So long, goodbye and get lost via:The Washington Times: AP

Syrian troops left Lebanon after strong international pressure was applied following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri was killed for having fat ankles which kept him from clicking his heels and being a yes man to, as yet, unnamed thugmasters.

The Washington Times: AP: "RAYAK, Lebanon (AP) -- Syria ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon on Tuesday with a farewell ceremony near their shared border, with a Syrian commander telling Lebanese troops: 'Brothers in arms, so long.' The soldiers responded, 'So long.'"

Zarqawi's "very big hard drive captured. Major thug still on run

Another close call for Jordanian thugmeister Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi who had to run without his hard drive filled with friends and enablers data.

ABC News: Official: Zarqawi Eludes Capture; Computer Discovered

Nightmares of Ariel Sharon via Winds of War

Sharon has not been able to sleep recently due to nightmares that begin with the U.S. Marines withdraw from Iraq....


WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Israel has relayed its concern to the United States of the rising prospect of a Middle East war in 2006.

U.S. officials said Israel has determined that the expected U.S. withdrawal from Iraq in 2006 would raise tensions in the region that could lead to a Middle East war. The officials said the Israeli assessment asserted that Iran would either lead or play a major role in any future war against the Jewish state.

"It is the biggest nightmare of [Prime Minister] Ariel Sharon," a U.S. official said. "He has relayed repeated messages to the administration that Iran and its Arab allies were preparing for war."

Officials said Sharon has raised this issue with President George Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and leaders of the U.S. intelligence community. They said Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz have assessed that an Iran emboldened with nuclear weapons and intermediate-range missiles was seeking to form a coalition against Israel for a war that could take place after a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.





Middle East Newsline -

Thugs (constantly) improve road bombs in Iraq -via: The Washington Times: Nation/Politics - April 25, 2005

Rowan Scarborough, in today's WashTimes, has read some secret military docs that state (big surprise) that thugs can think and apply lessons learned analysis to their road side bomb experiments. Big Whoop. Thank you Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Thugs can actually think and say: "Ali Dude, that last bomb you made was a bust, man. We think it was jammed by the American Marines radio signal. Why don't you make the next one with direct wire ignition."

: " 'Enemy sophistication continually improves,' said a recent U.S. military briefing to commanders. 'The enemy is adapting all the time.'
"The document said that after the U.S. had success with jamming radio signals between the bomber and the improvised explosive devices (IEDs), insurgents quickly reverted to direct-wire ignition that cannot be jammed. " WoW! Isn't that amazing. The documents, which are distributed to U.S. commanders as updates on Pentagon efforts to defeat IEDs, show, for example, that insurgents last summer began burying the bombs under roads and then paving over the holes. The enemy also has used dead animals as hiding places, and has put smaller ordnance inside white bags placed on the roadside."

Clever

The paved-over bomb "can be spotted by the stain that usually remains on the road," said one briefing paper, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times.
These crude, remotely detonated bombs have emerged has the insurgency's top weapon against American and coalition troops in Iraq. As intelligence reports indicate,
it is getting more difficult for Saddam Hussein's loyalists to recruit Iraqi attackers, so the IEDs are gaining importance as a weapon to kill troops and civilians.

The Pentagon has attempted to stay ahead of the game by creating an Army-led task force that issues confidential reports, such as the ones obtained by The Times. Thugs are " using door bells and car alarm systems," one confidential briefing stated. "If you stop someone with a bunch of door bells or phones or toy cars, you probably have a bomber."

The explosive is typically an artillery shell, thousands of which existed in arms caches throughout the militarized country.

In some cases, the jammers work. But the insurgents have adapted by using the hard-to-jam signals from cordless phones or cell phones, or simply stringing a wire from the remote control to the bomb's battery.
"I hate to say this, but the Defense Department is not where it should be in defeating these things," said a Defense source who is working on solutions to the problem.

The confidential documents show American patrols have found multiple telephone wires leading to houses that did not have telephones. On inspection, soldiers determined the wires led to past IED detonations.

The lesson: Inspect homes that have multiple telephone wires.

