U.S., Iraqi troops martyr 250 jihadi heroes outside Najaf
posted at 2:32 pm on January 28, 2007 by Allahpundit
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The gunmen were a mix of Sunnis and Shiites? Huh?
U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen in a fierce battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters on the outskirts of the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a senior Iraqi police officer said…
Shi’ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi’ites loyal to a cleric called Ahmed Hassani…
The governor of Najaf province said Iraqi troops fought a day-long battle with up to 200 Sunni gunmen, including foreign fighters, holed up in orchards on the northern outskirts of the city, seat of Iraq’s most powerful Shi’ite clerics.
Governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura.
They shot down a U.S. chopper during the fight. Two crew members dead.
Update Hassani is — was? — affiliated with Sadr, says Dan Riehl. What in the hell is he doing fighting alongside Sunnis, then?
Update: The Times sheds some light, but not much: “A Shiite member of the Iraqi Parliament, however, said the gunmen were part of a Shiite splinter group that Saddam Hussein helped build in the 1990s to compete with followers of the venerated religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.”
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Huh? Based on MSM reports, I thought such a thing wasn’t possible.
GT on January 28, 2007 at 2:35 PM
R.I.P. the flight crew.
As for the “insurgents”, 250 is an excellent start, but our guys will be more than happy to put the rest of them on the fast track to heaven.
ReubenJCogburn on January 28, 2007 at 2:35 PM
R.I.P. the flight crew. Mega Dittos
Sunni Arabs and Shi’ites ! ! !
MSM and the civil war bragade need pow wow to co-ordinate a talking point .
Texyank on January 28, 2007 at 2:41 PM
Again think tribal and not sectarian in this sense.
Have to veiw some iraqi clerics as the equivalent of the Somalia warlords or even gangsters. They have their own private armies and control their own areas.
William Amos on January 28, 2007 at 2:43 PM
That’s a lot of virgins.
- The Cat
MirCat on January 28, 2007 at 2:52 PM
It’s dark there now. Time for the AC-130’s to hose down the rest of them…
Zorro on January 28, 2007 at 2:53 PM
score one for the good guys.
One Angry Christian on January 28, 2007 at 3:00 PM
the Shi’a holy city of Najaf…….it seems as if every freakin’ city is HOLY. I shouldn’t knock it, I guess these people are just so very HOLY.
Jeff on January 28, 2007 at 3:02 PM
lets see…18,000……we know they didn’t come from western culture that’s for sure.
Limerick on January 28, 2007 at 3:05 PM
Another thing, what’s with every day is some kind of HOLY day or celebration. Do you get off work? Can we get that here?
Jeff on January 28, 2007 at 3:06 PM
If we got off work everytime there was a muslim holy day, we’d be working like the french.
- The Cat
MirCat on January 28, 2007 at 3:10 PM
I was just about to write the same thing.
How come only our enemies cities are “Holy”. Nobody says the “Holy City of Newark” or “the Holy City of Las Vegas”. Hell they don’t even say “the Holy City of the Vatican“
Iblis on January 28, 2007 at 3:12 PM
Don’t these people ever stay home? Always wandering to another city. You would think with all the cities empty, we could clean them out then and screen the people coming back in.
R D on January 28, 2007 at 3:15 PM
I’ve not heard any reports any other time of our military killing “insurgents”. They are the ones killing us! WE are the ones stuck in a quagmire. WE are the ones that cannot win!
I must question the timing of this news.
SouthernGent on January 28, 2007 at 3:21 PM
And if they came from the Muslim culture their genital have been mutilated. I guess a womans sexual pleasure isn’t a concern for these “holy” men either.
csdeven on January 28, 2007 at 3:23 PM
Thanks. That helps to understand the dynamics of the conflict.
csdeven on January 28, 2007 at 3:28 PM
RIP crew members. Your work isn’t ignored by everyone.
And isn’t it about time for the AP to trot out a headline like: “U.S., Iraqi troops clash in Baghdad”?
