Battle at Tarmiyah
posted at 8:50 am on May 3, 2007 by see-dubya
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Gut-wrenching story–and video–in the Wall Street Journal (Paid Sub Required) of a battle in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, back in February. One day the 35 soldiers of Demon Company woke up to find the city marketplace deserted, and then Sunni insurgents drive a 1000-lb. truck bomb through their outpost gates.
It’s not a happy article–in fact, it’s downright despair-inducing. The failure of the Iraqis to warn them of the attack–or to take the initiative in fighting the insurgents–is weighing heavily on the soldiers. But I think that’s somewhat offset by the heroism of the soldiers involved–who recovered from the truck bomb and held off 70 or 80 insurgents until the uh-PAH-shays showed up.
This could easily have been a massacre. Tarmiyah used to be a success story, the WSJ reports, but last summer the Iraqi army contingent was transferred into Baghdad to stabilize things there, and soon after the 150-man police force all went out an patrol and just vanished. That left Demon company as the only pro-Iraqi force in town–and easy pickings for the Al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgents.
But not as easy as they thought.
One last note. Here’s a pic from the WSJ slideshow. The night before the attack, Demon Company got a tip about the sniper that had killed one of their soldiers. They found this car with the trunk adapted for sniper use and a fake brake light panel the sniper could shoot through.
I don’t know if this is a common insurgent technique or where it originated, but I thought immediately of a very similar mobile sniper setup a little closer to home.
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The D.C. sniper was military-trained too, wasn’t he?
I would think this kind of tactic is a professional one.
unamused on May 3, 2007 at 8:56 AM
See-Dub, the WSJ link is restricted to subscribers.
Jaibones on May 3, 2007 at 9:00 AM
It’s May. What is the purpose of reporting on this event that happened back in February other than to induce despair?
Laura on May 3, 2007 at 9:09 AM
It is another battle in a wider war…that is all.
tomas on May 3, 2007 at 9:16 AM
Hero’s all. God bless them and keep them safe.
csdeven on May 3, 2007 at 9:20 AM
It’s a very common sniper set up technique. There was an article in Combat Arms about it last month. I’ll dig up the link in a bit.
TexasDan on May 3, 2007 at 9:20 AM
Jaibones: It is subscription only, but I think I’ve summarized it pretty well.
Laura: Part of it is to point out that what holds these soldiers together after such a traumatic battle. They’re not doing it for Iraq; they keep fighting for each other.
Part of it is to show that these guys are STILL out there in a precarious position.
Part of it is to point out that when you surge in Baghdad or wherever, the insurgents tend to just pick up and go where you’re not.
And, yeah, to induce despair.
see-dubya on May 3, 2007 at 9:22 AM
Michelle, hire See Dubya full time!
Kevin M on May 3, 2007 at 10:17 AM
If things wind up badly in Iraq, this will be the reason. If Arabs insist on hatred of western influence, no matter how noble. They will get what they deserve if/when we come a 2nd time.
Buck Turgidson on May 3, 2007 at 10:39 AM
Very despair inducing. It is relevant because it is more evidence that when push comes to shove, the Iraqi population appears to choose to back terrorists. I thought they would jump at the chance for democracy, but they’d rather live in their little islamic heaven/hell on earth.
doufree on May 3, 2007 at 11:15 AM
“Easy pickings”? Soldiers of the U.S. Army are easy pickings for NOBODY … well, except for maybe the U.S. Air Force during an excercise … but other than that, attacking a U.S. Army base is frickin’ suicidal, as these idiots found out. Even when outnumbered, Soldiers vs terrorists, the outcome is inevitable.
“It was easy, there were 5 of us and only 10 of them.” – “The 300 Spartans” (1961)
Tony737 on May 3, 2007 at 11:22 AM
As far as I am concerned, the iraquis can poke rpgs up one another’s butt for the next seven centuries, but as long as we need oil we’re going to be involved in some hellhole or other. I wonder why God put the all oil under the effed-up countries.