Greenwood Commonwealth - News - A small world for four Marines in Operation Iraqi Freedom

Greenwood Commonwealth - News - 04/24/2005 - It's a small world for four Marines serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom: "So what are the odds of four members from Greenwood, Mississippi ending up in the same unit deployed to the rural deserts of western Iraq? All four of these Marines grew up no more than 10 minutes away from each other. They have the same friends, went to the same schools and share the same Mississippi culture. ll four of these Marines grew up no more than 10 minutes away from each other. They have the same friends, went to the same schools and share the same Mississippi culture. "My mom, Sheri Smith, a former Greenwood High School teacher, taught Ware Spanish in high school, and we found that out after only talking five minutes," Smith explained.

Yet they didn't meet each other until after they joined the Corps and ended up in the same battalion together supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom here.

All four agree that it's unusual that they are all here in this fight together.

"We all wanted to do something different than everybody else and it's kind of funny how we're in the same place in Iraq," they all agreed, as Ware summed it up. "You never know who you will run into in life. It's a small world and the four of us are proof of it."
Yet they didn't meet each other until after they joined the Corps and ended up in the same battalion together supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom here.

The Hindu News Update Service: "Egyptian cops nab 28 members of largest Islamic group

Cairo, April 24. (AP):Egyptian authorities arrested 28 members of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest Islamist organization, before dawn Saturday in northern Egypt, police and Brotherhood members said.

The arrests followed a 15,000-strong protest in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, where 23 of the arrests were made late Friday and early Saturday, according to Ali Abdel Fattah, a senior member of the Brotherhood. He said 5 others in nearby Menoufia province.

Police confirmed the arrests, and the number of protesters, but did not link the demonstration - believed to be the largest of late by Brotherhood supporters - with the detentions or give any other reason for the crackdown."

Operation Kaya Green Marines with 6th Fleet in beach head assault with IDF

U.S. Marines practiced their " extraction operations to evacuate US personnel and conduct such exercises periodically in Israel."
"These are highly specialized operations that require constant training," said a source familiar with the maneuvers."
Hundreds of US Marines riding hovercrafts stormed ashore the beaches of Nitzanim Wednesday as part of joint maneuvers being quietly held between the US and Israeli militaries.

"

Billings, Montana welcomes home their 40 Marine heroes with Parade and Barbecue

There is absolutely nothing like coming home and even better coming home to a community that appreciates what you have done. Billings, Montana, in the heartland of America, made sure that all their reservists knew their efforts in defense of their country were acknowledged and appreciated.
Marines welcomed home - billingsgazette.com: "The homecoming parade was organized to welcome home members of Bravo Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division from Iraq. The Marines were stationed for 10 months at Camp Fallujah, south of the Iraqi city that was a hotbed of insurgency.
The Marines, delivered downtown in camouflage-colored trucks, walked along in a loose formation, behind a Marine color guard. The parade started at the corner of North 25th Street and Third Avenue North.
Several Billings Police and Yellowstone County patrol cars escorted the reservists, lights flashing and sirens blaring. Skyview High musicians, standing on a flatbed truck, came behind the reservists, playing assorted tunes, and a Billings fire truck brought up the rear.
Bystanders clapped and cheered, waved small American flags and held up signs as the Marines passed by. Smiles broke out on the faces of the soldiers who seemed surprised by the enthusiastic crowd.
Ruby Aycock brought a sign to welcome her son, Cpl. Robby Aycock. It read 'Welcome Home Daddy Son Husband Brother Nephew.'
The sign also contained a photo of her son and a picture of his twin infants, Davin and Meric, born while he was away.
'I'm just so glad to have him home,' she said. 'I'm glad he's safe and all the others came home without too much injury.'
About 35 students from Hunter Jones' eighth-grade history classes held a blue-and-red sign that read 'Welcome Home.' The Will James Middle School students sent weekly letters and regular packages to the Marine Reservists during their tenure in Iraq, Jones said.
Occasionally the troops broke rank to shake hands or hug a parade watcher. Then they got back in line and kept walking until they finished the short parade route, about 20 minutes later.
After the parade, the reservists planned to go to the Billings Armed Forces Reserve Center with family and friends for a barbecue.
Maribeth Daines of Billings came to the parade with her three children and one of their friends to thank the Marines.
'I just feel like I really wanted to welcome them home,' she said, holding an umbrella decorated with an American flag. 'I appreciate what they've done for us all.'

