U.S. Marine killed in fighting west of Baghdad

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L17199138.htm

BAGHDAD, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Insurgents killed a U.S. Marine during fighting in the violent Anbar province west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Friday.

The attack occurred on Thursday while the Marine was conducting "security and stabilization" operations, a statement said, but did not say where exactly the attack took place.

more

[Erika]

1. Yes

See www.icasualties.org.

[daleo]

2. I was going to say that makes 1300

But, I hadn't checked for a few hours, so I found out it actually brings the number to 1303. It isn't easy keeping up with the costs of Bush's criminal folly.

[TahitiNut]

3. You forgot Poland

Sixteen Polish military personnel have been killed, including three in the last week. That's part of 149 'cOILition' fatalities.

[Barkley]

5. I love reading your posts TahitiNut! - nt

[daleo]

6. Very true.

Then of course there are the tens of thousands of Iraqi dead, which shamefully, we don't see counted, let alone identified.

[TahitiNut]

7. Indeed. That's where the greatest inhumanity lies.

Iraqi live aren't counted because they don't count in the corrupt minds of the Bushoilini Regime. I believe Lancet's estimate of over 100,000 killed. If the same rate of death were visited upon the US, that'd be over 1.1 million murders. It's a crime against humanity.

[stanwyck]

20. And as my fundie co-worker said

last week: "I don't care how many people die in Iraq. It just doesn't matter."
This was the guy tapped to give our inspirational message at our holiday party. I left the room during that part...was told later it was very evangelical and very inappropriate on many levels.
I told him I was just glad he didn't repeat his "I don't care..." as the Christmas message.
He's not speaking to me now. Which is good.

[74dodgedart]

11. How many Iraqi policeman and security personnel ?

You notice they don't mention that much...Except when they can score points during the debates.

[jmcgowanjm]

12. Polish Helicopter previous day Shot Down IRF 7 Polish Crew killed.

IRR 121704

The Iraqi Resistance organization Jama‘at at-
Tawhid wa-al-Jihad al-‘Iraqi announced on Thursday that it
had shot down a Polish aggressor helicopter in the al-
Imam neighborhood of Karbala’ at about 9:45am
on Wednesday, killing seven Polish soldiers who were aboard
it. The organization said it had used a Strela rocket to bring
down the aircraft. Eyewitnesses told Mafkarat al-Islam that
after their helicopter was hit, the Polish invader troops
jumped out, falling into a garden in the al-Imam
neighborhood where at-Tawhid wa-al-Jihad fighters
hunted them down and killed them with spears and other
silent weapons. The fighters then took their identity papers
and weapons.

[TahitiNut]

15. 'Resistance' claims 7, other sources confirm 3.

"Three soldiers died after engine failure forced a helicopter to make an emergency landing about 8 km (5 miles) from Kerbala," said Lieutenant-Colonel Artur Domanski, spokesman for the Polish-led multinational division in Iraq.

Four other soldiers were injured in the crash, Domanski said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041215/wl_nm/iraq_poland_helicopter_dc_1


3 + 4 = 7
The 'reistance' claims it was shot down, while the Poles attribute it to 'engine failure.' (Perhaps the engine 'faieed' to swallow a rocket.)

[jmcgowanjm]

16. And speaking of helos falling from the sky

Remember yesterday reports of fierce
battle in western Baghdad?

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A50D23C6-D413-469D-B405-4BF336A1E60A.htm

Update IRR

Fierce battle in Abu Ghurayb as Resistance wipes out US column, shoots down helicopter.

According to eyewitnesses who spoke with Mafkarat al-Islam
in Baghdad, Iraqi Resistance fighters battled US invader
troops in the as-Samilat area of Abu Ghurayb from about
1:20pm until 2:15pm Thursday. Two Iraqi Resistance car
bombs exploded by a column of US troops that had entered
the area. After those blasts, Resistance fighters opened fire
with RPG7, RPG8, and C5K rockets, as well as BKC
machine guns. Two US helicopters attempted to intervene in
the fighting to rescue the beleaguered column, but
the Resistance shot one of the choppers down. The body of
one of the crewmen from the blasted helicopter could be
seen hanging in a tree. By the time the fighting was over,
the entire American column had been wiped out.
American troops later arrived to surround the area of the
attack and conceal their casualties, as is standard US
practice.

In a report posted at 4:59pm Mecca time (5:59pm local
time) Mafkarat al-Islam reported that eyewitnesses had
reported that American troops had begun to evacuate
their corpses and demolished tanks at about 4pm
Thursday. They confirmed that none of the Americans
had survived the attack and said that about 83 bodies had
been placed in black body
bags.

[reprobate]

19. Didn't most of us predict large US casualty counts?

Was it chairman Mao who stated that an army could not win against an insurgent force (known as freedom fighters in most of the rest of the world) if the insurgent force had at least the passive support of the local people?

I don't know the capabilities of the rpg7, rpg8, or c5k rocket, but I do know that we have lost M1 tanks there before.

Here is my question: I thought the M1 tank was touted as the next thing to indestructable. And yet we have individual insurgents with shoulder fired weapons destroying entire squadrons (are they still called "squadrons"?) of tanks almost with impunity. Why?

Are they NOT as safe as they led us to believe? And have we been gamed again by the military-industrial-congressional complex so that the mfgrs can make more profits?

