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Bomb killing marines is largest encountered { August 4 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/world/epaper/2005/08/04/s1a_iraq_0804.htmlThe makeshift bomb was the largest such device U.S. forces have encountered to date in western Iraq, said a Marine official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing operations.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/world/epaper/2005/08/04/s1a_iraq_0804.html
14 more Marines, translator killed by bomb in Western Iraq
Los Angeles Times
Thursday, August 04, 2005
BAGHDAD — A massive roadside bomb ripped through a lightly armored Marine personnel carrier in western Iraq on Wednesday, killing 14 troops and a civilian translator in one of the deadliest single attacks on U.S. forces since the war began.
The blast near the town of Haditha brought to 21 the number of Marines killed in three days in western Iraq.
Fighting escalated in the area recently after Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in the country, ordered his forces to gain control of Iraq's border with Syria by November. Last month, commanders sent 1,800 troops to set up the first long-term U.S. base in the region.
U.S. military officials have long complained that insurgents have been smuggling foreign fighters and weapons into Iraq across the Syrian border, and have called on Syria to clamp down. Now U.S. forces are trying to stem the flow on the Iraqi side of the border, and their increased presence in the region is being met with fierce resistance by insurgents who had considered the region a safe haven, U.S. commanders said.
On Monday, gunmen in Haditha ambushed and killed six Marines, members of a sniper team who were on a mission to search for insurgents laying makeshift bombs. Also that day, a car bomb claimed another Marine in nearby Hit.
The 14 troops killed Wednesday in Haditha along with the translator were on a mission to clear insurgents from the desert. Many of the 21 slain Marines were from the same reservist company from Brook Park, Ohio.
Wednesday's blast overturned the amphibious assault vehicle in which the troops were riding. Because the escape hatches are on top, it would have been difficult for the Marines to get out of the burning vehicle, a senior Defense Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
One Marine was reported rescued after the attack.
The makeshift bomb was the largest such device U.S. forces have encountered to date in western Iraq, said a Marine official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing operations.
Beyond its sheer size, the bomb took a heavy toll because the Marines can fit more troops into their larger vehicles than the Army, which would divide a crew of about the same size into two Bradley fighting vehicles or Stryker personnel carriers.
Although the amphibious vehicles were designed to storm beachheads, Marines use the lightly armored personnel carriers to ferry troops in the Iraqi desert.
John Pike, a defense analyst with globalsecurity.org, said the amphibious vehicles were designed to protect troops against shrapnel from a distant artillery burst as well as from gunfire. But like Bradleys, they cannot withstand a nearly direct hit from an artillery shell.
"The only vehicle that will do that is an Abrams tank," Pike said.
Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, meeting with reporters at the Pentagon, called the insurgents an "adaptive enemy" that has responded rapidly to increased American armor with bigger and more sophisticated explosives designed to puncture armor.
"It's fairly well understood that coalition forces are making a concerted effort to protect personnel and vehicles throughout the country as they are moving, and the enemy is seeking ways to counter that increased protected effort," Ham said.
Insurgents also have figured out how to detonate their explosives in ways that have eluded the military's electronic jamming technology, which is designed to block the signals that set off roadside bombs. In some cases, insurgents have given up on wireless devices such as phones or garage door openers and opted to simply rig a long wire to the bomb and set it off by hand from a safe distance.
It was not immediately known how Wednesday's bomb was detonated, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The insurgent group Ansar al-Sunnah had claimed responsibility for Monday's ambush of Marines.
On Wednesday, the group posted a video on the Internet purportedly showing the aftermath of Monday's incident. In the footage, an attacker uses a knife to cut the dog tag from around a dead Marine's neck. The video also shows what appears to be gear taken from the Marines, including guns, backpacks and ammunition cartridges.
In a statement, Ansar al-Sunnah said the insurgents had planned to capture the Marines alive "but they opened fire on the mujahedeen.... The heroes slaughtered those who were still alive... except for one, who begged the mujahedeen for his life. They captured him and he is in our hands."
Ham said no Marines were missing. U.S. officials have said one of the six Marines was found dead a few miles from the ambush.
Wednesday's attack was among the most deadly since the start of the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
At least 31 Marines were killed in January when their helicopter crashed in bad weather in western Iraq. In December, a suicide bombing at a military mess tent in Mosul killed 14 U.S. soldiers and eight others. In November 2003, three helicopter crashes claimed the lives of 33 soldiers. With public support for the war dropping in recent polls, lawmakers on Capitol Hill have increasingly urged President Bush to set a timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Dismissing those suggestions, Bush said Wednesday that the United States should honor the dead by refusing to bow to pressure to set a timetable.
"We're at war. We're facing an enemy that is ruthless. If we put out a timetable, the enemy would adjust their tactics," Bush said in a speech to the American Legislative Exchange Council in Grapevine, Texas.
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