Delta Co. Four LAR has Four Marines from same High School

The five buddies are Patsos, Baffa, Dinger, Chris Bowers and Corey Matus.
Patsos and Baffa are lance corporals; the other three are privates first class.
Matus is the only active-duty Marine, and he's currently stationed at Fort Sill, Okla.
The other four are reservists, in the same company, unit and duty station. They're with Delta Company of the 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, based at Camp Upshur on Quantico Marine Corps Base.
They're using their military benefits to attend Germanna Community College. All four also have part-time jobs.
Patsos and Baffa were the first to leave for boot camp, a few weeks after high school graduation.
The two look alike, and their platoon leaders couldn't always tell them apart. Sometimes, one would speak to Patsos or Baffa and ask about his "twin sister."
They're both Italian, about the same height, with the same dark eyes, hair and skin tone.
"And they're both ugly," quipped Bowers.
That's part of being in this private platoon, too--taking constant abuse.
But when the two returned from boot camp, their friends noticed a change. They saw a difference in how they carried themselves and talked with others, as well as their attitude and discipline.
The three others went to the local recruiting office as well, even though Dinger swore he'd never join the Marines. He'd watched their ads on TV when he was younger and vowed he wanted no part of the Corps.
But Dinger discovered it wasn't as "horrific" as everyone who's ever watched "Full Metal Jacket" might think. He also came back from boot camp a new man.
"When he left, he was 6-foot tall," Patsos said. "Now he's 6-4. You just hold yourself higher after you've been through this."
'Always the five of us'
All five had other friends in high school, in addition to the core group. Bowers even played on the state-championship soccer team and had plenty of buddies who were jocks.
Each tried to bring some of their other friends into "the group," as they like to call themselves.
"But at the end of the day, it's always the five of us," Baffa said.
It's tough on them, being apart from Matus. They worry he'll get shipped to California next, and they won't see him between assignments.
"It's hard, because you're so tight," Bowers said.
"But I talk to him almost every day," Baffa added.
The group has been even closer since finishing their 13 weeks of boot camp. Each understands what the others have been through and talks at length about the "essence" of being a Marine, Baffa said.
The men also spend a lot of time on another favorite pastime: fishing. They'll be out on the Rappahannock River until the wee hours of the morning, talking about what will happen if they get deployed or how they'd like to live, next to each other, and raise their children together.
"There's nothing that can break us up. Absolutely nothing," Baffa said.Fredericksburg.com - Longtime friends are now all Marines

Combating Terrorism Center

West Point has logged on with a new blog called Cambating Terrorism Center. The idea is to bring the leading lights together to stay ahead of the thugs with the latest policy analysis and advice to the top leaders on thug threats.

Combating Terrorism Center

Gazette opinion: Welcome home, Bravo Company - billingsgazette.com

Forty Marines of Bravo Company, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division returned home to Billings, Montana and a grateful community thankful for their courage and valor.
Gazette opinion: Welcome home, Bravo Company - billingsgazette.com: "

The Billings community welcomes these fathers, sons and brothers home. Two of the Marines are seeing their newborn babies for the first time.

Thank you, Bravo Company. for representing Montana and serving our country. May your reunion with loved ones be joyful.

We encourage everyone in Billings to show respect and appreciation for the Marines by heading downtown this afternoon for a homecoming parade. Let's make sure that Bravo Company knows Billings is proud of them. "

Marines Butler , Young and Fink fought off two kamikazi thug car bomb attacks on Camp Ramadi USATODAY.com -

Thugs tried to bluff their way into Camp Ramadi using a fire engine loaded with HE but they ran Marine Cpl. Butler who blew a hole into the three inch thick bullet proof windshield forcing the vehicle to veer off and explode. "Butler — that day, that Marine — that's the critical error the insurgents made," Capt. Frank Diorio says. "They thought they could keep the Marines' heads down. But he gets back up."

Butler, 21 and an Altoona, Pa., native, fired through the windshield of the first suicide bomber as he rammed a white dump truck through a barrier of abandoned vehicles the Marines had improvised. Barreling toward the camp's wall, the truck veered off at the last moment under volleys of Butler's gunfire.

"I shot 20 or 30 rounds before he detonated," he says.

Knocked down by that blast, with bricks and sandbags collapsing on top of him, Butler struggled to his feet only to hear a large diesel engine roar amid the clatter of gunfire. It was a red fire engine, carrying a second suicide bomber and passenger. Butler says both were wearing black turbans and robes, often worn by religious martyrs.

Amid the chaos of that first bomb blast, supported by gunfire from an estimated 30 dismounted insurgents, the fire engine passed largely undetected on a small road that leads from town directly past the camp wall, according a Marine report.

