Suicide attack kills 5 american soldiers. As expected, CNN is totally silent on the # of casualties. Elsewhere, the republican guard has formed a ring around us/uk forces in two iraqi cities. :k:
Yes, of course CNN would not want to be the cause of American anxiety if they tell the truth 
If that news about the republican guard surrounding the coalition is true, then :k: . Keep it up Iraqi’s.
well on Iraqi television today they showed at least 3 US tanks burnt down..............and another US spyplane being shot down........haven't heard anything about that on CNN
have you noticed all these reports of US casulties are only reported only if a none US source blows the cover first. Going by these monkeys Basra is fallen days ago but according to New Zealands reporter the Iraqis are firmly in control. He interviewed an Iraqi General and 1000s of his troops in downtown Basra. LOL...
According to a russian information website:
March 27, 2003, 1425hrs MSK (GMT +3), Moscow - There has been a sharp increase in activity on the southern front. As of 0700hrs the coalition forces are subjected to nearly constant attacks along the entire length of the front. The Iraqi command took the advantage of the raging sand storm to regroup its troops and to reinforce the defenses along the approaches to Karabela and An-Najaf with two large armored units (up to two armored brigades totaling up to 200 tanks). The Iraqi attack units were covertly moved near the positions of the US 3rd Infantry Division (Motorized) and the 101st Airborne Division…
…Intercepted radio communications show that at around 0615hrs this morning the lead of a flight of two A-10 ground attack planes detected a convoy of armored vehicles. Unable to see any markings identifying these vehicles as friendly and not being able to contact the convoy by radio the pilot directed artillery fire to the coordinates of the convoy.
Later it was discovered that this was a coalition convoy. Thick layers of dust covered up the identification markings - colored strips of cloth in the rear of the vehicles. Electronic jamming made radio contact impossible. First reports indicated that the US unit lost 50 troops killed and wounded. At least five armored vehicles have been destroyed, one of which was an Abrams tank…
…During the past day the coalition losses in this area Karabela and An-Najaf ] were 18-22 killed and up to 40 wounded. Most of the fatalities were sustained due to unexpected attacks by the Iraqi Special Forces against the coalition rears and against communication sites. This is a sign of the increasing diversionary and partisan actions by the Iraqis.
During the same period of time the Iraqi forces sustained up to 100 killed, about the same number of wounded and up to 50 captured. Since the beginning of the operation no more than 2000 Iraqi troops were captured by the coalition. The majority of the captured troops were members of regional defense [militia] units…
…During the sand storm the coalition command lost contact with up to 4 coalition reconnaissance groups. Their whereabouts are being determined. It is still unknown what happened to more than 600 other coalition troops mainly from resupply, communications and reconnaissance units communication with which was lost during the past 24 hours…
Source: http://162.42.211.226/article2438.htm
—> i sure hope all this is true! <—
the daily telegraph confirmed the following US losses:
34 dead
15 missing
104 wounded
7 POW’s
only 34 dead…Pure Bull $hitt
UK marine killed in ambush
Soo many death yet soo little time
UK marine killed in ambush
The Faw peninsula was one of the first coalition targets of the war
A UK Royal Marine has been killed in an ambush during operations in southern Iraq.
Several other troops were injured in what was reported to be an attack on a Royal Marines river patrol on the Faw peninsula.
The marine died as UK forces further north launched a massive offensive against Iraqi forces near the city of Basra.
Royal Marines say they have captured at least 30 prisoners of war, but are now facing strong resistance.
Five Iraqi officers have also reportedly been captured and a colonel of the Republican Guard has been killed, according to a British military official.
Back in the UK, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told the BBC that troops in Iraq would be replaced if the conflict continued for months.
Toll rises
The family of the marine killed on Sunday, who was from 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, has been informed, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.
The death takes the number of UK personnel killed since the start of the war to 24.
The marine died after his launch came under a grenade and gunfire attack as 539 Assault Squadron were working near a vital pontoon bridge on a waterway at the top of the Faw peninsula.
The BBC’s Kylie Morris said the Army Air Corps responded to the attack by sending Lynx helicopters to destroy three Iraqi boats on the channel.
Three Royal Marine boats have been patrolling the waterway to give protection to the key port of Umm Qasr.
The fighting near Basra was centred on the village of Abu al-Qassib - said to be a key Iraqi stronghold - after it was targeted in a raid by 3 Commando.
British forces have reached the centre of the village as fighting continues, reports suggest.
‘Aggressive patrolling’
The Royal Marines’ aim is to clear an area to the south and south east of Basra and hold that line rather than take the city, according to BBC correspondent Andrew Harding, who is with coalition forces in southern Iraq.
