|
I agree
tim.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 9:00
AM
Subject: Re: [Sndbox] Fighting Back
This guy must have read my mind. I was just saying the
other day... "well yeah they
killed some of our guys, but how many did
*we* kill?" It doesn't make it any less
tragic that one of ours were
killed, but I don't think I am alone by wanting to know
if vengeance was
served.
On Tuesday, November 11, 2003, at 05:48 AM, Charles
wrote:
Fighting Back
In
Iraq, the good news is the bad news is
dead.
BY
BRENDAN MINITER
Tuesday,
November 11, 2003 12:01 a.m. EST
Just
about every media organization seems to have gotten the message that it
should report the good news along with the bad in Iraq. So along with every
report of an American soldier killed, we can now expect the obligatory quote
from an administration official pointing out that there are plenty of
positive developments in Iraq. Yet one positive story that gets little media
attention and consequently leaves many Americans wondering how well the war
is going is what happens after American soldiers are attacked. Why aren't
retaliatory strikes reported more prominently?
Virtually every attack
on American soldiers has drawn a response from coalition forces. The world
is seeing that now--after the downing of three American helicopters,
including a Black Hawk--with the strikes by F-16s with precision guided
500-pound bombs. Iraq hasn't been the scene of such massive American
firepower since April. The enemy is being made to pay a hefty price for each
and every attack.
These spectacular strikes are but a small piece in
the larger war raging in Iraq. That missile attack launched on the al Rashid
Hotel in Baghdad when Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying
there was widely reported. He was unharmed, but the attack killed an
American officer, scarred the outside of the building (which has made a good
TV visual whenever the story is repeated), and scared many reporters who
breathlessly reported how lawless the city must be if such an attack was
possible.
But the military followed up by catching 18 suspects. Once
in custody, the thugs were quick to rat out their friends. Those arrests led
to the arrest of two dozen more enemy fighters.
<image.tiff>
This was no isolated success. Coalition forces are routinely
catching the men who are planning and carrying out attacks on soldiers and
civilian infrastructure:
#&149; The 101st Airborne nabbed seven
individuals suspected of perpetrating attacks on American troops on Nov. 7
by conducting a series of nighttime cordon and "knocks" (entering homes).
The suspects also allegedly harbored weapons caches.
#&149; The
82nd Airborne detained five anticoalition fighters--one a former Republican
Guard lieutenant colonel--on Nov. 6. The five men are regime loyalists and
were sought out by U.S. forces because they're believed to have planned and
carried out attacks.
#&149; On Nov. 6 coalition forces were
monitoring the site of a seized weapons cache when they spotted two men
looking for the rocket-propelled grenade launcher and other munitions. When
the men spotted the soldiers, they ran. They were ordered to halt, but
one--who was carrying an AK-47--opened fire instead. The soldiers shot back,
killing him and catching three others.
#&149; The 12th Infantry
Regiment was attacked with 10 rockets on Nov. 7. Soldiers spotted where the
rockets were coming from and returned fire. A patrol simultaneously closed
in on the enemy's position. The attackers attempted to flee as the soldiers
approached, but all three were shot down and killed as they
ran.
#&149; The 82nd Airborne carried out the first phase of
Operation All American Tiger on Nov. 6, detaining three members of an
anticoalition cell in Husaybah and several others. The men caught are
suspected not only of carrying out attacks but also of providing safe
houses, weapons, transportation and funding to militants.
#&149;
On Nov. 7 one division carried out 168 patrols--eight of them jointly with
Iraqi border guards and policemen--as well as two raids and three cordon
searches. The operations yielded 39 detainees, including several individuals
known to be involved in attacks on coalition forces.
#&149; A man
believed to be a former bodyguard of Saddam Hussein was captured in an
early-morning raid on Nov. 8 south of Kirkuk. Coalition forces went after
him after learning of his possible involvement in attacks.
#&149;
On Nov. 7, acting on the tip from a local sheik, members of the 504th
Parachute Infantry Regiment seized a large weapons cache 20 miles northeast
of Fallujah. The following day they returned to the same site and found
another large stockpile of weaponry, including 194 152mm artillery shells,
84 antitank missiles, 45 high-explosive and fragmentation rockets, 34 155mm
artillery shells, four 57mm rounds, five 115mm rounds and one 125mm antitank
round as well as thousands of rounds of small arms ammunition.
The
death of an American soldier is front page news, while the death of his
attacker is buried deep inside the paper, if reported at all. But there's
another reason why the response to attacks are rarely reported. The military
judiciously applies force, which means there's often no big explosion to
show the viewing public back home. The enemy blows up civilians, while
coalition forces use precision strikes to remove enemy combatants. But more
to the point, the media are a lazy beast and, it seems, the Pentagon hasn't
been doing a good job feeding it.
Mr. Miniter is assistant editor
of OpinionJournal.com. His column appears
Tuesdays.
<storyend_dingbat.gif>________________________________
Changes
to your subscription (unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to
http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
________________________________
Changes to your subscription
(unsubs, nomail, digest) can be made by going to
http://sandboxmail.net/mailman/listinfo/sndbox_sandboxmail.net
|