"I couldn't see him at first because of the smoke. It was extremely thick from the first explosion," Butler says. When the fire engine cleared the smoke, it was much closer than the dump truck had been.

As the driver accelerated past the "Welcome to Iraq" sign inside the camp's perimeter, Butler says he fired 100 rounds into the vehicle. The Marines later discovered the vehicle was equipped with 3-inch, blast-proof glass and the passengers were wearing Kevlar vests under their robes.

Pfc. Charles Young, 21, also of Altoona, Pa., hit the fire engine with a grenade launcher, slowing its progress and giving Butler time to recover. Without breaching the camp wall, the driver detonated the fire engine, sending debris flying up to 400 yards and knocking Marines from their bunks several hundred yards away. Butler, less than 50 yards away, again was knocked down by the blast, which partially destroyed the tower in which he was perched. After he crawled for cover, a third suicide bomber detonated outside the camp. That blast caused no damage or injuries. Sporadic fighting continued for several hours.

Meanwhile, Cpl. Anthony Fink of Columbus, Ohio, 21, fired a grenade launcher that the Marine unit says killed 11 insurgents. The Marines' "React Squad" swiftly deployed against the remaining insurgents.

"We were able to get the momentum back," Diorio says. He also says that Husaybah townspeople later reported 21 insurgents dead and 15 wounded. No Marines were seriously hurt.

USATODAY.com - Pa. native thwarts car-bomb attack

Lessons Learned: GROZNY

Foreign Military Studies Office Publications - CHANGING RUSSIAN URBAN TACTICS: THE AFTERMATH OF THE BATTLE FOR GROZNY: " City fighting in Grozny required much larger stocks of hand grenades, smoke grenades, demolition charges and disposable, one-shot anti-tank grenade launchers (similar to the U.S. LAW) than expected. Each infantry soldier needed a rope with a grappling hook for entering buildings. Light-weight ladders were also very valuable for assaulting infantry. Trained snipers were essential, but were in short supply.

Tank-mounted and dismounted searchlights were very useful for night assault in the city. Searchlights (as well as pyrotechnics) temporarily blinded enemy night-vision equipment and dazzled enemy gunners. They produced a psychological attack against the enemy, while helping prevent fratricide in the assault.

Artillery.

The Russians learned that conventional artillery fires are used during the approach to the city and while capturing the city outskirts. Then, the Russians deploy the bulk of their self-propelled artillery in direct-fire support of tanks and infantry. Since massed artillery fires create rubble in the very areas through which a force wants to advance, direct-fire is preferable. Direct fire can be conducted by guns, howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and the 82mm Vasilek automatic mortar. When Russian forces arrived at Grozny, they had few fire support coordinators and forward air controllers. Motorized rifle officers were not skilled in adjusting indirect artillery fire, but could readily aim and adjust direct fire.

Air power.

The Russians used a lot of fixed-wing aircraft, but they were of limited tactical value in Grozny. They were used to provide support while artillery was moved into range. Since they could not be precisely targeted, attack fighter bombers concentrated on large 'free-fire' zones. Fixed-wing aircraft proved of more value in attacking targets outside the city. Helicopter gunships were of much more value, but had to fly to and from the engagement area using the shelter of captured buildings."

Lessons Learned: Ambush by 152 daisy-chain artillery rounds

Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq: "The ambush was initiated by seven 152mm artillery rounds hidden in the weeds on the shoulder of the roadway that paralleled the canal. They were daisy-chained together. The lead tank absorbed the bulk of the blast, shrapnel cutting through the main gun tube in several locations. The blast created a debris field of dust and asphalt, denser than any smoke screen I have ever seen. The truck in front of me stalled in the debris field. To my rear, one of my mortar tracks engulfed the narrow roadway. Then the small-arms fire started. We could not go forward or backward. We were in the kill zone, unable to move. Tracers flew over, under, in front of, and behind my truck. Every soldier in my truck returned fire. My supply clerk and .50-cal gunner laid down blistering fire, as the rest of us fired our M16s out the windows; aiming at the muzzle flashes from both sides of the road.

There is a time when training takes over your actions, and this was one of those times, which is why it is so important to train to standard all the time. I counted six separate muzzle flashes from the left side of the road, and four separate muzzle flashes from the right side of the road. With my magazine empty, I grabbed a fresh one and seated it firmly. An RPG flew over top. I shot at muzzle flashes until they stopped blinking. Then, as abruptly as it started, it stopped. The firefight lasted about 45 seconds: it was the longest 45 seconds of my life.

