US Shocked at Baghdad Hotel Attack

[leftchick]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3216141.stm

<snip>
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that the US did not expect that American forces would face such intense and sustained attacks in Iraq.
Mr Powell was speaking after rockets hit the Rashid hotel, used by US officials and one of the most heavily guarded sites in Iraq's capital.

US officials say they are facing increasingly sophisticated attacks.

Late on Sunday, just hours after Mr Powell's comments, two blasts detonated near the US-led coalition's HQ.

A military spokesman said the explosions had gone off in the capital's Green Zone, which also includes the Rashid hotel.

.....I am not shocked! Is anyone here shocked? Sheesh... :eyes:

[alcuno]

1. Why are we paying these people?

To feign stupidity or to be stupid?

[bahrbearian]

3. Now we're down to Powell and Rice on the Sunday talk show's

Let the Black Folk take the fall.

[fizzana]

4. Denial

It's very easy once you get used to it.

[Skittles]

16. GOOD QUESTON, ALCUNO

anyone with basic knowledge of the history of the region could have predicted this mess. I'm betting people did but they were overruled by Bush Inc, hell bent on ruling the world. It's sad and it is OUTRAGEOUS.

[fshrink]

29. Both

[deutsey]

2. Maybe if they had listened to the "focus groups"

before rolling out their "product" they wouldn't be so surprised at how badly their marketing campaign is going.

:puke:

[caledesi]

15. Well said deu. Well said.

[diamond14]

5. chickenhawks are alway shocked when 8 missiles hit their hotel

with several other major explosions going off nearby immediately following...but they did get their 'spin' out quick...'ah, ah, ah...this wasn't directed at wolfo...the Iraqis are still happy...we are still happy...ah, ah, ah, ah....'


-BBC snips-

The attackers appear to have driven a van into a nearby park where they dropped off a trailer containing a rocket launcher, disguised as a generator, about 400 metres (1,312 feet) from the hotel.

They then set off a timing device and fled, leaving the rockets to launch at the hotel a few minutes later.






did anyone see the photos of the missile launcher???? it looked like it could hold at least 20 missiles....

[Jack Rabbit]

9. Wolfowitz' reaction

We know that whatever was the reaction of Mr. Wolfowitz to the attack, it was not a falshback caused by post-traumatic stress.

[Skittles]

18. YES INDEED

it certainly is ironic, the warmongering chickenhawk bastard getting shot at by a missile, is it not??

[Cappurr]

43. He was pissing his pants.

LOL. Now maybe he has some slight clue what war means.

[Jack Rabbit]

56. Hi, Cappurr

:hi:
Good to see you.

[Zhade]

12. Attacks are getting more sophisticated every day.

NT!

[Cappurr]

41. Actually, there were eleven direct hits

Jim Mickloshevski (spelling?) from NBC was actually in the hotel at the time. He is the only one that has exclusive video of the interior of the hotel. And I'm telling you it was amazing that more than one person didn't die. It looked worse than some of those resturant suicide bombings in Israel.

[madrchsod]

6. the rockets were fired from atv

or pick-up mounted multi -missle battery. someone`s been hiding some medium power ordinance ,haven`t they? prelude to a tet offensive?? i listened to the radio this morning-oh everything is ok,things are really getting better,really they are,yes they are..really........

[burrowowl]

45. They probably

have rockets all over the place.
The rocket launcher looked 'homemade' with PVC pipes, which could explain why half didn't fire (ignitor sequence electrical stuff needs working on). But, hey single-use fire and leave stuff is good for hit and run. It also shows they are resourceful.
I think the occupation of Iraq is going to not be healthy for the occupiers. Bring the troops home!

[Judi Lynn]

53. Here's a new article from the L.A. times

October 27, 2003


THE WORLD
Attack on Hotel Well Planned, Officials Say
A U.S. colonel was killed and 15 people wounded by a homemade weapon. 'We have a major terrorist problem,' coalition chief declares.


By David Lamb, Times Staff Writer


BAGHDAD — The bold rocket attack on the Rashid Hotel that killed a U.S. colonel and wounded 15 people required reconnaissance and rehearsal and was launched by a homemade weapon that probably took a couple of months to build, U.S. authorities said Sunday.

