Insurgents on rampage in north Iraq city of Mosul

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BAK135332.htm

MOSUL, Iraq, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Insurgents set police stations ablaze, stole weapons and brazenly roamed the streets of Mosul on Thursday as Iraq's third largest city appeared to be sliding out of control, residents said.

Explosions and fire from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard echoing across the city and columns of smoke rose from at least two police stations set alight.

"It's crazy, really, really crazy," said Abdallah Fathi, a resident who witnessed a police station being attacked. snip

In the past three days, there has been a step up in guerrilla activity in Samarra, Baiji, Baquba, Tikrit, Ramadi, areas of Baghdad and in the holy city of Kerbala to the south.

more

[Randi_Listener]

1. "Let's play the Insurgency Shell Game!!!"

"Think we're i Fallujah?!?"

"Fuck you! We're in Mosul and Tikrit and Baghdad and Samarra and Ramadi and we're going to Saddam City to take back Saddam's palace! Yeee-aaaaah!"

[w13rd0]

3. Sounds like Rummy's pinpointing...

...of WMD...about as accurate too no doubt.

[jamesinca]

7. That is exactly it

There is a build up and concentration of forces at Fallujah and the defenders of Iraq go to other cities. The U.S. military and its allies are so stretched that they can not respond to multiple cities like this. I don't know the troop strength in the Fallujah assault, but with the six cities that you list, that would give us about 21,000 per city. 21,000 troops is not going to hold anything of size. Throw Basra and Najaf and Karbala into the mix, and we are stretched way to thin with supply lines and troop strength. We are already at the disadvantage of 192 citizens per U.S. soldier. Sure we are rotating troops and people are enlisting, and we can not forget the contributions of Poland but lets not forget they have the entire Middle East to recruit from. With Condi Rice stating during the summer the U.S. intended on having Iran's government overthrown, do you think they will help us or them?

There is a report that a big explosion happened in Baghdad today, just missing a U.S. convoy. I wonder what that was about.

[0007]

16. ....but....but General Myers said that Fallujah was a success

[Zhade]

27. THANK GOD YOU REMEMBERED POLAND!

NT!

[Randi_Listener]

33. The goddamn evidence is mounting.

It's a total clusterfuck over there now.

[JSJ]

2. 'rampage' is a bigoted way to describe defending a country...

...against 'mauraders'.

[teryang]

4. This shows the futility of the occupation

American forces cannot consolidate power for a domestic government in Iraq. They can't consolidate a colonial administration either.

As much as repuke ideologues think that an outside nation can force law and order on Iraq they are dreaming.

[Sideways]

5. Don't Forget Kiddies Ramadan Is Over In A Few Days This Should Get Tense

FUCK....

[leftchick]

6. This has been happening for weeks ...

perhaps months. They just chose to report it now.

[sattahipdeep]

8. psycho or psychotherapist

San Antonio corporate real estate
Bremer said he would sum up his 14 months as civilian
administrator by saying he served as a 'psychotherapist to
a nation suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.'

Security at Bremer's speech before Core Net Global, an
organization of commercial real estate professionals, was
extraordinarily tight, with four plain clothed security agents
and at least two uniformed San Antonio police officers
ringing the stage where he spoke.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=36FC949A-C5D2-42E8-BFB1-855B845764D4

Former Civilian Administrator L. Paul Bremer III told a
corporate real estate group here today that the US has
already rescued Iraq from the 'spectacular economic
mismanagement' of thirty years of dictatorship, and begun
to turn around a 'chaotic system' in which inflation was
running at 115,000 percent a year, and expenditures on
everything from health care to public infrastructure was
gradually declining.

[LynnTheDem]

35. Bremer is LYING. As usual.

Iraq was IMPROVING economically, in spite of US-enforced sanctions.

THAT is a FACT.

And THAT is one of the main reasons bushCartel attacked & invaded Iraq.