Grabbing the hand mike while yelling for a crew report, I learned that our S3 was wounded. I fed reports to the tactical operations center (TOC) while our team split into two separate columns. The wheels and the personnel carriers raced to the brigade aid station, and the tanks turned around at our rally point and moved in to secure the ambush site. Easy 14 and 16 responded to the ambush site with 14 rockets, once we were clear. I believe it was their rocket run that settled the hash of the NCFs for the remainder of the night.

The tank commander on B22 knew something was wrong. His tank lost turret power, so he lost the thermal imagery and the commander's independent thermal viewer. Still, he did not hesitate to move back in and secure the ambush site. He requested artillery illumination to aid observation. I will never forget his words over the net when he was told his request was denied: 'Illumination denied. I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.'

Our battalion quick reaction force relieved the crew on B22 a couple of hours later. The rest of the patrol drove back to our forward operating base. The B Company commander and I reported to the battalion TOC and debriefed the battle captain and the battlefield information center. I volunteered to take the battalion XO out to the ambush site at first light. We were fortunate to only suffer one casualty, as the following day we learned several things about the techniques used by our enemies.

We discovered only four of the seven daisy-chained artillery rounds detonated. God was with me - my truck was beside one of the rounds that did not explode. My scout platoon found detonation wire and traced it back along a wall between two fields, out of sight from the road. We found a stake and a screwdriver. The device was most likely fired by a car battery, and the screwdriver was used to complete the circuit. From the position of the individual who initiated the blast, he must have been in communication with a cohort who had direct observation of the roadway, because he was unable to observe the roadway from his position.

On the left side of the road, the NCFs used a cinderblock wall for cover, and the canal as an obstacle. From the right side of the road, they used climbing rigs (used for harvesting dates) to shimmy up palm trees and engage us with direct fire, using a wire fence and depression as an obstacle. Once return fire became too hot, they dropped from the trees and fled through the groves, which have a floor 8 to 10 feet lower than the roadbed. Our rounds passed harmlessly over their heads.

We discovered a small cache of hand grenades, RPG projectiles, and explosive materials. We pieced together the daisy-chained artillery rounds that initiated the ambush and the RPG launch that signaled break contact. We questioned the local populace and found them all to be very upset by the massive amounts of fire power displayed a few hours earlier, but claimed ignorance as to who planted the improvised explosive device (IED) and who was responsible for the ambush.

We learned a few days later that, shortly after we departed the area, a funeral was held. We were unable to determine how many had 'died' the day or evening prior, or from what cause. A funeral may be for one or many. The local populace tends to keep to themselves; as during the Baath party rule, it was better to be ignorant of what your neighbor was doing for reasons of self-preservation."

Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq

Lessons Learned: A Company Commander's Thoughts on Iraq: "'Train your soldiers - all of them, even the cooks, clerks, and command drivers, on dismounted operations. Teach dismounted patrol, ambush, and counter-ambush techniques. Tankers, scouts, mortarmen, you will need to do this. Teach everyone how to react to ambushes - mounted and dismounted. You cannot take your tanks and personnel carriers everywhere.'

'Teach your soldiers how to clear houses. Set inner and outer cordons, and designate search teams to enter houses. Develop your techniques before you go to Iraq. Beat up your boss so you can train with tactical human intelligence teams and tactical psychological operations teams before you deploy.

'Train your first sergeants how to process detainees. Have military police and military intelligence soldiers teach you how to do the paperwork correctly to include witness statements. If the paperwork is incomplete. really bad people end up getting released.'

This Document is in the public domain and may be reproduced in whole or in part."

Iraqi Street maps now on GPS units: First LAR

Homeland Security Technology, Inc. Delivers GPS Units to U.S. Marine Corps: "'1st LAR is the first unit to receive these GPS models equipped with Iraq street maps for use in armored vehicles,' commented CEO Jeffrey Powers. 'This model based on the Garmin GPSMAP 276C is specialty loaded with the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) allowing the Marines to read military grid coordinates and military maps on the screen. Supplied with the GPS models are external antennas to facilitate installation in armored vehicles or Hummvees.' 1st LAR will be testing these units for a period of thirty days. 'We hope to follow this delivery with a major order allowing the Marines to place the units in every armored reconnaissance vehicle,' Powers added."