RightWinged on January 28, 2007 at 3:32 PM
My favorite of the Danish Muslim cartoons is the one “Stop, stop, we ran out of virgins”.
Scroll down a bit, to see.
Entelechy on January 28, 2007 at 3:35 PM
Not to pick a nit, but Vatican City is often referred to as the Holy See. Doesn’t diminish your point at all. If you call something holy, then the world will condemn anyone who harms it, right? If you have holy places/people/things, then you can’t be evil, right? If your desire to kill is based on service to your creator, then it isn’t just an indoctrinated hatred taught from birth, right?
In the words of the immortal Bill the Cat…
pbththppbpbthpbtthpbpbthth!
Freelancer on January 28, 2007 at 3:39 PM
I’ve noticed a decided shift in MSM reporting of Iraq news lately, maybe not much but discernable just the same. As for Najaf all I can say is “Git Some”. The far left needs to get on top of this right now, with some more troops this conflict might descend into a win for the good guys.
Buzzy on January 28, 2007 at 3:41 PM
Plus- they ARE becoming more and more desperate. They’re not only out of virgins, they’re running out of terrorists. We need to hammer them hard and long RIGHT NOW.
NO MERCY!
(well unless they find that one last virgin, we could save her.)
shooter on January 28, 2007 at 3:52 PM
The last virgin lives in Hollywood and is being stalked by a vampire (you had to see the stupid movie).
Why is it so hard for people to understand that if you have a greater enemy, then you will join with a lesser enemy. At this time the insurgents (of all stripes) greatest enemy is the U.S. forces, so naturally they will work together. This actually makes sense.
It also helps to get them all together so we can have a good fight :p
Lord Nazh on January 28, 2007 at 4:01 PM
Actually it’s just one virgin in 72 different outfits.
Oh Allah, you sneaky little pedophile!
RightWired on January 28, 2007 at 4:17 PM
I think we might have to worry if Mexico declares “Los Angeles (the Angels) a holy hispanic city and they must make a yearly pilgrimage to it
William Amos on January 28, 2007 at 4:18 PM
Napalm!!!!
retired on January 28, 2007 at 4:27 PM
I was going to say something but I’ll leave that to the West Coast boys. I don’t want to step on their lines.
Jeff on January 28, 2007 at 4:27 PM
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! Our strategy is to cut and run, not to make them martyrs. Not.
jman on January 28, 2007 at 4:28 PM
They need to realize the govment is gonna waste whomever causes trouble.
tomas on January 28, 2007 at 4:28 PM
There’s an AP report available now.
I just heard the MSNBC update. They mentioned the two U.S. soldiers killed, but not the 250 vermin.
No bias, of course.
JammieWearingFool on January 28, 2007 at 4:36 PM
Combat pilots are incredible people. I’ve been glued to “Dogfights” on the history channel fri nights and to hear them talk about being fired upon or outnumbered and facing certain death is incredible. They are truly brave heroes. The combat video posted earlier this week showed their effectiveness. God bless the flight crew and their families.
Buck Turgidson on January 28, 2007 at 4:39 PM
The link to the pictorial essay speaks mega volumnes. I think I saw the spirit of Ronald Regan carrying a case of soda bottles amist the chaos. The kids dressed in their tradiontional garb were priceless. Such innocence. Slaughter the filthy bastards who indoctrinate these precious children. But thats just my opinion.
sonnyspats1 on January 28, 2007 at 4:46 PM
The Desert Scorpions Rule!
sonnyspats1 on January 28, 2007 at 4:47 PM
What if it’s actually the same 72 virgins for all of the muslims? Millions of muslims, just the 72 virgins.
If God, AKA Allah is actually a woman, and considering how the muslims treat women…
Mazztek on January 28, 2007 at 4:56 PM
Actually its just one girl who goes to the afterlife’s version of Brazil and gets a retread.
Iblis on January 28, 2007 at 5:09 PM
“the climax of Ashura”?
I think I rented that on DVD once.
uptight on January 28, 2007 at 5:10 PM
I think this should initiate a search of other orchards outside of other large cities. 250 bad guys is a pretty good day’s work. The in-processing guys in hell must be working overtime.