ATTENTION...ATTENTION...UNCONTROLLABLE RANT FOLLOWS......ATTENTION

I cant speak for anyone else, only myself and spouce, but we are getting GOD DAMNED TIRED of a society that is based entirely on war and killing our fellow man. It pervades our media. Killing is the way to solve ANY problem. What a stupid, arrogent attitude. We kill tens and tens of thousands of iraqi civilians and don't expect retaliation? Hey, President Dumbass, these folks hold grudges for generations, while you have trouble remembering yesterday. If they don't get even, their sons will, or their grandsons. They will not forget. They may wait until your successor, or his successor is in power, but they will repay what we have done to them. WE will pay for your stupid, arrogent, unplanned, false war, while you bask in the glow of your millions on some golden beach protected by secret service.

Sir, your actions have guaranteed that you will be remembered in as one of the most hated in history. You will stand beside Hitler, Caligula, Nero, Gengis Khan, etc, the most infamous destroyers of civilizations. May you bask in the glory of world hatred.

And on top of all that, you are destroying OUR nation as well.

Can we play a mind experiment? Imagine if you will, our society if just a third of the military budget were diverted to heath care, research into alternative fuels, and making sure no american goes hungry and unsheltered. What a much more pleasant nation...no, world, it would be. I find myself asking just who or what are the peoplr who are preventing this. And just who will save us from these predators? For we surely need rescue. As a nation we are inevitably sliding into destruction not unlike the fable of the lemmings. Are we, as americans, really no smarter than lemmings?

On edit: I just found out that Discovery Wings channel will now be know as the Discovery Military channel. A channel devoted to the past present, and future of aviation will now be war, war, and more war.

I rest my case.

[Just Me]

22. I relate to your rant.

However, predatory bullies are short-term winners.

Ultimately, they will fall.

Opposition is building momentum, strength and direction.

We will overcome and conquer.

Don't give up. Okay?

[reprobate]

23. Not giving up. Just battle fatigue after 4 yrs of the dipshit in DC

And thanks for the thought. Being a cynic at heart it's not hard to look on the dark side. Takes an occasional full body shake to get the concentration back.

[jmcgowanjm]

24. They - we - have only to remember that empires fall.

They - we - have only to remember that empires fall. British
writer Nicholas Hildyard, of the radical research institute
The Cornerhouse, reminds us that only one side is
running scared: "Many seats of power have always been
pretty powerless over many areas of our lives. If you read
the literature of companies that we all ascribe great power
to, their main preoccupation is how to overcome resistance
from the likes of us and other movements. The most
subversive thing we can do now is to free ourselves from
fear and recognize our own
power."

Mahatma Gandhi said it simpler still: "First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you
win."

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2002/02/22723.html

[leftchick]

8. 1303!

Military Fatalities: By Time Period

Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
3 446 14 17 477 2.77 172
2 717 27 58 802 1.89 424
1 140 33 0 173 4.02 43
Total 1303 74 75 1452 2.27 639

To View Period Details Click The Period Number
Time Periods Defined
Latest Fatality: Dec 16, 2004


An Incomplete List of Contractors Killed or Missing in Iraq
Military Fatalities: By Month
Period US UK Other* Total Avg Days
12-2004 42 0 3 45 2.65 17

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. 1453 total coalition troops dead

RIP to all

[Swamp Rat]

4. Another life lost.

Another family ruined. :cry:

[NYC]

9. And Bush sleeps soundly.

[lebkuchen]

10. another machine-signed DoD letter hits the post office

~

[jmcgowanjm]

13. The Battle of Kursk

The battle raged on all day  and by evening as the last
shots were being fired the two sides disengaged.
German losses amounted to over 300 tanks lost with the
Soviets losing a similar
number.

So the Battle of Fallujah is not quite there.

IRR 121604
in the last 24 hrs

3:26pm Mecca time Thursday:

Shaykh Abu As‘ad ad-Dulaymi, official spokesman for the
city’s(Fallujah) Resistance, told Mafkarat al-Islam that more
than 600 US tanks and armored vehicles were involved in
the massive battle.

U.S Soldiers Killed.................266 (Not including Fallujah)

Abrams Main Tanks..........36 (32 inside Fallujah)
Bradley Fight Vehic...........22 (12 inside Fallujah)
Unnamed Military Vehicl....43 (43 inside Fallujah)
Humvees Des/Dis............19
Trucks/Tankers...............11
Helicopter Unnamed..........1

1:36am Friday morning Mecca time:

The communiqué continued, “As to American losses,
32 large-type US Abrams tanks were destroyed, 12
Bradley armored vehicles were destroyed. More than 43
other American vehicles were destroyed including Humvees
and personnel carriers. One US tank in operational
condition was seized by the Resistance, as were 91 light
and medium machine guns. These were taken from
Americans who were killed after the main force of the US
troops abandoned them to their fate. Military
glasses, compasses, armor, knives, spears, hand
grenades, and tear gas were seized from the Americans as
well. Tomorrow morning the extent of casualties in the
American ranks will be disclosed.”

www.uruknet.info

[radric]

17. Sounds like Saddam's PR guy...

has escaped from prison and is the new voice of the insurgents hehe

[leftchick]

18. saddam's guy has morphed into...

all US military spokespersons. "The back of the insurgency is broken, Just a few deadenders, Freedom is on the March! Let Freedom reign! " , etc., etc....

[saigon68]

21. ITS REALLY # 1304 ------ I CASUALTIES HAS IT

http://icasualties.org/oif/

CHECK IT OUT