Andrew Harding said it was thought about 30 Iraqis were believed dead, with 30 prisoners of war captured in addition to the senior Iraqi officials in the operation.
We should not believe the observations of armchair generals, commentators, who were suggesting that this was a short campaign
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon
Troops ‘could be replaced’
Military spokesman Group Captain Al Lockwood said “aggressive patrolling” by the British military in and out of Basra continued.
He said: “A Republican Guard colonel has been killed and we have several other high-ranking prisoners.”
He said military officials understood that throughout Iraq elements like this senior officer had been sent to strengthen Baath Party officers and paramilitary forces.
But he was confident the operation was going well and Iraqi resistance was disorganised.
Andrew Harding said the village assault - codenamed Operation James - by the Marines was likely to take all day.
Fuel supply struck
The British have been using artillery and tanks to pound Iraqi positions, destroying Iraqi tanks.
Map of military operations
Why Basra matters
He said it was unclear whether or not the intention was to encourage rebellion from within.
In the Rumaila oil fields, another Baathist official has been captured by British forces as they continue their campaign to destroy Saddam Hussein’s Baath party in Basra, said BBC correspondent Kylie Morris.
Speaking on BBC1’s Politics Show, Foreign Office Minister Mike O’Brien insisted the campaign in Iraq was “on track” and following consultations with military generals the government had no plans “at this point” to increase British forces in the Gulf.
But Mr Hoon told BBC Radio 4’s The World This Weekend the commitment of 45,000 British troops would have to be reviewed once the conflict moved to a “different” phase.
The defence secretary said he had absolute confidence in the coalition’s military strategy and it was “not possible” it would lose the war or be forced into a stalemate.
5 new arrivals
U.S. Troops Captured, Missing, Killed
Monday March 31, 2003 12:50 AM
Thumbnails of some U.S. troops captured, missing or killed in Iraq:
^—
Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Blair, 24, Broken Arrow, Okla.
Blair, among eight Marines who disappeared during fighting on the outskirts of An Nasiriyah, Iraq, was killed, the U.S. Department of Defense said Sunday.
His father, Al Blair, of Gravette, Ark., said Marines came to his home Saturday and told him his son was dead.
The Defense Department said Thomas Blair’s unit was engaged in operations on March 24 on the outskirts of An Nasiriyah. His remains were recovered on March 28.
The elder Blair declined to make any further comment and said his other son, a Marine staff sergeant who has not been deployed to Iraq, is expected to address the media Monday.
Thomas Blair was assigned to the 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, Marine Air Control Group 28, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing in Cherry Point, N.C. He left for the Persian Gulf on Jan. 10.
He joined the Marine Corps in 1997, the same year he graduated from high school in Broken Arrow, a Tulsa suburb where his mother Nancy Blair lives. She could not be reached for comment; a red, white and blue wreath hung on a gate at the Blair home Sunday afternoon.
Teachers at Broken Arrow High School remembered him as a disciplined student who played drums in the high school band. As a sophomore, Blair sewed a military insignia to his band uniform, just like senior band members.
``You’d give him an inch … and he’d just want to take it to the next step,‘’ Darren Davis, Blair’s high school band teacher, said earlier this week.
^—
Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus Suarez Del Solar, 20, Escondido, Calif.
Suarez, part of the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, was killed in combat March 29, his wife said Sunday.
Suarez’ wife of nearly a year, Sayne, said her husband wanted to fight in Iraq to prevent an attack on the United States.
He always told us that he would rather go over there so that those people don't come here and hurt us,'' said Sayne, who said she was notified of her husband's death Friday by two Marines. I love him and we’re very proud of him.‘’
The couple have a 16-month-old son, Erik.
A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Suarez’ father brought the family to the U.S. in 1997 to fulfill his son’s wish to become a Marine, the North County Times reported. Fernando Suarez de Solar said he blamed himself for his son’s death.
``This never would have happened if I didn’t come to this country,‘’ Fernando Suarez de Solar said.
Suarez enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2001 after graduating from Valley High School. He was based at Camp Pendleton and was deployed on Feb. 5.
He put his family first,'' Sayne Suarez said. He was always helpful to others and he was just a person that everyone could easily love,‘’ she said.
^—
Marine Staff Sgt. James Cawley, 41, Layton, Utah
Cawley, a 2nd Battalion, 23rd Regiment Marine reservist and Salt Lake City police detective, was killed in a fire fight in Iraq Saturday, Marine officials and his family said.
Marine Captain Jason Dougherty said no further details about the circumstances of his death were available.
``He could have been anything but he chose to be a soldier and an officer because of his strong beliefs,‘’ his family wrote in a prepared statement distributed by the police department Sunday.
