Battle At Baghdad Mosque
Hellfire Shot Into Minaret
BAGHDAD, (REUTERS & AP) - U.S. troops battled gunmen in a mosque after their combat outpost north of Baghdad came under machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire that killed one soldier, the U.S. military said on Friday.
The military said an aircraft fired a Hellfire missile at two gunmen on a minaret of the Sunni Arab mosque in the town of Tarmiya on Thursday after ordering everyone inside to evacuate.
A police officer and a witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, said U.S. troops stationed near the mosque came under fire before sunset prayers and the raid occurred as worshippers left the building after the services. The missile left a hole in the minaret, they said.
While it is unusual for U.S. troops in Iraq to attack religiously sensitive sites such as mosques or even enter them, they have launched assaults in the past on mosques suspected of being used as bases for militants or to store weapons. “These insurgents displayed total disregard for the community by using a mosque, a sacred place for Muslims to worship, as a sanctuary to commit their acts of terror,” said Major Mike Garcia, spokesman for U.S. troops in the area. He said the mosque sustained only minor damage in the operation in which 20 people were detained. The U.S. combat outpost had been repeatedly attacked by gunmen in the mosque since May, he added.
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Omg, a soldier was killed.
It’s really hard to hear things like this. It makes me angrier at certain Iraqis.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:31 amGood!!!! We should blow any building to hell if it is used as a safe house for the enemy or to cover those firing upon our men and women. I am sick and tired of these cowards hiding behind religious buildings and civilians knowing our weakness of being decent human beings, who will rarely fire onto these types of areas. I really think we should start using their religion against them and wrap the remains of these assholes in pig skin or feed what’s left of them to the pigs.
August 17th, 2007 at 4:42 amHell, Wendy, they hide behind religion to kill people. Hiding in a religious building would sure seem to follow as a logical option. These assholes can justify anything based on their religious interpretation, and that changes to suit their present situation. I do like the idea of wrapping them in pig skin and feeding them to the pigs. That’s a great idea.
August 17th, 2007 at 6:04 amThe ROE should be “you shoot at us”…you die…Doesn’t matter if it is from a Mosque or any other building. The only good terrorist is a dead terrorist…or one on a waterboard….
August 17th, 2007 at 7:08 amFrom the what it is worth department, the fact that al reuters and al ap actually printed this comment shows the momentum that we have in the war. It gives reason for our attack on a mosque as a defensive action, which I do not think we would have seen that published just several months ago.
“A police officer and a witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared retribution, said U.S. troops stationed near the mosque came under fire before sunset prayers and the raid occurred as worshippers left the building after the services.”
August 17th, 2007 at 7:22 amIn WWII that whole mosque would of been blown to pieces….without telling them first.What happened to my country?
August 17th, 2007 at 7:22 amPat: Off Topic here but just found this extremely RACIEST Piece of shit story from Yahoo - The entire thing will PISS YOU ALL off. Granted its an Opinion piece - but it should have NEVER been run!!!!
GOP Declares Open War on Brown People
August 17th, 2007 at 8:34 amhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20070816/cm_huffpost/060633;_ylt=AjDtFGA2yXz3oWTJwJdQmAOs0NUE
It’s about time the gloves came off! THat minaret looks too good to have been hit with a hellfire missle tho. There oughta be nothing left but a smoking stump!
August 17th, 2007 at 8:44 amYeah i have to congratulate our troops on this one, I think General Patreus has really taken off the gloves and no safe haven just doesnt exist in Iraq for anyone who seeks to do bad things. Although it is kinda tough to hear about us attacking anything religious without thinking uh oh
August 17th, 2007 at 8:49 amits within the geneva conventions to fire on a mosque being used for military purposes
August 17th, 2007 at 9:08 amI read an article from Michael J Totten about Sadar’s army
August 17th, 2007 at 9:27 amthere was in interesting interview w/ a young Iraqi telling his story about being kidnapped in the middle of the night ,,taking to a mosque beaten tortured ect ,, he went on to say that’s where all of the arms are being supplied from .. Now I know we have rules of engagement .. and our guys have to be PC but WTF !!!!! CNN ( clinton net news) ran this same story above w/ the headline US Troops Kill Woman Insurgent in 24hr Battle ,,you pick up a weapon ,,it’s yer ass!! F’em
Every time they use a mosque to launch an attack the mosque is forfeited. Go flatten the building.
Pretty soon the people wont tolerate losers attacking from them.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:41 amFinally they are firing back at the buildings harboring fighters. It was ridiculous up to now with them tip toeing around them. And they should have blown that entire building up. It’s an eyesore.
August 17th, 2007 at 10:14 amThe hole should make it easier to air the mosk out. They forgot to shoot those speakers off the thing also.
August 17th, 2007 at 2:23 pmLftBhndAgn,
August 17th, 2007 at 3:20 pmThanks for the link, but I didn’t get past the first couple paragraghs. I can get that from any lefty blog, spelling, punctuation grammar and all.
But point taken, you’re right. Quite a “news” piece.
Sounds pretty desperate and shrill…….
lftbhndAgn: I had a similar reaction to the rest of the MSM stories I’ve seen today. That article is outrageous. Why is it many of the web sites are controlled by lefties and they don’t care if you know it? If republicans are supposed to be the “rich,” why don’t they own more media corporations?
August 17th, 2007 at 3:54 pmI listen to Paul Harvey this afternoon, he stated that we attacked a mosque today, not mentioning that snipers were up there shooting a our troops, only half the story!
August 17th, 2007 at 9:22 pmDr D, Paul Harvey’s still alive?
August 17th, 2007 at 10:41 pm