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December 26, 2004
Suicide Attack on U.S. Forces May Have Been Due to Lax Iraqi Security Personnel Combined with Iraqi Military Accomplice (latest video link here)
Topics: Middle East News and PerspectivesUpdates are below!
It seems that at least according to these reports the suicide bomber that killed U.S. forces in the mess tent at the Mosul base is the result of the lax security by Iraqi forces and the direct assistance of an Iraqi Army accomplice. Rather than be deterred, we must be even more determined to beat these terrorists there in Iraq, rather than wait and face this madness here in America. Having seen the video, what there is of it which isn't much, it appears that one or more insurgents were close enough to the tent that he or they could actually photograph the explosion of the suicide murderer, and then felt comfortable enough to drive by the road near the mess tent and video the aftermath of the explosion in the tent. Let it not be said that the terrorists are timid about their activities. They seem not to fear capture so close to the base. This is disturbing and makes you want to ask just what is going on with base peripheral security!
Comprehensive coverage from multiple news sources is provided below:
BBC News (UK) reports;
The militant group claiming last week's suicide attack on US forces in
northern Iraq has released a tape apparently showing preparations for
the bombing.
(...) The video appeared on Sunday on the website of the group, Ansar al-Sunna. Tuesday's attack on a US facility near the northern city of Mosul left 22 people dead, prompting questions about security at the base.
(...) One of the men said a member of the group would be breaking into the base during the changing of guards.
(...) "This lion will then proceed to his target and we will take advantage of lunch time.
(...) "He will storm the dining room where the crusaders and their (Iraqi) allies are gathered," the man said before embracing the apparent bomber, wearing a vest loaded with explosives.
Continue reading BBC News UK ...
From Japan Today, Monday Dec 27;
Iraqi general says troops willing to fight. BAGHDAD -- Iraq's top general on Sunday rejected U.S.
President George Bush's criticism that some Iraqi government troops
were unwilling to fight insurgents and have deserted the battlefield,
saying the president had been misinformed.
Gen Babaker B Shawkat Zebari also said that the man who carried out
Tuesday's suicide attack on a U.S. base in Mosul -- in which 22 people
died -- was not a member of the Iraqi security forces.
Times Online Reports; (...) THE suicide bomber who killed 22 soldiers and
contractors at an American military base at Mosul last week had inside
help from militant sympathisers who infiltrated Iraqi forces being
trained by the Pentagon. (...) The devastating attack on an American mess tent -- just over a
month before elections in Iraq -- has severely shaken American
confidence in local security forces who are eventually intended to
replace coalition troops in maintaining order.
(...) Sources
close to Ansa al-Sunna, a Sunni Muslim terrorist group blamed for the
bombing, said the attack was the result of a month of planning using
information from sympathisers who had infiltrated the camp.
(...) "The aim was to kill as many Americans as possible," said one source. The group wants Taliban-style religious rule in Iraq.
(...) The bomber is believed to have entered the camp's main gate dressed in an Iraqi police uniform and carrying a police identity card. One of his accomplices was on guard duty at the gate, and helped persuade the soldiers he had come to take away air conditioning units for repair. The bomber was said to have been waved through without further inspection.
The insurgent's video has as it's final shot what seems to be the explosion at the base, and a final image of the the torn tent (info from BBC article). I am in the process of locating the video link.
For extensive coverage on the Mosul attack and the terrorist group check HERE... and then follow the additional links.
This post was cross posted at Jawa Report and inTheBullPen, both of whom can always be counted on to have good information on these types of events. Be sure to visit them also.
UPdate: An assortment of recent (but not the most recent) videos and translations are availble Here...
Update2: Update as of Dec 26 8:44 PM - link to newest Mosul attack video is Here... (thanks to inTheBullPen for an updated link to avoid using our original link that both inTheBullPen and Hysciecne hesitate to use unless no other options are available)
From Northeast Intelligence Network, here is brief of transcript:
26 December 2004:
Analysts from the Northeast Intelligence Network found the videotape
released by Ansar al Sunnah terrorists illustrating the attack at Camp
Marez in Mosul, Iraq. The video depicts 3 homicide bombers gathered in
a room with their characteristic black-flag back drop, wearing black
and black hoods hiding their cowardly faces, reading a statement into
the camera. The footage then memorializes their plans to kill US troops
at the US base camp, and moves to a video footage by a camera trained
on the camp in the minute of so prior to the blast. The camera records
the blast as it takes place, ending with a drive-by of the camp
depicting the damage from the exterior.
Update 3: Here is Aljazeera's article on the release of the video...
Posted by Hyscience at December 26, 2004 8:19 PM
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