Marines retrieving crippled tank come under insurgent attack

[Barrett808]

Marines retrieving crippled tank come under insurgent attack
BY JAMES JANEGA
Chicago Tribune
Posted on Tue, May. 10, 2005

AL QAIM, Iraq - (KRT) - For more than a day and much of the night, the M-1 Abrams tank sat disabled in the desert, hobbled by an anti-tank mine. The main battle had pushed to the north, across the Euphrates River and west toward the Syrian border.

A handful of Marines and another Abrams had stayed behind with the wounded tank to wait for help, and now help was on the way.

But as the column of armored vehicles raced toward the scene early Tuesday, it took a wrong turn in the darkness and unfamiliar terrain and wound up in the cross hairs of an insurgent ambush. The Marines sent to the rescue needed help themselves.

The tanks were rolling through the town of Karabilah on the Euphrates' south bank about 1 a.m. when Lance Cpl. James Sutton, a 20-year-old tank driver from Wyoming, Ill., spotted men lurking atop several buildings. He said he could not pick out the details - his infrared scope, used to give him night vision, showed the men only as silhouettes against the sky.

But then his screen bloomed with black blotches signaling the heat of muzzle flashes. Tiny black dots - bullets - streamed toward his tank and the armored Humvees ahead of him.

(more)

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/world/11613465.htm

[kainah]

1. it just gives me a sick feeling to read this n/t

[UpInArms]

2. they seem surprised that there is

opposition and it's only 5 miles from their Al Qaim base :shakeshead:

Within minutes, Black Hawk helicopters evacuated the wounded Marines. Soon after, undamaged tanks towed the broken M88 and Abrams back to the Marine base at Al Qaim, about five miles away.

Oh . My . God .

What? Are these guys never off their bases and so unprepared for how much the Iraqis want them out of their country?

[atreides1]

3. The Chain of Command

Use propaganda to first convince these guys that everything is just great, and then keeps telling them how the insurgents are on the run.

Let's face facts, most of the troops still believe that they have brought a better life to the Iraqi people, and we all know that just isn't true. The troops also still believe that they are defending us from the terrorist hordes, but while they are dying for BushCo, the
politicians here slowly whittle our rights away.

So what exactly is it that the US military is defending, because it sure isn't the United States?

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. Iraq has oil. I wonder when they are finally going to admit

the purpose of "Mission Iraqi Freedom"?

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

5. The insurgents are in uniform

Supposedly

See my thread in GD http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3634758&mesg_id=3634758

[Voltaire99]

6. The function of this piece

Embedded infotainment to go with your Wheaties.

I'm glad there were no deaths. Now get the hell out of Iraq.