VIA:Argghhh! Anatomy of an Ambush

Argghhh! has more details on the how and why 6 Army enlisted men, 1 female Sgt. were able to destroy utterly a fully armed thug ambush team (3 Army guys were immediately WIA at the first fire).
" Recognize what you are seeing here. The "good guys" are getting hit. But cohesion remains. People do their jobs. They help each other - but never lose sight of the mission. "Duty First, People Always" is a hackneyed phrase to many people... but what do you think about it now? The casualties they are taking could well have justifed a withdrawal. But they didn't? Why? I can't answer definitively without interviewing the troops - but I'll offer these hypotheses.

1. Body armor. People are hit, and wounded, but not taken completely out of the fight.

2. Combat lifesaving training. People know how to treat the wounded, and do so. That gives *everybody* confidence and a willingness to stick it out. It also returns troops to the fight... which isn't happening on the other side. Though - it's not as universal as you'd think, as is mentioned at the end. The bad guys are just getting ground down (their dead-to-wounded ratio supports that point) - and ground down by a smaller group than they are who just won't quit fighting... and the squads doing this fighting are *not* enjoying the traditional advantages of the defender. At best, this is a meeting engagement. At worst, it is an in-stride assault on a defended position by an inferior force. It doesn't get any harder than that guys.

3. Training. From training comes confidence. You'll see that mentioned later, too.

4. Leadership. Cool, and calm under fire. Leadership that directs. Controls. Leads. And we're not talking senior leaders. We're talking Staff Sergeant and Sergeant. The crucial link in any Army.

5. Trust & Confidence. Confidence that they can handle this fight - and turst that other people are busting their ass to get there and help out.

6. Discipline, discipline, discipline. Those of you who were in the Army during long periods of no-combat peace - remember how people bitched about load plans, and uniformity? Read on.

Meanwhile, the two treating the three wounded on the ground at the rear vehicle come under sniper fire from the lone house. Each of them, remember one is a medic, pull out AT-4 rocket launchers from the HMMWV and nearly-simultaneously fire the rockets into the house to neutralize the shooter. The two sergeants work their way up the trenchline, throwing grenades, firing grenades from the launcher, and firing their M4s. The sergeant runs low on ammo and runs back to a vehicle to reload. She moves to her squad leader's vehicle, and because this squad is led so well, she knows exactly where to reach her arm blindly into a different vehicle to find ammo-because each vehicle is packed exactly the same, with discipline. As she turns to move back to the trenchline, Gunner in two sees an AIF jump from behind one of the cars and start firing on the Sergeant. He pulls his 9mm, because the .50 cal is pointed in the other direction, and shoots five rounds wounding him. The sergeant moves back to the trenchline under fire from the back of the field, with fresh mags, two more grenades, and three more M203 rounds. The Mk 19 gunner suppresses the rear of the field. Now, rejoined with the squad leader, the two sergeants continue clearing the enemy from the trenchline, until they see no more movement. A lone man with an RPG launcher on his shoulder steps from behind a tree and prepares to fire on the three Hummers and is killed with a single aimed SAW shot thru the head by the previously knocked out gunner on platform two, who now has a SAW out to supplement the .50 cal in the mount. The team leader sergeant, she claims four killed by aimed M4 shots. The Squad Leader, he threw four grenades taking out at least two baddies, and attributes one other to her aimed M203 fire.

Note this:"The Medic who fired the AT-4, said he remembered how from the week before when his squad leader forced him to train on it, though he didn't think as a medic he would ever use one. He said he chose to use it in that moment to protect the three wounded on the ground in front of him, once they came under fire from the building." There is much more at Arg site. Check it out.
Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..

VIA:BLACKFIVE: After Action Report - 10 Kentucky Reservists Break Ambush

BlackFive has the complete after action report on the 10 Reservists from Kentucky who took on somewhere between 40 or 50 thugs on a roadside truck convoy ambush. BF also has a film link with sound so you can hear and see the firefight until the first humvee arrives and I guess the cameraman beat feet. Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester was credited with the first kill of the thuggie ambush team. This item was of particular interest:"The sergeant runs low on ammo and runs back to a vehicle to reload. She moves to her squad leader's vehicle, and because this squad is led so well, she knows exactly where to reach her arm blindly into a different vehicle to find ammo-because each vehicle is packed exactly the same, with discipline...Those seven Americans (with the three wounded) killed in total 24 heavily armed enemy, wounded 6 (two later died), and captured one unwounded, who feigned injury to escape the fight.(must be the cameraman) They seized 22 AK-47s, 6x RPG launchers w/ 16 rockets, 13x RPK machineguns, 3x PKM machineguns, 40 hand grenades, 123 fully loaded 30-rd AK magazines, 52 empty mags, and 10 belts of 2500 rds of PK ammo. Read the rest at BlackFive.
BLACKFIVE: After Action Report - Raven 42 Ambushed!: "AFTER ACTION REPORT: Raven 42 action in Salman Pak
"

Thugs Plan for TWD Total World Domination w/a little Help from the French ( cheese eating surrender monkeys

Bat Ye'or 's new book, (required reading for warriors),Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis describes in devastating precise detail the three pronged war you will be fighting against :military, economic and cultural. American Thinker has a great interveiw with the author in which she outlines exactly how the war against America did not end with the death of Hitler but was continued, as a back burner, until 1967 when Isreal swept the battlefield. Read the interview here:
The American Thinker

In Fallujah, a thuggee complains about U.S. Marines Via: Inside the Ring -- The Washington Times

Some Marine units moved through Fallujah in November with Arabic translators. The infantrymen wanted to be able to eavesdrop on the terrorists' radio net.
A Marine told us that, roughly translated, one terrorist was heard to say: "We are fighting. But the Marines keep coming. We are shooting, but the Marines won't stop."
Inside the Ring -- The Washington Times

Brit's capture thug at Heathrow Airport VIA:Cynical Nation

12:48 PM
This hasn't hit the news yet, but my brother-in-law is sitting on a plane in Heathrow Airport as we speak, and there is apparently some action going on. It seems his plane was stormed by agents with machine guns, who seized a Middle Eastern passenger from my brother-in-law's row and removed him from the plane.

This is happening as I type this. The wonders of modern technology. More to follow,Cynical Nation

Armoured Wild Pigs Success Marker

The American Enterprise: In the Middle East, a New World: "'It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it.'

-Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, in the Washington Post"

Marine Reservists from Charlie Co. One/ Twenty Three Get Unexpected Welcome by Generals, Colonels,Sgt.Majors

VIA:Austin Bay Blog
Austin Bay, retired Marine Reservist, author and newspaper columnist, was attending a III Corps conference in Corpus Christi when the meeting was interrupted by

"a young officer walked into the hotel ballroom and announced that a US Marine Reserve company was returning to its home base in Corpus after a seven month-tour in Iraq." I’m not sure that anybody actually said “Let’s go,” but BG Troy and LTG Tom Metz (III Corps commander) and the rest of the senior staff (brigadiers, colonels, lieutenant-colonels, sergeant-majors, and master sergeants) instantly emptied the seminar room. To appropriate a colloquial phrase: we beat feet.

Traffic cops and a slew of passersby lined the sidewalk. A Coast Guard helicopter buzzed in from Corpus Christi Bay then banked .

We joined the crowd on the corner of Water Street and Peoples. We may have waited three minutes, at the most. Here came the convoy— a police escort followed by two buses filled with young Marines. We cheered, saluted and clapped as the company rolled by. (I feel certain the company belongs to the 1/23rd Marines. The 1/23rd is a Marine reserve battalion just back from Iraq—and I have friends in Central Texas whose sons serve in that unit. If I’ve got the Corpus Christi unit misidentified, post a comment or drop me an email and I’ll correct it.)

Most of us old codgers wore short-sleeves and slacks, so it’s a fair bet the Marine reservists didn’t know their former Corps commander and his senior staff were cheering with the home crowd. (Probable wisecrack if someone informed a lance corporal: “Hey, sarge—are those the guys responsible for all the dumb orders you didn’t like?”)

Actually, the Marines were smiling and waving—the one memorable face I saw framed in the bus window as it shot past was that of a delighted but obviously tired young man.

Jet lag or Iraq lag? Or lag from a week at the 29 Palms Marine base? Doesn’t really matter now– welcome home.

Thugmaster's Grand Strategy to defeat America via:TigerHawk

Michael Doran, Princeton University history professor, recently gave standing room only lectures on the thuggies strategy for success in taking over the world by defeating American forces. Doran was denied tenure because his politics are to the right and in support of Bush. Tigerhawk attended the lectures and you need to expand your military education by reading, thinking and digesting these ideas .
TigerHawk