May 12, 2007
BAGHDAD - U.S. and Iraqi troops searched house-to-house and combed fields with their bare hands Saturday after American troops and their Iraqi interpreter came under attack in the notorious "triangle of death" south of Baghdad, leaving five dead and three missing.The military said the patrol was struck in a pre-dawn explosion near Mahmoudiya, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad _ an al-Qaida area where two U.S. soldiers were found massacred after disappearing at a checkpoint nearly a year ago.
A nearby unit heard the blast and the search was launched after communication could not be established with the patrol, the military said, adding that a drone plane later observed two burning vehicles after about15 minutes.
An emergency response unit arrived at the scene about an hour later and found five members of the team killed and three others listed as duty status and whereabouts unknown.
The attack came in the same area where last summer two American soldiers were kidnapped and murdered. The bodies of Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker were found mutilated and booby-trapped in June 2006.
Two other American soldiers remain missing in Iraq: Sgt. Matt Maupin, who was captured in April 2004, and Spc. Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie, an interpreter who was kidnapped in Baghdad in October 2006.
We mourn the loss of the five soldiers who were killed and we pray for the safety of the three missing, as well as for those troops involved in the search and rescue efforts going on now.
Video of the Army news conference describing the attack below the fold.
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Posted by: Defector at May 12, 2007 08:31 PM (0QI0T)
I hope they find them alive and bring swift justice to these killers. Godspeed for their safe return.
Posted by: Richard Romano at May 12, 2007 09:14 PM (iD1fP)
Posted by: George Ramos at May 12, 2007 10:10 PM (TmLg9)
Posted by: Sharm at May 12, 2007 10:56 PM (q51o4)
Posted by: Osama at May 12, 2007 11:14 PM (WPWAg)
I hope we'll get them back. If not they will pay. We need to get some men in there. Nations willling to send men? More Iraqis? Anybody?
Sounds like we need some more air support too. Get those planes off those damn carriers and use em. We're right in the rats nest were all teh support is flowing from Iran. We gotta have that, and it won't be easy. It's now or never, time to go go go and put the hurt on em.
Posted by: Howie at May 12, 2007 11:34 PM (YHZAl)
I am completely disheartened. If videos come out with the men alive and being tortured, I don't know how I'll be able to maintain support for the surge. I hate to be on the side of the moonbats.
I watched the longer video of what happened last year. Taking into account Rusty's analysis that Tucker had an exit wound in the head and Menchaca had a mortar wound in the back, it was clear why when the bodies were placed behind the truck that Menchaca was face up and Tucker face down. Tucker was not beheaded alive and no mutilation of Menchaca had yet occurred. It is sick to have that kind of relief. I wish the families could know that their loved ones were already dead. Everytime the story is referenced, it is done in a way which implies they were tortured and then killed. What scares me is that I believe this time, they wanted live ones.
Posted by: Sharm at May 12, 2007 11:51 PM (q51o4)
This sounds like the sort of attack that IRGC (Mullahcracy's ideological army) would plan and execute.
They may be trying to kidnap enough U.S. servicemen whom they would be able to exchange for the five Islamic Republic agents captured by the U.S. forces.
Posted by: Garduneh Mehr at May 13, 2007 12:26 AM (EdIIN)
Posted by: Garduneh Mehr at May 13, 2007 12:29 AM (EdIIN)
Our troops will bring justice to these killers--they are only capable of ambush or sneak attacks...how anyone can find this honourable or courageous is beyond me, but then again Islamists incorporate the most immoral, sadistic, and barbarous practices to justify their sick, twisted interpretation of their faith, so acting like cowards is par for the course.
You get that Islamist cowards? You cannot win when you fight fair--you have no choice but to cheat and lie.
Posted by: Richard Romano at May 13, 2007 01:09 AM (iD1fP)
Posted by: Sharm at May 13, 2007 02:02 AM (q51o4)
Posted by: Dan at May 13, 2007 03:32 AM (ILHet)
The ambush-sneak attack thing is a legitimate tactic. Unfortunately, it's really hurting the US et al, since they're trying to win hearts and minds (some might say naively; these are Muslims for fuck's sake); moderating an ethnic conflict/civil war; nation building, not trying to just fight a war. If they were, they could fuck it off, fight fire with fire, blow the place up from the air and have special forces kicking ass and taking names on the ground. that way, they'd clean up in, oh, let's say a few days or something.
I hope these guys get rescued, but I fear they'll shoe up already dead or we'll see them being executed on video by the religion of pieces.
Posted by: Infidelsalwayswin at May 13, 2007 05:20 AM (mTdGQ)
Posted by: George Ramos at May 13, 2007 08:58 AM (TmLg9)
Let's see what kind of guts we have when the troops end up on Iranian TV like the Brits troops did.
I could pop a cap on the whole Ummah.
Posted by: Barry 0351 at May 13, 2007 12:00 PM (xQq4i)
Posted by: Howie at May 13, 2007 05:27 PM (YHZAl)
Posted by: erere at May 14, 2007 12:47 AM (I9QJv)
Posted by: Howie at May 14, 2007 12:01 PM (YHZAl)
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