conditions are such that they can attack us there," Mr. Bush said. "My answer is, bring them on. We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation."
The President drew political fire for the remarks yesterday, with Democrats saying they amounted to an invitation to Iraqis to try to kill U.S. troops.
"These men and women are risking their lives every day, and the President who sent them on this mission showed tremendous insensitivity to the dangers they face," said Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, condemned the comment, saying, "The deteriorating situation in Iraq requires less swagger and more thoughtfulness and statesmanship."
Yesterday morning's attacks occurred in diverse locations: a Sunni area west of Baghdad that staunchly supported the former regime, a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad and the centre of the city.
In the Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiya, a soldier from the 1st Armored Division who was on foot patrol at 2:30 a.m. was wounded after a gunman opened fire.
The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman and wounding a 6-year-old boy with him, according to a U.S. military spokesman.
In the city of Ramadi, about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, six soldiers were wounded when their two-vehicle convoy drove over an improvised explosive device at 6:30 a.m.
Ramadi's Sunni Muslim residents were among the core of Saddam's base of support, serving as army officers and officials in his government, and the city has become a centre of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.
The most daring of yesterday's attacks took place just before 10 a.m. in Baghdad when a man on foot fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a three-vehicle military convoy moving down Haifa Street, a busy thoroughfare in the centre of the city. One Humvee was struck, wounding three soldiers, witnesses and a military spokesman said.
Witnesses said soldiers in one of the other vehicles opened fire indiscriminately, seriously wounding, and possibly killing, at least one Iraqi driver nearby. Blood pooled next to the slain driver's blue Volkswagen Passat soon after the attack.
A crowd of people gathered around the destroyed Humvee and looted it, taking whatever they could remove. Children and adults climbed on top, stomping on it and chanting, "God bless Mohammad!"
Then someone set the vehicle on fire and the crowd backed away, watching it slowly burn. Children hurled rocks at the blaze and, in a particularly Arab insult, threw shoes at it.
U.S. officers blame isolated, diehard supporters of Saddam for the violence against their troops. But some Iraqis say it reflects more widespread discontent with the occupiers and their failure to provide more services and security.
"Damn Saddam and damn Bush! What have I got from either of them?" yelled a man on Haifa Street whose son was wounded.
"Get out from our country," someone had scrawled on a wall nearby.
The attacks, which appeared to answer the U.S. President's challenge to Iraqis planning assaults on U.S. troops to "bring them on," suggest the urban warfare that had worried military planners before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime is beginning to materialize.
Hostile fire has killed 26 Americans and six British soldiers since Mr. Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1. General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq, said the number of shooting incidents in the country is averaging 13 a day.
"We're still at war," Gen. Sanchez said at a news conference yesterday. Although the attacks do not appear to be co-ordinated, he said there has been an "increase in sophistication of the explosive devices used."
One of yesterday's attacks, against a three-vehicle convoy of armoured Humvees on Baghdad's busy Haifa Street, was this week's second rocket-propelled grenade assault in broad daylight in the capital.
In both cases, the attackers escaped. Whether out of fear or sympathy for their cause, Iraqi bystanders have done nothing to help coalition forces apprehend the attackers.
On Wednesday, Mr. Bush challenged Iraqis attacking U.S.-led forces and said the assaults will not cause the United States to leave Iraq prematurely.
"There are some who feel that the conditions are such that they can attack us there," Mr. Bush said. "My answer is, bring them on. We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation."
The President drew political fire for the remarks yesterday, with Democrats saying they amounted to an invitation to Iraqis to try to kill U.S. troops.
"These men and women are risking their lives every day, and the President who sent them on this mission showed tremendous insensitivity to the dangers they face," said Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, condemned the comment, saying, "The deteriorating situation in Iraq requires less swagger and more thoughtfulness and statesmanship."
Yesterday morning's attacks occurred in diverse locations: a Sunni area west of Baghdad that staunchly supported the former regime, a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad and the centre of the city.
In the Baghdad neighbourhood of Kadhimiya, a soldier from the 1st Armored Division who was on foot patrol at 2:30 a.m. was wounded after a gunman opened fire.
The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman and wounding a 6-year-old boy with him, according to a U.S. military spokesman.
In the city of Ramadi, about 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, six soldiers were wounded when their two-vehicle convoy drove over an improvised explosive device at 6:30 a.m.
Ramadi's Sunni Muslim residents were among the core of Saddam's base of support, serving as army officers and officials in his government, and the city has become a centre of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.
The most daring of yesterday's attacks took place just before 10 a.m. in Baghdad when a man on foot fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a three-vehicle military convoy moving down Haifa Street, a busy thoroughfare in the centre of the city. One Humvee was struck, wounding three soldiers, witnesses and a military spokesman said.
Witnesses said soldiers in one of the other vehicles opened fire indiscriminately, seriously wounding, and possibly killing, at least one Iraqi driver nearby. Blood pooled next to the slain driver's blue Volkswagen Passat soon after the attack.
A crowd of people gathered around the destroyed Humvee and looted it, taking whatever they could remove. Children and adults climbed on top, stomping on it and chanting, "God bless Mohammad!"
Then someone set the vehicle on fire and the crowd backed away, watching it slowly burn. Children hurled rocks at the blaze and, in a particularly Arab insult, threw shoes at it.
U.S. officers blame isolated, diehard supporters of Saddam for the violence against their troops. But some Iraqis say it reflects more widespread discontent with the occupiers and their failure to provide more services and security.
"Damn Saddam and damn Bush! What have I got from either of them?" yelled a man on Haifa Street whose son was wounded.
"Get out from our country," someone had scrawled on a wall nearby.
i had to post this, simply because the title was so great.
now, as to the actual matter, it's not so good...
i think shinseki was right when he wanted far more troops there.
I agree [/Quote]
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