Mojave Mark on January 28, 2007 at 5:49 PM
250 to 2. Wow!
Once again, our military shows the world that it is the most lethal on the planet.
Ironically, it is the left and the media that was responsible for this level of lethality. The left’s use of American KIA to “shame” America into cutting and running in other conflicts has, instead, resulted in equipment, weapons, training, and the ability to kill our enemies in great numbers for few losses of our own.
This dismays our leftist media and the less than patriotic Democrats to no end. This is NOT what they want. Without the “kick” of large numbers KIA, as during Vietnam with those 56,000 names on the wall, they lose a lot of their ability to force an American surrender when we do go to war.
You can take it to the bank that our future potential enemies are watching — and noting — the apparent “ease” and “throughness” with which we dispatch these murdering thugs. I have no doubt that this complicates their calculations as they consider any future confrontations with America. This, IMHO, is a “Good Thing ™.”
Of course, it isn’t really as “easy” as it looks — it is the result of billions of dollars and thousand of hours of training and hard work and sweat to reach such proficiency.
Contrary to what the Murtha-holes and Kerry-turds and Durbin-heads say, we do not have a “broken” military. We have a HARDENED and COMBAT EXERIENCED military. We have a military that can strike hard and deadly anywhere in the world. Our enemies (foreign and DOMESTIC) know this, too.
We mustn’t forget the tears we shed over those who have fallen or their families. They have paid a fearsome price. Our thanks to them, and those they leave behind, must be eternal. I thank God that there are not more, and I pray to God that that there will not be very many more in the future.
The more terrorists we kill in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fewer we will have to kill in the future, in America or elsewhere. Anyone who doubts this is a fool or a liar.
250 to 2. Each of these two fallen warriors will have 125 enemies to escort and serve them in Vallhalla. Blessed be their memory.
georgej on January 28, 2007 at 6:06 PM
Well said,
It is amazing what type of damage the US military can inflect when set loose to do what they are trained to do.
Anyone fallen needs to be remembered and honored for the sacrifice they/their family made.
F15Mech on January 28, 2007 at 7:13 PM
Where would the ACLU think of that? Makes my head hurt.
Coyote D. on January 28, 2007 at 7:35 PM
independencia de los Estados Unidos.
tomas on January 28, 2007 at 7:42 PM
¿cuál “Estados Unidos”?
The Monster on January 28, 2007 at 8:13 PM
El uno con Cincuenta estados.
tomas on January 28, 2007 at 8:21 PM
One (of the many) things I don’t understand about Islam. They deride other religions for their belief that meterial things can be “holy”, yet consider material things like the Koran and bits of land to be holy enough to warrant the death penalty should anyone desecrate them.
taznar on January 28, 2007 at 8:48 PM
There is a problem with the US casualties. They were the result of a downed Chopper. The MSM loves the imagery that produces thanks to “Black Hawk Down”. They’ll use it to overshadow the triumph of our world minus 250 jihadists/insurgents/rebels/whatever.
moc23 on January 28, 2007 at 9:09 PM
Iwas just listening to top of the hour news on WLW AM700 in Cinncinatti. They reported it just as written above. The number 250 was still being used.
But then again, WLW is one of “our” stations.
TugboatPhil on January 28, 2007 at 9:24 PM
The only good martyr is a dead martyr.
right2bright on January 28, 2007 at 9:47 PM
Estados Unidos de América, un país de América del Norte…
o, los estados rojos y azules :)
Entelechy on January 28, 2007 at 10:22 PM
I suppose the movie Black Hawk Down could/would be portrayed that way by the MSM.
However,
If you read the book, the soldiers involved were “critical” that they were pulled out and not allowed to continue the mission.
Frankly they felt that being pulled out, reflected poorly on what they had accomplished. If Congress pulls them out so quickly after a fight, that they really won (but suffered some loss), and the US cuts and run and pulls them out so quickly…What the hell were they fighting for in the first place?