Cawley leaves behind a wife, Miyumi, an 8-year-old son, Cecil, and a 6-year-old daughter, Keiko.
Cawley served for 12 years in the Marines, traveling around the world. He met his wife, Miyuki, in Okinaway, Japan, while serving there.
He also served a proselytizing mission with the Mormon church in Fukuoka, Japan. ``He knew that his life was not the end and that we will all be together again in a far greater place,‘’ the letter said.
Fellow police officers said Cawley, who was also a member of the SWAT team, was called up to the Marines more than a year ago and had been stationed at Camp Pendleton. Salt Lake City police spokesman Sgt. Dave Hoffman said Cawley had no reservations about going to war.
``He was a natural leader … someone who loved his family deeply and his country,‘’ Hoffman said.
Detective Mark Schuman, Cawley’s partner on the Salt Lake City force for 18 months and one of his closest friends, had just received a letter from Cawley a few days ago. At the time of his writing, Cawley was in Kuwait, awaiting further instructions.
He was a loyal and trusting friend, and he was an outstanding officer,'' Schuman said. He was a very patriotic man, and he loved the Marine Corps, and he felt it was his duty to protect us and protect America.‘’
^—
Cpl. Michael Curtin, 21, Howell, N.J.
Curtin, of the Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, was among four U.S. soldiers killed in the suicide bomber attack on an Army checkpoint north of the Iraqi city of Najaf, an Army spokesman at Fort Monmouth said Sunday.
A taxi stopped close to a roadblock Saturday morning and the driver waved for help. When soldiers from approached the car, it exploded, killing the driver, Curtin and three other soldiers from Curtin’s division, Army officials said.
The Army informed Curtin’s family of his death Saturday evening. The parents, Michael and Joan Curtin, requested their privacy but released a statement through the fort.
``He was fighting for our freedom, which we should never take for granted. He was a hero in our eyes. Our hearts and prayers go out to the other servicemen who were killed and their families,‘’ the statement said.
The Howell High School graduate joined the Army in May 2001 and went through basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., where he also graduated from the Army’s paratrooper training school. He was deployed to Kuwait on Jan. 25.
Marine Cpl. Patrick Nixon, 21, Gallatin, Tenn.
Nixon, one of eight Marines missing since their unit was ambushed while trying to secure a bridge March 23 near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, was found dead, Marine officials and his family said.
The Marines notified the family in person Sunday morning, said his father David Nixon. He said a candlelight prayer vigil planned for his son at City Hall would still go on Sunday evening in support of the troops.
We appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts during this difficult time,'' he said. Please continue those for the rest of the troops.‘’
Nixon, who had talked of becoming a history teacher after finishing his service in the Marines, was based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the past two years.
A 2000 graduate of Nashville’s Overton High School, he enlisted in the Marines with two of his friends while still in high school and went to basic training that summer.
Military service is a tradition in the Nixon family. Relatives have served in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. David Nixon is a Vietnam vet, and his two older sons are veterans as well.
David Nixon last spoke to his youngest son several weeks ago. As he was about to send some smokeless tobacco to Spain for Nixon’s stopover en route to the Middle East, the Marine called and said not to bother.
``He said, ‘Dad, we’re well past Spain.’ And I said, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘Dad, I can’t tell you.’‘’
its quite suspicious when i hear so many crashes and friendly fire incidents. i think most of these incidents occur due to iraqi fire rather then friendly fire! its quite amazing how hypocritical the US gov. and US media is. they've lied all the way thru. i knew they were liars but i dint knew they were this big....!!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by akpower: *
its quite suspicious when i hear so many crashes and friendly fire incidents. i think most of these incidents occur due to iraqi fire rather then friendly fire! its quite amazing how hypocritical the US gov. and US media is.
[/QUOTE]
I agree, you don't hear of this many crashes during all their training excercises. I'm quite sur they were attacked as well. Damn coalition terrorists can't admit to anything.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fret Wizard: *
Yes, I recall that. Rummy is a joke.
[/QUOTE]
Rummy always looks like he's constipated to me.
I wouldn’t be surprised, he’s so full of S**T 
You’ve got to read this!
Victims describe ‘friendly fire’ terror
Three wounded UK soldiers have described how they survived an attack by a US A-10 Thunderbolt anti-tank aircraft that killed one of their troop and destroyed two armoured vehicles.
**One of the survivors criticised the US pilot for showing “no regard for human life” and accused him of being “a cowboy” who had “gone out on a jolly”. **
The US A-10 aircraft circled and came around for a second attack
Another survivor said he stumbled out of the burning wreckage of his light tank and waved frantically to the American pilot to try to halt his second attack.