Army Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, who was in the hotel when it was attacked, told reporters the 40-pod rocket launcher was towed to the firing site — a park near the Baghdad Zoo, about 400 yards from the hotel — behind a truck that witnesses said sped away after uncoupling the launcher.

Eight to 10 rockets 68 millimeters and 85 millimeters in size struck the hotel, which houses U.S. military officers and staff members of the U.S.-led coalition, causing substantial damage and setting off the sprinkler system.

"I was just getting up and as soon as I heard the explosions I had no doubt had happened," said Sgt. First Class David McDonald of the Florida National Guard, whose troops help guard the heavily fortified complex where the more than 400-room Rashid is located. "It was the same noise, only louder, that we heard when the hotel was attacked Sept. 27." (snip/...)

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq27oct27000421,1,2885913.story?coll=la-headlines-world

[Old and In the Way]

7. Saddened, not shocked.

How can these people have not expected this kind guerilla warfare? Did they really believe their own BS that we'd be looked at as liberators and friends of the Iraqi's? Did they not think that the populace would see us as occupiers and controller's of their oil 1st?

We knew and many posters here predicted this would be the outcome....were the collective baintrust too inbred with their ideology to think outside their sandbox?

[caledesi]

17. WE predicted this mess. Gee, why didn't the "experts" think of this?

[fizzana]

8. These are the measures they have to take for security in Iraq

This is what it takes to get into the Green Zone in Baghdad. Despite this the guerillas still managed to attack. This from the cover story ni Newsweek. The whole story is worth reading.

http://msnbc.com/news/985306.asp

What’s life like for an American businessman or contractor in Iraq? If you’re from Halliburton’s Kellogg Brown & Root, you’re installed in the prized Green Zone, Baghdad’s Beverly Hills. That’s the four-square-mile patch of downtown where the CPA is headquartered under heavy U.S. military guard. Bechtel is there as well, holed up in Uday Hussein’s former villa on the Tigris. But smaller companies or those that arrived too late to scoop up prime real estate—that’s wherever the U.S. military is—are dug into one of the many hotels around town under heavy guard. You’ll know you’re approaching one when you see tall concrete barriers, known as blast walls, and chicanes, which are obstacle courses designed to create traffic jams.

If you’re berthed in either the Palestine or the Sheraton hotels, the only ones guarded by American troops 24/7, you’ll have to make a two-mile detour through extremely heavy traffic to get around the blocked-off streets to the lone access point. First your car will pass through a series of concrete barriers guaranteed to make sure you crawl at five miles an hour. Then you’ll see the now closed riverside boulevard, Abu Nawass Street, and you’ll be staring down the cannon of an M1A1 Abrams tank leveled at chest height. From there, no matter how important you are, you’ll walk with your bags to the first American checkpoint. It’s next to the sidewalk, where there’s a double row of concrete blast walls and huge wire-meshed sandbags; they form a sort of tunnel without a roof, 100 yards long, with machine guns covering it. There you’ll be searched under the supervision of American soldiers, who are so tired of the drill they often deputize street kids to pat you down, while an Iraqi policeman looks in your bag. Your mobile phones will be disassembled, other electronics taken apart, bags opened on the ground. At the end of this process you’ll find yourself in one of these two former government-run hotels, with grim and dirty rooms, and dangerously bad food, and few amenities other than the tanks outside.

After checking in, your first stop should be the U.S. Consulate at the Iraqi Convention Center, just inside the Green Zone. To enter, you have to walk down a narrow pathway for about 100 yards between two double rolls of concertina wire, so close together you have to be careful not to snag your safari shirt. This is designed to keep Iraqis in a straight line, and possibly also to prevent a frontal assault on the first American Army position. Then you’ll pass through three Army posts and be searched twice. If you’re meeting with anyone important inside, you’ll be searched yet again and have your belongings sniffed by dogs.

[asjr]

22. iraq

"Iraq Convention Center???" Is that where Iraqis go to debate??
Or do they just go there for the rubber chicken.

[fizzana]

32. The last exhibition they had there before the war was the

"Genital Torture Expo" featuring over 150 Genital Torture implement vendors from all over the world. The next expo there is only going to have two vendors, Halliburton and Bechtel.

[Rex]

10. Shocked & awed I tell you...

:eyes:

[Zhade]

11. BREAKING NEWS: Bush Shocked Santa Not Real

Yeah, they're shocked. And I'm Albert Freaking Einstein.

