Insurgents attack U.S. logistics base near Baghdad International Airport

[Judi Lynn]

Insurgents attack U.S. logistics base near Baghdad International Airport
01:03 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 30, 2004


Associated Press



BAGHDAD, Iraq – Insurgents fired at least eight mortar rounds at a U.S. base on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday, wounding six soldiers, two of them critically, and starting a fire that burned for well over an hour.

Guerillas hit the logistics base operated by the New Mexico National Guard in support of the 1st Calvary Division at about 8:15 a.m. local time, said Col. Michael Formica, the commander of the division's 2nd Brigade.

A pall of black smoke hung over the airport for an hour.

The base has been subject to almost daily mortar attacks, but this was the first time the attacks caused significant casualties and damage.

The attack came only days after the U.S. coalition authorities handed over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government. Despite the end of the occupation, about 160,000 foreign troops – most of them Americans – remain in Iraq to provide security and train Iraq's new security services.
(snip/...)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/063004dnintattack.18428.html
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[bluestateguy]

1. This never happened. The war and occupation are over.

Wait, you mean we still have troops over there? I thought troops are supposed to leave when occupations end.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. The base has been subject to almost daily mortar attacks

These little tidbits that escape once in a while paint a grim picture.

Notice that they are now predicting an increase in violence in the "run up" to the "elections" in Iraq. The target keeps moving.

[leftchick]

3. Update: 11 Wounded in Attack on U.S. Base in Iraq

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716

<snip>
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgents fired at least 10 mortar rounds at a U.S. base on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday, wounding 11 soldiers, two of them seriously, and starting a fire that burned for well over an hour.


That attack, along with a car bomb that exploded outside a police headquarters in Samawah, 150 miles south of the capital, Baghdad, were yet more evidence that insurgents have no plans of letting up their attacks even after the U.S. coalition authorities handed over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on Monday.


Despite the end of the occupation, about 160,000 foreign troops — most of them Americans — remain in Iraq (news - web sites) to provide security and train Iraq's new security services. American officials have warned that the transfer of sovereignty would not stop assaults.


Guerrillas struck the logistics base on the edge of Baghdad's airport at about 8:15 a.m., said Lt. Col. Richard Rael, their commander. The base is operated by the New Mexico Army National Guard's 515 Corps Support Battalion.




Firefighters survey the damage after a mortar attack wounded 11 U.S. Army soldiers at Log Base Seitz, a U.S. Army logistics compound near Abu Ghraib, on the outskirts of Baghdad Iraq (news - web sites), Wednesday, June 30, 2004. Two of the injured were evacuated by helicopter, but all were expected to survive. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan

[catmandu57]

4. Sounds like they hit something

significant. I would have thought that they would have been attacking supply lines and storage facilities to drive the occupiers out. Maybe they have and we just aren't hearing about it.