Taking on Sadr City in a Pickup Truck

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55284-2004Sep27.html

BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 -- The convoy stopped in a single-file line: a half-dozen U.S. armored military vehicles and one gray Nissan pickup truck, all of them idling in a dirt lot in the insurgent-controlled slum called Sadr City.

In the pickup were five members of the Iraqi National Guard, resting up after patrolling with U.S. troops. The men sipped water in the hot midday sun. They wore bulletproof vests but no helmets as they sat in their unarmored truck.

Without warning, an orange fireball engulfed the area, followed by a deafening explosion and then gray smoke that blotted out the sun. When it cleared, the Nissan and the Iraqis inside it were riddled with marble-size ball bearings that had sprayed from a roadside bomb.

"They're dead! All of them are dead!" shouted an American soldier who had rushed to the vehicle.

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[KeepItReal]

1. Damn those Iraqis are either very brave or totally desperate for a check.

They are even bigger targets than our troops and are dying by the dozen.

I hope they are doing that job for more than just the paycheck.

[henslee]

2. One day soon, we will all see up close video of the Iraqi war and we will

be amazed and horrified. The fact we live in the video age yet no video hits the airwaves is a testament to the effective censoring ability of this administration, from flagged coffins to war dead to live combant, we dont see crap. Shame on reporters for not letting it out.

[KeepItReal]

3. The footage is out there...*American* media ain't showing it.

The BBC (On satellite) shows clips of what is going on an offers *much* better analysis.

The media here has mostly sold us out. More importantly, they sold out our troops for cheerleading the B.S. GOP lies that got us into Iraq in the first place.