[northernsoul]

9. this is the military equivalent of whack-a-mole

I knew weeks ago that very few of the legitimate military targets in Fallujah would still be there by the time we rolled in, and that the lion's share of insurgents would simply pop up somewhere we weren't looking.
Letting Mosul fall into chaos in order to chase shadows in Fallujah- isn't this kind of like giving up Chicago in order to take Cincinatti?

[saigon68]

10. Yes we predicted this down to a tee.

The whole killing spree is meant to solidify the Bush Criminals whacked out Jesus Base that Bush, Cheney and the NeoCons are finally going to exterminate the EVIL SATANIC MUSLIMS once and for all.

[grumpy old fart]

11. Nailing jello to a tree....

when, oh when, will the msm stop treating this like some sporting event and report it as the mindless, illegal, meat grinder it is? Everyone in Iraq is now armed to the teeth with the tons of weapons we left unsecured, it's a fair fight all around, so let's just tell 'em: you want a free democratic country, you fight for it. We're outta here.

[NNN0LHI]

12. No. We cannot leave yet

Us Americans are funny people. Not the kind of funny that makes you laugh. Our pride and arrogance will require that thousands of more Americans die before we can admit to our mistake and leave these people alone. That is just the way it is. I have seen it before. Don't kill the messenger please.

Don

[reprobate]

13. Right. It's called "Saving Face"

[Buck Rabbit]

23. Until we can acheive "Peace With Honor"

That is where you leave under the same terms you could have had, thousands of deaths earlier, but with a cool sounding spin.

[Zhade]

28. Nah, it's called "White Man's Burden", and it's a fool's game.

They will keep killing the foreign invaders (i.e., American forces) until we either

1) Leave of our own volition, or

2) Get forced out, like in Viet Nam.

It's going to happen. To think otherwise is fantasy.

[donkeyotay]

15. oh, you are so right. America is never wrong

I could never buy that, although the war was based on a lie and going there was wrong, now we have to stay until we WIN. Win what? Kucinich was right: we needed to start by owning up to our mistake and make plans for as orderly a withdrawal as possible. We needed to accept that the governance that the Iraqi's chose was not going to be something we approved of. All of this was known before we attacked.

But this country can't admit it was WRONG.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO WIN THERE? How will we know when the mission is accomplished? Bush should have been impeached for this immoral, ill-conceived and poorly planned war. Hell, Rummy said he'd take 100% responsiblity for his poor plans and he hasn't taken any.

WHERE'S THE ACCOUNTABILITY??? What's happened to our country?

You think I'm a traitor? I'm not against my country or the troops that defend it. I'm against the deceivers in Washington that hijacked her for purposes not in our own interests. And I don't take backseat citizenship to the religious nutjobs out there who want the world destroyed so they can go to heaven.

Sorry,NNNOLHI. I am just so not over this.

[Zhade]

29. You're a true patriot.

Those who support this illegal war AND occupation are the traitors - to the ideals of America.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Turkw]

31. It's not America that's NEVER wrong, it's Bush and his divine wisdom

And while Bush thinks its Jesus that wants him as president, its really his corporate cronies and fanatical councilors ( religious and secular). No country likes to admit its mistakes, but Bush is so convinced he is right that even face saving measures aren't being attempted an no help is being sought. Faith biased foreign policy is SO much easier than dealing with reality and facts, especially when you and your family are not the ones being wounded and killed.

[bhikkhu]

37. Faith-based foreign policy - perfect description!

n/t

[0007]

17. ....I know Don, like Minnesota funny, 'eh?

[NNN0LHI]

18. You darn tootin n/t

[donkeyotay]

14. too bad bush played politics with it. Rove didn't want the embarrassment

of dead soldiers getting in the way of their psuedo-patriotic campaign at home. So, assuming there were "legitimate military targets in Fallujah," they gave them several months to "slip out" - or whatever malarkey term they're using for the fact that Zarqawi and his band of be-headers are who-knows-where.

So, we slaughter the resistance and civilians left behind to accomplish what?

[sattahipdeep]

19. "Die, Then Vote!"