Is it possible to give the oilfields and the ports to the Kurds and let the rest of the country go to hell since that’s what it wants?
dhimwit on May 3, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Two things to point out here…
The Iraqis are hearing our Congress say we are pulling out. They know our own history of betrayal of allies (Viet Nam) and some who were on our side before, are now making the best deal they can with those who they HEAR OUR CONGRESS saying will still be there when we leave.
The Media coverage is typical… as usual we are winning the war in Iraq, but loosing the propoganda war by our enemies supported by the MSM here at home… if all you hear is bad news, DAILY!, with no tales of victory or hope, public moral will erode…. exactly as BinLaden hoped, and said it would.
Romeo13 on May 3, 2007 at 11:40 AM
The Devil knew it was there and what it would be worth too. Hence, the muslim obsession with capturing otherwise worthless sand before machines were invented.
Buck Turgidson on May 3, 2007 at 11:43 AM
They may already be running out. Islam can’t survive without it.
PRCalDude on May 3, 2007 at 11:52 AM
That Brit did say “uh-PAAAAHH-shay”, and hearing that was almost as funny as watching the ‘before & after’ photos of the FORMER Taliban ‘fighers’ was satisfying.
Apparently he has never actually heard anyone say the word Apache, or been to southern Arizona.
Janos Hunyadi on May 3, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Some do. Some actively fight them. But most just want to stay alive, and they have two choices:
1. Back the Americans who may or may not leave soon, who may or may not find the terrorists, then arrest them, and then may or may not release them.
2. Back – or at least stay out of the way of – the terrorists who tell you they’re going to torture and kill your whole family.
I can’t say it’s an irrational choice. And some still make the brave one.
A lot less of the Iraqis have “fight” compared to a similar situation happening in the US. But then again, we have the benefit of having a largely peaceful, secure society for the past couple of centuries or so, coupled with a “can-do” culture.
It’s a confidence builder.
BillINDC on May 3, 2007 at 12:15 PM
Really??? Is that why there are 12 to 20 million illegals in our country, and we are about to give the amnesty?
Is that why after historicly low casulties we are about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Iraq?
Is that why we continue to pay, without any real protest, into a government retirement system that we KNOW will go bankrupt?
Is that why theres no outcry when the legal industry costs the average family about $3500 a year, and there is NO movement to change the system?
America has lost a lot of its “fight” as well.
Romeo13 on May 3, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Heroism, indeed. Haven’t seen honora & co.’s “what does it matter?” comment yet, though there is one on the al-Quaida operative being killed thread…setbacks matter but successes don’t – it’s the “I hate Bush at all cost” mindset. Nothing can go right, and if it does, “it’s a hack”, a la Mr. Murtha.
The reaction of the Iraquis is disappointing by itself, and to an extent understandable, especially with our political non-commitment of late.
Entelechy on May 3, 2007 at 2:04 PM
Vindication. This is what happens when you “build democracy” rather than conquer.
No Iraqis should be armed and alive. The Iraqi ‘government’ should consist of an advisory council to the U.S. governor-general we appointed
This truck bomb attack should have been responded to by the utter destruction of the neighborhood, with not one stone left upon another, and the earth salted in front of the media.
For 22 years the Romans chased Hannibal up and down the Italic peninsula, then sacked Carthage and destroyed it utterly. We’re talking about pulling out after only 4 years of piddling around.
Stop pretending this desert trash is “good Kansas Chris’ns”. They aren’t, they never were, they never can be.
Hiraghm on May 3, 2007 at 3:35 PM
I would say that waking up to find a normally busy market deserted IS warning. To say they didn’t warn us of the attack might be a bit of an overstatement. How could we not interpret the fact that the market was deserted to mean anything other than the fact that something really major was brewing?
crosspatch on May 3, 2007 at 6:31 PM
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