fear would have overtaken ME too

then again, i'm not in iraq nor am i an iraqi. we stirred up this hornet's nest. it's just getting worse and worse. we're supposed to turn control over to the iraqis (it's THEIR country WE invaded, FOR NO REASON, REMEMBER?), but this sure doesn't bode well, DO IT?

`Fear took over' in Baghdad raid

U.S. advisors lament Iraqi troops' conduct. America's exit strategy hangs in the balance.By Solomon MooreTimes Staff Writer9:40 PM PST, December 3, 2006FORWARD OPERATING BASE AL RASHID — Bursts of AK-47 fire hissed past them from several directions at once, showering the U.S. and Iraqi soldiers with pulverized cement and slapping spider-web fractures into their Humvees' bullet-resistant glass turret-guards.The joint security forces, undertaking what officials described as a major counterinsurgency operation, were in pursuit of 70 "high-value targets" in Baghdad's crowded Fadhil quarter, a Sunni Arab neighborhood of multistory tenements along the east bank of the Tigris River.Instead, the soldiers of the Iraqi army's 9th Mechanized Division and their American trainers had walked into a deadly ambush Friday. From upper-story apartments, insurgents stopped the soldiers' advance with grenades and shoulder-fired rockets. Others launched coordinated mortar strikes, hitting one of two nearby Iraqi field posts.By the time the 11-hour battle was over, one Iraqi soldier had been killed and six others wounded, including one who shot himself in the foot. A U.S. soldier was also wounded and, according to American troops interviewed, additional casualties were averted only because U.S. Apache attack helicopters were called in and American trainers shot their way out of the ambush."Fear took over" among the Iraqis, Staff Sgt. Michael Baxter said...............

Tech Tags: baghdad iraq+war us+soldiers insurgents