Because that is what is happening there. Escape routes have been sealed off, homes are
being demolished, and an emergency health clinic has been razed – all in the name of
preparing the city for January elections. In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, U.S.-appointed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi explained that the all-out attack was
required "to safeguard lives, elections and democracy in Iraq." :crazy:

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/20459/

[Cocoa]

20. this shows the terrorists are desperate

they know Fallujah is going to be the last nail in the coffin for them, so they're letting out one last gasp. /sarcasm

[northernsoul]

21. remaining insurgents are sac. lambs for propaganda Alamo

My guess is that because they've known for several months that this assault was coming the insurgents developed the following strategy:
1) Have Zaqarwi and the bulk of the insurgent slip away to go raise hell someplace we weren't prepared to defend (Mosul?)
2) Have a couple hundred die-hard fighters stick around to:
* allow an initial wave of troops to roll over them and then start sniping easy targets in areas that have been "secured" - this ups their kill count and takes a heavy psychological toll on the troops who will never be able to feel safe (think about how much havoc one skilled sniper can wreak as demonstrated in the movie 'Enemy at the Gates')
* U.S. troops will have to respond to sniper attacks by doing house to house searches for the shooter. Some of these house will be booby-trapped (more causualties) and the odds of Americans accidentally gunning down civilians are dramatically increased (huge propaganda / recruiting value for the insurgents there)
* There may be some kind of dramatic last stand where all the remaining insurgents end up dead, hence becoming martyrs to the cause and serving as the propaganda cause (Texans remember the Alamo 150 years later, and this is a part of the world where folks remember slights and wrongs from centuries ago like they were last week)

I hope I'm wrong, because I think that the incompetents in D.C. have made another huge strategic blunder by getting sucked into this kind of battle.

[bhikkhu]

38. Don't forget its a densely populated city

The mobile Baathists and foreign fighters, if they were really there to begin with, are likely gone to new pastures. Those that remain are likely residents, who are as entitled to fight for their city as we might fight for ours in the same circumstances.

[maddezmom]

22. US and Iraqi forces still battling in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq - Insurgents launched attacks in Iraq (news - web sites)'s third-largest city Thursday, raiding police stations and political offices. U.S. and Iraqi forces were battling guerrillas in Mosul hours later, and an American official acknowledged it could take "some time" to secure the city.



Smoke rose from several areas as U.S. warplanes streaked overhead. The attacks may have been launched in hopes of relieving pressure on the insurgent bastion of Fallujah, which U.S. and Iraqi forces stormed Monday.


Mosul authorities warned residents to stay away from the five major bridges across the Tigris River because of fighting in the area. Militants brandishing rocket-propelled grenades were in front of the Ibn Al-Atheer hospital in the city's Jammia district.

U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowman said some of the attacks on police stations overwhelmed "the capabilities of the existing police force" and that five police stations were ransacked.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=3&u=/ap/20041111/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_mosul_attacks

[maddezmom]

24. Nine police stations attacked

Gunmen besieged nine police stations, some of which police "turned over" to the attackers, Ahmed said.


"The internal security forces...are a failure and are ineffective because some of them are cooperating with the terrorists," he said.


Insurgents overpowered the guards at the PUK headquarters and forced those inside to leave.


A U.S. statement said the local governor, Duraid Kashmoula, was turning to other local governments to find ways "to restore and maintain a police presence." That suggested authorities were planning to call in Iraqi reinforcements from other provinces of the north.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041111/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_mosul_attacks_4

[theHandpuppet]

26. I assume that "ransacked" means...

.... the Iraqis helped themselves to weapons, ammo, protective gear and whatever else might come in handy. I don't think they were there to raid the Coke machine.

[Zynx]

36. Yep. Loot, then torch.

And run off enjoying your nice new AK-47's.

[SOS]

25. Mosul has been seething for months

Looks like the lid just blew off.
The Bush lackeys at CNN will have to come up with a spiffy new graphic in a couple of weeks. "The Battle for Mosul" or something like that.
People who actually report from Iraq have been saying that Mosul is a powder keg of anti-American rage. This should have been expected.

[bamacrat]

30. i think some one needs to shut the window

:scared:

[UpInArms]

32. kick

:kick: