More accurate Green Zone attacks aided by Iran-US

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

More accurate Green Zone attacks aided by Iran-US
Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:13AM EDT

BAGHDAD, July 26 (Reuters) - Militia crews firing mortars and
rockets have been hitting Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone
with more accuracy in the past three months because of training
from Iran, a top U.S. general said on Thursday.

"In the last three months we have seen a significant improvement
in the capability of mortarmen and rocketeers to provide accurate
fire into the Green Zone and other places," Lieutenant-General
Raymond Odierno told a news conference.

"We think this is directly related to training conducted inside
Iran," said Odierno, who is the operational commander of U.S.
forces in Iraq.

-snip-

The prize targets in the sprawling zone are the U.S. embassy and
Iraqi government buildings. Many attacks come from the direction
of areas that have a strong presence of Mehdi Army militiamen
loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al Sadr.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSCOL621826

[dipsydoodle]

1. What a load of old bilge

The bigger the target the easier is it to hit.

I wonder if they've got a scoring system and a league table. :shrug:

[ixion]

2. or maybe they've had more practice, what with the occupation going into it's 5th year

and all.

[billyoc]

3. Yeah, you really have to go to Iran to learn how to fire a mortar.

Field Manual 23-91 - Mortar Gunnery

http://www.enlisted.info/field-manuals/fm-23-91-mortar-gunnery.shtml

:rofl:

[EnviroBat]

4. Right... Keep feeding us this crap of a justification for a new war...

25% of us will eventually believe it.

[The Wizard]

5. I'm surprised they

haven't blamed the Democrats.
It doesn't take long to learn how to walk mortars on to a target. If they were throwing rocks the Administration would say the rocks are from Iran as they try to build a case to drop bombs on yet another country that had no ties to the 9-11 attacks. If North Korea had oil, the Bush cartel would say North Korea was training whoever it is that wants a U.S. military occupation to leave their country.
Bush has turned us into the colonialists we rejected in the American Revolution. Through the looking glass indeed.

[mallard]

7. Re: If Vietnam had oil...

.. we'd not have been it nearly such a hurry to let Saigon fall.

This was offered to me some 14 years ago by one of the youngest 'recruits' forced into that conflict. Gary, from Seattle area, said he knew US oil giants were definitely very busy test with off-shore test drilling in the Gulf of Tonkin and came up dry shortly before the whole show was called off based on the war's "unpopularity".

[The Wizard]

10. Very possible

Shortly after the military mission ended we had the oil embargo that effectively lowered living standards for most Americans. Energy costs drove prices up on everything. At the time I was making a very good living at a Buick dealership. Seven months after the embargo started I was unemployed, and never again found a job that paid that well. I believe Standard oil built platforms in the Tonkin Gulf and South China Sea during the 50s with money borrowed from Chase Manhattan. Standard Oil and Chase Manhattan were both Rockefeller family businesses. If this is true, more than 58,000 were killed protecting Rockefeller money. And I almost forgot,
Ho Chi Minh was a ruthless dictator who killed his own people. :sarcasm:

[gratuitous]

6. We go from "It's Iran!" to "we think" in two sentences

Certainly sounds like an irrefutable rationale for another invasion.

[MrPrax]

8. It's really good soldiers like

Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno that get men under their command killed -- they much rather engage in politics than assess the situation on the ground.

Are "mortarmen and rocketeers" enemy combatants too!

Because the sanctions bottled the country up for 11 years -- and weakened to the point that America had to make shit up to destroy it -- Iraq had the highest per capita PhDs in the world...especially engineers.

Yeah Iraqis are too stupid to hate the American occupation, they need someone else to tell them to hit the US embassy :eyes:

[hatrack]

9. Uh-huh, 'cuz the Iraqi guerillas are Toh Toopid that they need to call the Death Star for help

And without assistance from Iran, Dr. Evil and Goldfinger, the Iraqis would NEVER be able to figure this out.

Fucking ridiculous.

[Barrett808]

11. Oh, for the love of...

Iraq had a capable, war-hardened military, before Viceroy Bremer dismissed it. Now it's deployed against us as the insurgency.

[paparush]

12. Um..morans... practice makes perfect, so lets GET THE F#CK OUT!!