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Soldiers employ daring tactic

Dec-21-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, News-Miner

MOSUL, Iraq--The first thing the members of 4th Platoon, Charlie Co., noticed when they dismounted their Stryker vehicle Tuesday was the 12-foot-tall pale yellow cement wall pock-marked with bullet holes.

It was a sure sign the platoon had found a prime fishing hole for the enemy in a central neighborhood of this northern Iraqi city of 2.5 million.

"Today we're the bait," Staff Sgt. Joshua Clevenger said. "Human bait."

Soldiers in the platoon, part of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, were out to draw fire Tuesday. Their mission was to patrol a central Mosul neighborhood with Iraqi army soldiers. Their targets were the insurgents responsible for a rash of random attacks and drive-by shootings.

Though exposed on the street, they were covered by snipers strategically placed to keep an eye out for shooters tempted by the bait.

The neighborhood was quiet as the patrol passed through. A few pedestrians on the sidewalk hugged the wall as they allowed troops and Strykers to pass on the narrow street, then slipped quickly into gated courtyards.

People peeked from behind the curtains of second-story windows. Behind one wrought-iron front gate, the courtyard was colorfully tiled and the fruit-heavy limbs of orange trees hung over the walls. Other upscale houses lined the streets, as well. [...]


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