At 4 pm EDT CBS radio news reported that 4 U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad. This will bring the U.S. military death toll for the war in Iraq to at least 3207.
Strykers face barrage of enemy fire, lose 2 vehicles on first day in Diyala
The Associated PressMarine Chief: Disbanding Iraqi Army Was Big Mistake (U.S. News & World Report)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
BAQOUBA, Iraq: Dozens of U.S. Stryker combat vehicles roared into Baqouba at sunrise. The enemy was ready. As the dawn call-to-prayer fell silent, the streets blazed with insurgent fire.
Within minutes of the start of their first mission in volatile Diyala province Wednesday a voice crackled across the radio: "Catastrophic kill, with casualties."
Inside the rear of one Stryker, soldiers shushed one another and leaned closer to the radio. They all knew what it meant. A U.S. vehicle had been lost to enemy fire.
Nearly 100 Strykers were called north from Baghdad into the province and its capital to try — yet again — to rout Sunni insurgents, many who recently fled the month-old Baghdad security operation.
The fighters have renewed their campaign of bombings and killings just 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of the capital as the war enters its fifth year. Diyala province is quickly becoming as dangerous as Anbar province, the Sunni insurgent bastion west of Baghdad.
Rocket-propelled grenades pounded buildings Wednesday where U.S. soldiers sought cover. Mortars soared overhead and crashed to earth spewing clouds of deadly shrapnel.
Gunfire rattled ceaselessly — the hollow pop of insurgent AK-47s and whoosh of grenade launchers nearly drowned out by shuddering blasts from U.S. 50-caliber machine guns.
Soldiers screamed into their radios for backup. Apache attack helicopters swooped in, firing Hellfire missiles.
By day's end, one soldier was dead, 12 wounded and two Strykers destroyed. The Americans said dozens of insurgents were killed but gave no specific number.
It was a brutal, bloody first-day for the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment — the crack Stryker battalion dispatched from Baghdad's northern suburbs.
"They threw everything at us — RPGs, mortars — and a guy even tossed a grenade just in front of my vehicle," said Capt. Huber Parsons, the 28-year-old commander of the 5-20's Attack company. "But the most devastating was the IEDs," the Coral Gables, Florida, native said. He was talking about improvised explosive devices — roadside bombs.
One Stryker was lost in a particularly sophisticated ambush.
Struck head-on by an IED, the rubber-tired armored vehicle was swallowed up in the bomb crater. Insurgents emerged from hiding, firing RPGs in unison.
The Stryker crew was trapped. One U.S. soldier was killed. All nine other crew members were wounded, though six later returned to duty.
The other Stryker was destroyed when a roadside bomb exploded as the armored fighting vehicle drove over it. The nine-man squad got out alive, three with injuries.
"It was quite an introduction to Diyala," said Sgt. William Rose of the 5-20's 3rd platoon, Alpha company. "That was the most contact we've had in weeks, maybe months," said Rose, a 26-year-old Arlington, Massachusetts, native.
"They always say the next place we're going is the worst — the most violent — and it never turns out to be the case," Rose said. "They really meant it this time."
Violence has risen dramatically in Diyala since the launch of the Baghdad security operation on Feb. 14. Insurgents have slowly been taking control for months, however. Attacks on American forces in the province have shot up 70 percent since last July, according to military figures.
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U.S. News & World Report - The Marine Corps commandant, Gen. James T. Conway, told reporters this morning the biggest mistake made in Iraq remains the disbanding of the Iraqi Army-and that the effect of the decision still resonates today.
03/15/07 AP: Blast kills 4 U.S. soldiers in Baghdad
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