The so-called friendly fire incident, 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) north of Basra, left one soldier missing, presumed dead, and another in intensive care on RFA Argus, the UK forces’ hospital ship in the Gulf.
Another soldier who had been in one of the two destroyed Scimitar light reconnaissance tanks, manned by the Household Cavalry, escaped without injury.
Nursing shrapnel wounds and burns, the three injured soldiers, Lieutenant Alex MacEwen, 25, Lance Corporal of Horse Steven Gerrard, 33, and Trooper Chris Finney, 18, spoke of their bewilderment and anger.
**They said the US pilot apparently failed to recognise that their tanks were a British make, with special coalition identification aids and even a large Union flag on another machine in the five-vehicle convoy. **
Lance Corporal Gerrard said: "All this kit has been provided by the Americans. They’ve said if you put this kit on you won’t get shot.
"We can identify a friendly vehicle from 1,500 metres [4,921 ft].
**"You’ve got an A-10 with advanced technology and he can’t use a thermal sight to identify whether a tank is a friend or foe. It’s ridiculous. **
I felt I was going to burn to death. I just shouted ‘reverse, reverse, reverse’
"Combat is what I’ve been trained for. I can command my vehicle. I can keep it from being attacked.
**“What I have not been trained to do is look over my shoulder to see whether an American is shooting at me.” **
The two Scimitars, followed by two armoured engineers’ vehicles and another Scimitar light tank, set out on a “recce” of a road north west of Ad Dayr, north of Basra in southern Iraq, on Friday.
After coming under fire from Iraqi artillery, they were instructed to investigate a shanty town.
Troop leader Lieutenant MacEwen, 25, with special plastic bags now tied around his hands to treat his burns, described how the convoy tensed as villagers waving white flags approached from behind a large bank on the marshland by the Shatt al-Arab river.
“You could see the white flags above the bank but you didn’t know whether they had any intention of surrendering or ambushing us,” he said.
Lance Corporal Gerrard said he suddenly heard the distinctive, relentless roar of an A-10’s anti-tank gunfire.
**“I will never forget that noise as long as I live. It is a noise I never want to hear again,” he said.
"There was no gap between the bullets. I heard it and I froze. The next thing I knew the turret was erupting with white light everywhere, heat and smoke. **
"I felt I was going to burn to death. I just shouted ‘reverse, reverse, reverse’.
“My gunner was screaming ‘get out, get out’. How I got out of that hole I don’t know. Then I saw the A-10 coming again and I just ran.”
Lying on his hospital bed, he said the A-10 circled and made a return attack run.
**“On the back of one of the engineers’ vehicles there was a Union Jack,” he said.
“For him to fire his weapons I believe he had to look through his magnified optics. How he could not see that Union Jack I don’t know.” **
The front two Scimitars, packed with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, grenades, rifle rounds and flammable diesel fuel tanks, exploded into flames.
One of the soldiers’ colleagues, Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, did not escape the explosion.
UK vehicles have identification markings to protect them
Lance Corporal Gerrard also criticised the pilot for shooting when there were civilians so close to the tanks.
**"There was a boy of about 12-years-old. He was no more than 20 metres [65.6 ft] away when the Yank opened up. There were all these civilians around.
“He [the pilot] had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy. He’d just gone out on a jolly.”
He added: "I’m curious about what’s going to happen to the pilot. **
“He’s killed one of my friends and he’s killed him on the second run.”
Trooper Finney, who was hit in the leg when the A-10 made its second attack, said all the British soldiers and their families joked about “friendly fire”.
**He said: "I got a letter off my dad the day before the attack and it said ‘Be careful, come home soon and watch out for those damn Yanks’. **
“Looks like he tempted fate a bit there.”
^
Imagine what they’re doing to civilians in Iraq, let alone their allies.
coalition casualties are piling up......!!
- A russian intellegence report says:*
… Based on the radio intercepts and internal information networks of the US field hospitals as of this morning the coalition losses include no less than 100 killed US servicemen and at least 35 dead British soldiers. Additionally, some 22 American and 11 British soldiers are officially considered to be missing in action and the whereabouts of another 400 servicemen are being established. The number of wounded has exceeded 480 people …
… Russian military analysts believe that the critical for the US duration of the war would be over 90 days provided that during that time the coalition will sustain over 1,000 killed. Under such circumstances a serious political crisis in the US and in the world will be unavoidable …
Many more body bags…
11 Bodies Found With Rescued POW](Yahoo News: Latest and Breaking News, Headlines, Live Updates, and More)
so finally us accepts a shot down copter and jet. yoohoooo! 