In Task Force Rangers eyes what they just went thru (and their mission) no longer mattered.
Since troops died (including more then one Medal of Honor recipient) and we “cut and run” over the next couple of days it meant nothing in the eyes of the troops assigned to perform the mission.
That is just sad IMO.
F15Mech on January 28, 2007 at 10:25 PM
Fewer than 3 American service people fighting in the Iraq campaign died on each day of this war last year.
For that we have the MSM and politcos and the “majority” of the public polled thinking that this is a catastrophic military disaster.
More people die slipping in the tub every day in the U.S.
Time for Congress to ban bathing?
Time for pull out of all tubs?
Those who have no understanding of the history of warfare are trying to surrender over this hysterically overblown level of suffering in the most important War since the Fall of Communism?
Running from the rise of Intolerant Imperialisitic Islam?
Over fewer than three casualties a day?
As Patton reminded:
“Do not mourn that such men died, but thank God that they lived.”
(Without them, we’d be headless, or taken prisoners -en masse- as cowards enslaved by the terroristic Jihad.)
profitsbeard on January 28, 2007 at 10:49 PM
Give me one reason this information was not sent to the American people as fast as the last American death in the war……….
just one……..
{crickets chirping}
Payback taking notice….
When the enemy is defeated in battle, and our own media does not cover it as a “success, what “do” you call it????
I’m taking names, ……… are you???????
PinkyBigglesworth on January 29, 2007 at 12:58 AM
georgej, I can always tell it’s you before I scroll far enough to see your name. Everytime somebody writes what I was gonna say … it turns out to be you.
250, sweeeeeet.
Tony737 on January 29, 2007 at 3:35 AM
Thanks for the roses, Tony737.
I really appreciate it.
georgej on January 29, 2007 at 3:42 AM
Maybe someone already said this in a previous post, but the only coverage of this I’ve seen on TV news is that the chopper crashed and two US military were killed.
And of course the bias stuns and shocks me…..
Janos Hunyadi on January 29, 2007 at 4:06 AM
you are a very bad man, iblis, a very very bad man…..
Janos Hunyadi on January 29, 2007 at 4:09 AM
This may not have been Iraq’s Tet Offensive, but it surely is CNN’s. They went on and on about the sophistication of the enemy, their numbers, their weapons and defensive positions, and how the Iraqi’s had to fall back at first and call for US backup. Never mind that their numbers and their sophisticated tactics and equipment didn’t keep them from their 18,000 virgins. Just another example of the MSM taking a great victory and turing it into a defeat for the American public.
BohicaTwentyTwo on January 29, 2007 at 8:47 AM
Even apart from the dead terrorists and the bloody attack on the religious site prevented, the fact that Iraqi government forces were heavily engaged and overwhelmingly victorious should raise the morale and prestige of the security forces there. Early reports are often unreliable, but the Iraqi forces achieved a 50:1 KIA ratio, which indicates that they were well-trained and well-led.
LagunaDave on January 29, 2007 at 9:20 AM
profitsbeard,
Nicely put.
I’ll say it again, if the bleeding hearts want to prove that they are truly appalled by Americans being slaughtered by foreigners, they need be protesting the government’s lack of action on illegal immigration.
More American citizens were murdered by illegal aliens LAST YEAR than ALL of the American combat deaths since 9/11. And the year before that, and the year before that, for the last five years.
More American citizens were killed by drunk illegal aliens in automobile accidents LAST YEAR than died in ALL of the 9/11 attacks combined. And the year before that, for the last 3 years at least, as records are beginning to be kept of such stats.
Every one of those American deaths is far more tragic than a combat death, for those people woke up that day with no expectation of facing such harm. U.S. military members understand that what they do carries danger with it, they train and equip to face that, and do it like nobody else on Earth. And we destroy far, far more of the enemy than the enemy does of us. Every. Single. Time.
Freelancer on January 29, 2007 at 12:33 PM
Tomorrow we will be reading it was a “wedding party” and the Americans were the “bad” guys.
gary on January 29, 2007 at 6:32 PM
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