Iraqi Informants Lead US Troops to Weapons, IED Caches
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs
July 18, RUSHDI MULLAH, Iraq — Iraqi informants led coalition forces to three massive caches north of Rushdi Mullah, Iraq, July 18.
Accompanying the informants were Soldiers of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., who helped seize the caches just 20 miles south of Baghdad.
“Over the last several weeks, the number of Iraqis who have been sharing tips with us is astounding,” said Maj. Web Wright, a spokesperson for the 2nd BCT. “There has been a turning of the tides against al-Qaida in this area. The people are tired of them and are turning their backs on AQI.”
All three caches were found buried in 55-gallon drums within 100 meters of one another.
The contents of the caches included 13 rocket propelled grenades, 150 bags of Russian mortar propellant charges, two 57 mm mortar rockets, an armor-piercing rocket propelled grenade, four cylindrical explosive charges, two square explosive charges, two hand-launched star cluster flares, a Russian fragmentary hand grenade, 25 mortar propellant charges, 100 12.7 mm DiSHKA heavy machine gun rounds, 20 25 mm rounds, a 75-round Ak-47 ammunition drum, three sniper rifle scopes, two mortar sights, 10 cell phone chargers, five radios, a pressure plate, a machine gun lower receiver, two 7.62 mm machine gun barrels, two bottles of glucose, four vehicle cell phone chargers, an improvised explosive device command wire initiator, a hands-free telephone headset, an eight-battery holder, four cell phone batteries, a 4.8 voltage rechargeable battery, a seven-piece antenna, two flip-open cell phones, four Motorola talk-abouts, a cordless phone, a cordless phone base, a toy cell phone improvised explosive device (IED) initiator, two phone cords, an antenna extension, two keyless-entry devices with IED initiator switches, two magnets, two circuit boards and various nuts and bolts.
Radio and cell phone accessories are commonly used to detonate IEDs.
An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the ordnance.
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This is becomming par for the course. More and more Iraqis are stepping up to the plate. Good. The more of this crap we destroy, the more potential IED’s and VBIED’s will not get made.
Good job.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:37 pmIraqi informants–a big key for the good guys, and there seems to be a snowball effect now that we have showed the Iraqis we are in to win. They are betting the strong horse.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pmFew questions… Where is it coming in from? For every shipment they seize, any guess at how much gets through? And do you think this means more of the jihadists are foreign to Iraq? Do you think that is why they are being turned in more regularly?
I like Dan, am pleased with the increased intelligence. I guess people are getting tired of seeing their world blown up. It has to be difficult. Say you love your little market then… blamo! It and the people are gone. Not to mention you have to walk ten more blocks to shop.
July 19th, 2007 at 12:56 pmMore bad news for the democRats. Too bad the MSM doesn’t have the integrity to report on the things that Pat and Michael Yon have been telling us.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:22 pmjarhead68:
You said the key phrase: Integrity. Pat and Michael have it. The MSM demedia does not. The MSM are too busy kissing the asses of their masters in the “slumber party”.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:35 pmOh my. Does this mean the Dems will have to pull another all-nighter slumber party? The Dems had best yank our guys out of Iraq fast or America might just….gasp…win this war - Dem Presidential hopefuls can’t have that.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:22 pmFew questions… Q:Where is it coming in from?
A:Iran and Syria. Some of it is home made.
Q:For every shipment they seize, any guess at how much gets through?
A:Iraq has tons of weaponry lying around. Iraq is one big fat arms bazar. When we first invaded we did not destroy all of Saddams arms depots, which gave the bad guys a chance to haul tons of it away and cache it.It is very easy to use a 155 round and turn it into an IED.
Q: And do you think this means more of the jihadists are foreign to Iraq?
A:AQ is mostly foreigners. But there are Baathists and criminal elements that are Iraqi.
Q:Do you think that is why they are being turned in more regularly?
July 19th, 2007 at 3:23 pmA:Yep. Iraqis as a whole are fed up with the crime and the murder of their families.
Amen, brother Dan…it’s the great left-wing conspiracy. And Hildebeast is the goddess of evil who they all worship.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:35 pmjarhead68:
Ain’t that the truth.
July 19th, 2007 at 4:45 pmWhen I was in the Guard from ‘84-’94 our unit in Buffalo would go to Fort Drum for AT. The place was set up as a cold weather training post because we were still giving the then Soviets dirty looks. Who’da thunk they’d wind up in Iraq and Afghanistan. Every once in a while in life we get to do a brush with fame.
July 19th, 2007 at 11:12 pm