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Night Raid

Feb-20-2006 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By Kimberly Johnson, USA Today

MOSUL, Iraq – The attack came early this morning. A bomb ripped apart a Mosul restaurant known to be a favorite of Iraqi police officers from the nearby station thirsty for their early morning chai. Early reports suggested five were killed and more than four times as many injured.

Today’s bombing was a direct attack on the fledgling Iraq security forces, says 4-23 commander Lt. Col. John Norris. “There’s continued pressure against the legitimacy of the Iraqi police,” Norris told me today. In this region of Iraq, attacks have shifted away from coalition forces to target the police force, comprised mostly of locals, and the Iraqi army, he explained.

“It’s pretty tough when you get personal with these guys,” he said in his even, matter-of-fact tone. Norris had just returned from an afternoon memorial service for the brother of a Mosul Iraqi police colonel who was murdered in this city last night. During the course of training, Norris and the Iraqi colonel had become friends and it was important to him to personally pay his respects. “They get attacked all the time,” he said. But unlike the police force in place in Mosul a year ago, “they’re not quitting.” [...]


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