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U.S. Forces Capture Insurgents' Weapons

Oct- 6-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

Very interesting article.

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By JAMES GLANZ

AHMAD AL HAMADI, Iraq, Oct. 6 - About 2,500 marines and soldiers set up camps and conducted night raids on Tuesday and Wednesday over a wide swath of territory roughly 30 miles south of Baghdad, rolling over desert terrain in armored vehicles, taking gunfire from insurgents and uncovering at least two large caches of weaponry.

At 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the results of one of those raids, on an isolated farmhouse nestled among desert dunes near this tiny hamlet, were spread out on the ground like wares at a fish market: 193 rocket-propelled grenades, 84 mortar rounds and 14 large artillery shells, along with blasting caps, copper wire and other weaponry. [...]

Among the first objectives that the operation achieved was to secure the Jurf Kas Sukr Bridge across the Euphrates. The bridge "is believed to be a favored corridor for insurgents moving into and out of key cities, including the capital hub and the current A.I.F. sanctuary of Falluja," the American military statement said. The military generally refers to insurgents and terrorists as Anti-Iraqi Forces, or A.I.F.

"This is an area that coalition forces have not occupied," said Capt. Duane Patin, of the Third Brigade of the Second Infantry Division, one of the Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Teams.

"It's a denial of enemy fighter safe haven," Captain Patin said. "It's to cut off the enemy supply line to Baghdad and Falluja." [...]

"It's absolutely essential that everybody in this country has the opportunity to voice their opinion, to vote," said Lt. Col. Buck James, who commands one of the Stryker Brigade's battalions, which has about 72 of the new Stryker armored troop carriers.

But in contrast to the cities where recent conflicts have been directed against insurgents, Babil has large rural areas, open desert and many small towns to contend with. "Samarra is one city," Colonel James said. "This is an entire province, and it's a rural province."

Though armored, the Stryker has eight rubber tires rather than treads, enabling it to move rapidly and comparatively quietly in large raids. The ungainly looking vehicles, which are surrounded by a heavy cage to protect them against rocket-propelled grenades, has engendered controversy, with critics saying they are prone to rolling over.

But the soldiers who ride in the vehicles generally praise them, and drivers assert that with an experienced hand at the wheel, Strykers are no more prone to rolling over than other armored vehicles.

"The Strykers can roll into the middle of the city in the middle of the night and not wake anybody up," Sgt. First Class Brad G. Kelley said. "You can hear the Bradleys coming a long way away."

The article continues...


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