Iraqis mount bold attacks in Baghdad, Ramadi

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO722227.htm

BAGHDAD, April 17 (Reuters) - About 50 insurgents mounted a brazen attack on Iraqi forces in Baghdad on Monday, prompting U.S. troops to provide support in a battle that lasted seven hours, a U.S. military spokesman said.

The guerrillas attacked Iraqi forces in the mostly Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya in northern Baghdad overnight. Five rebels were killed and one member of the Iraqi forces was wounded. There were no U.S. casualties, said the spokesman.

"It was quite a battle. It lasted seven hours," he said.

While insurgents mount such attacks in their strongholds in western Anbar province, they are rare in the Iraqi capital.

The U.S. military also said insurgent attacks at a government centre and mosque were repulsed on Monday in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

[peacebird]

1. Battle lasts seven hours, only six dead...? What's wrong with this picture

edit - Not that I want more carnage, but it seems like seven hours is a long time for a heated battle to be waged, probably a lot of munitions fired and such a low body count?

Almost sounds like they need some time at the target range.....

[tatertop]

2. What happened to all that high tech weaponry the US wastes $ on?

Are we shooting M1s again?
I could see an old fashioned shoot and
run ending this way but you would
think in over seven hours the US would have called in
overpowering support, like what they kept showing
again and again and again on TV
in the lead up to this invasion.

(No offense intended toward the M1.)