The Grim Reaper, Riding a Firetruck in Iraq, Marines Recount Assault

[Rose Siding]

HUSAYBAH, Iraq -- Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Butler shook himself from the rubble of a suicide truck bombing. He staggered to the ledge of his three-story guard tower and stared into a cloud of white smoke.

Butler, 21, of Altoona, Pa., was temporarily deafened by the blast, but he recalled what came next with cinematic clarity. The white smoke parted to reveal a clean red fire engine. It sped past a mural bidding travelers "Goodbye From Free Iraq" and hurtled directly toward Butler, who shot at the fire engine until it exploded about 40 yards away from him.
....
The insurgents distracted Marine guards with well-aimed mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, then launched three successive suicide bombing strikes in an attempt to blow up the base and overrun it. The fire engine had a driver, a spotter and a bulletproof windshield, and was packed with dozens of propane tanks filled with explosives. The blast rained jagged red shrapnel for more than a minute, and unhinged doors and cracked the foundation of buildings well inside the Marine base.
....
U.S. commanders said they interpreted the attack here as a desperate attempt by insurgents to reenergize the conflict. "I think they're losing, so they're looking at the big attacks to gain some momentum back," said Marine Capt. Frank Diorio, commander of India Company at Camp Gannon, the Marine base near the city of Qaim on the border with Syria. "I give them credit it for it; they're looking for a big score. We're going to see this a lot more. But now we know so we can address it."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64291-2005Apr18.html

[leftchick]

1. Gee, ya think?

~snip~

This week, the city remained tense. The Marines believed they had scored a decisive victory, tempered only by the realization that they faced an adversary perhaps more sophisticated than they had known.

"These guys knew what they were doing," said Lt. Ronnie Choe, 25, of Los Angeles, the battalion's assistant intelligence officer. "These weren't just random guys who decided: Hey let's do something."

this from an "assistant intelligence officer"... :eyes:

[daleo]

2. Big attacks imply desperation?

The logic of this escapes me. By this reasoning, Tet was the ultimate in desperation. D-day was a desperate move by the allies, too.