TA-ATTACKS: Blast at US Mosul base kills 22

In the continuing story of the blast which occured at 09:00 GMT it is now being reported that 22 people have dies in an explosion at the US base in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city. Now infamous for its rising death toll Mosul is a stronghold for Islamic fundementalists and those still loyal to the Baath party. The cause of the explosion has been blames on rockets and mortar rounds.



The timing of this incident is unfortunate coming as it does on the day of Tony Blair's visit to the Iraqi capital Bahgdad. In the speech given, Mr. Blair referred to the 'strong commitment' in making sure that the upcoming January elections take place and also the building "up the capability of the Iraqi security force". In Mosul since November this year 150 bodies have been found, 80 since the beginning of December. The majority of these were members of the Iraqi National Guard.


[edit on 12-21-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

[edit on 12-22-2004 by Zion Mainframe]

Now being reported on CNN as well...

edition.cnn.com...

Multiple rounds hit a dining hall at a U.S. military base near Mosul on Tuesday, killing 22 people, including U.S. troops, members of the Iraqi national guard, and Iraqi civilians, Pentagon officials said.

Fifty-one people were wounded in the incident -- which occurred at noon (4 a.m. ET) as people ate lunch at Forward Operating Base Marez, the officials said.

No other details on the attack were immediately available.

Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for the attack.
They say they'll be releasing video of the attack.

Reuters
"On Tuesday one of the mujahideen (holy fighters) ... carried out this martyrdom operation on the canteen of the infidel occupation forces," the statement said, adding that it would later issue a videotape of the attack.

A defence official in Washington said earlier that at least 22 died when a dining hall came under attack at noon (0900 GMT), a time when many soldiers at Forward Operating Base Marez, at Mosul's airfield, would have been eating lunch.

They released video just a couple of days ago of an attack which took place on December 16 2004.
Ansar al-Sunna attack on US base (Dec 16) kaat.wmv

There were 13 US soldiers killed in the attack!

ABC News
Jeremy Redmon, a reporter for the Richmond, Va., Times-Dispatch embedded with the troops in Mosul, said 13 soldiers were killed in the attack at Forward Operating Base Marez, including two from the Richmond-based 276th Engineer Battalion. More than 50 people were wounded, and civilians may have been among them, he said.

That brings this months US death toll to 58 so far and that's not counting the six soldiers that were reported killed on Friday that have not been announced yet.

[edit on 21-12-2004 by AceOfBase]

Politicizing this Ace?
Please remember that there were also independent contractors and civilians killed and wounded also.

Not good.



seekerof

I guess this is the real deal, huh? These are the kinds of things that I feel will start to become much more common place.

We should feel for all those who died, soldier, contractor, mom, dad, or brother....

Originally posted by Seekerof
Politicizing this Ace?
Please remember that there were also independent contractors and civilians killed and wounded also.

Not good.



seekerof

Politicizing?

If I said that George Bush had the blood of over 1,300 soldiers and thousands of Iraqis on his hands, I guess that would be politicizing this.

It seems that this particular chow hall:

Insurgents have fired mortars at the chow hall more than 30 times this year.

AP News

And yes, "politicizing" this tragic event. Let the blood dry first, maybe?




seekerof

[edit on 21-12-2004 by Seekerof]

Originally posted by Seekerof
It seems that this particular chow hall:

Insurgents have fired mortars at the chow hall more than 30 times this year.

How come the area was not secured? I'm not sure what range these mortars have, but 30 firings means that the hall was a usual target. Something like this was just bound to happen, right?

22 What? Soldiers? Civilians?

My Heart goes out to the families of 'All' the fallen Soldiers & Civilians...

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These are All the fallen soldiers in Iraq to date...

I find it interesting that all of the outcry that occured a few weeks ago when a marine was caught on film shooting a supposed unarmed and wounded insurgent is missing.

These soldiers and civilians were in the non-combative role of eating. They posed no threat to anyone while they were having their chicken strips and mac and cheese but there's no outcry.

There is outcry, however. It may be faint but if you listen you'll hear me.

Originally posted by Katolu
I find it interesting that all of the outcry that occured a few weeks ago when a marine was caught on film shooting a supposed unarmed and wounded insurgent is missing.

These soldiers and civilians were in the non-combative role of eating. They posed no threat to anyone while they were having their chicken strips and mac and cheese but there's no outcry.

There is outcry, however. It may be faint but if you listen you'll hear me.

Good point Katolu. One reason there is no outcry is not because people aren't sensitive to the tragedy that the US soldiers begot, they are. I think everyone is mad as hell at whoever fired that missile, and it sorta goes without saying.

Katolu the point you are making it totally invalid.

You can't put your hand up in wartime and say don't fire I'm having dinner. The controversy you refer to was over a man lying wounded on the ground, the rights or wrongs, the humanity of the treatment he recieved and mitigating circumstances surrounding said treatment.

If he had died in an attack on his position while being healthy and able that would have been totally different.

Jack

They were practically shot in the back! Blasted while they were having lunch...

I really seem to have missed the point here.

I by no means want to sound like I'm coming down on the side of those who committed this deed, but do you think the US takes breaks from action for mealtimes? What about prayertimes?

A military base is a target. That's why they are guarded.

Jack

Originally posted by JAK
but do you think the US takes breaks from action for mealtimes? What about prayertimes?

Or playing poker with a dead man�s hand. It�s psychological warfare. You don�t have to be at the battlefield to die in battle sort of speak. This is a bit like being shot in the back though. Was it the english or the french who used to slap a glove in the face of the opponent to challenge him/her to a duel?

I have some bad news. The BBC is reporting 24 have been killed. I am assuming 2 people have since died from injuries.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Of course they may be misquoting and their report is wrong. Lets hope so.

It is being reported now that the attack is the worst yet, 24 people died in the attack, 18 of them being American soldiers and more than 60 injured.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Without wishing to be morbid, there is a series of images here. God bless all of these men at this time.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Jack

[edit on 21/12/04 by JAK]

Originally posted by JAK
I by no means want to sound like I'm coming down on the side of those who committed this deed, but do you think the US takes breaks from action for mealtimes? What about prayertimes?

A military base is a target. That's why they are guarded.
Jack

At first I had the gut-reaction that I wanted to disagree with you. But after thinking about it, you make a lot of sense. We can certainly be mad about it, and perhaps that place should have been guarded better. And we can be mad at them because they are the enemy. However, we are at war, and this is a legitimate act of war, if not welcome.
There wasn't a big outcry when we bombed buildings and there was "collateral damage". Because there shouldn't be, it's an unfortunate reality in war, and acts of war.
We can be upset by the facts that put our troops in that place, or that there weren't enough troops to keep safeguards. It's war, whether or not we agree we should be there, and this was an act of war. I don't think it warrants an outcry. It wasn't a civilian building after all, it was a military base complex.
Certainly, the deaths are a shame, and my heart goes out to all the surviving friends & family.
And I'm mad, but at the steps we aren't taking to keep our troops safe, whether that's equipment, or more troops, or whatever. However, I think we are taking unnecessary risks with their lives, and there are things we should be doing better, should have learned to do better by now. It's a new war paradigm for us, but by now we should have had an understanding of the differences and making up for the lapses in equipment, understanding, or other resources to get the job done right and with the fewest casualties possible.

[edit on 21-12-2004 by NERaptor]