[goforit]

24. Are we in Kansas ..toto?.........Well....HELLO Dorothy!!!

No mr. powell you're in Munchkin Land!!!

:wtf: You're a disgrace to those whom have lost their lives.

All you and Bush have down is "play house" with
our sons and daughters.

Stop being a phoney and admitt you're mistake!!!

[cliss]

13. nice post, old.

They are showing us that they are amateurs. Pretenders to the throne.

What I would like to know is: what were their credentials for planning this war? I'm assuming now (help me out here) that the principal planners were: Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, Bush (probably just nodded from time to time), Powell, and who else?

Maybe the rest of the PNAC cabal: Perle, Kristol and some others. What experience did they have from prior wars? They obviously underestimated the Iraqis fight for survival. They overestimated their gratitude. They expected everyone to bow down in complete submission, like maybe Genghis Khan or Alexander on his conquests. Maybe?

My point is: these guys have blundered, goofed, erred every step of the way. They've sold us down the river as far as paying for all this. And we haven't even BEGUN to get things cleaned up over there. What's to come next? Why did anybody believe they could pull this off?

When you apply for a job, you need to show on your application that you've done this sort of thing before. What about these guys?

[fizzana]

14. A few weeks ago MSNBC had an article about the State Dept

Pentagon battle and how it's adversely affected Iraq. The State Department had 20 people they wanted to send to Iraq, all veterans of Bosnia/Cosovo who know a thing or two about post war reconstruction.

Rumsfelt nixed all but one of them because they weren't ideologically pure enough. The result is Iraq is being run by naive party hacks who have no idea what they are doing. It shows.

[Unknown Known]

20. Jay Garner was originally sent in and then they pulled him out

and replaced him with pretty boy Bremer. Garner led the reconstruction in Bosnia and from all accounts, did a pretty good job.

The story at the time was that they had to pull Garner because he was Jewish and Chalabi didn't like him. Can you believe that bullshit?

They forgot to mention that pretty boy Bremer is a cousin of dubya's and Bremer is now residing in Saddam old palace. Isn't that special:puke:

[KeepItReal]

30. Garner tells it like it was/is...Bush & Co. screwing up as usual...

Check out his interview with Frontline...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/truth/view/

[Old and In the Way]

31. Perhaps if Bush, Cheney, Wolf, Perle, Armitage, et al

had some real-life war experience, they'd have had a totally different perspective about sending our sons and daughters to fight their oil war.

It's pretty apparent that the Iraqi's realized that, once the war started, a frontal battle with the US military was foolhardy (see DS1). Instead, they dropped out to fight another day, on their terms.

I have no doubt that the longer this continues, the better arms, manpower, and supplies the Iraqi irregulars will receive from throughout the ME. I fully expect more spectacular attacks that will "shock and awe" the American public.

This is truly a "no win" situation for us. Yeah, we were right, but it's not like we can crow about it. It is, afterall, our blood that's being shed, not theirs.

[KeepItReal]

34. Bush & Co. paid off Iraqi officers...now the check is bouncing

"The U.S. military, the CIA and Iraqi exiles began a broad covert effort inside Iraq at least three months before the war to forge alliances with Iraqi military leaders and persuade commanders not to fight, say people involved in the effort.

Much more than that is uncertain about the murky operation -- not least, the degree of its success.

People behind the effort, including Iraqis who were involved inside the country, said that they had succeeded in persuading hundreds of Iraqi officers to quit the war and to send their subordinates away.

They said that the operation was led by the military's Task Force 20 and that the contacts included telephone calls, e-mail messages, visits and in some cases the payment of substantial sums of money."

http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/2003/08/11/news/nation/6502763.htm

This helped "win" the war, but by not actually engaging an organized enemy, the military is fighting irregulars who still have large quantities of guns and ammo. Now thanks to the genius of Rumsfeld using our best war fighters as policemen, innocent Iraqis are being gunned down left and right by troops who are under daily (up to 35 a day!?) attack. All those Iraqi troops who may have given us a pass on fighting for Saddam, might just feel like fighting for friends, family and country now that our occupation ain't looking like the "we just wanna help get rid of Saddam" routine Bush & Co. painted it as.

[Occulus]

50. Whoo.

I was a bit breathless after reading that. You're dead on, and that was very well said.

Do you mind if I use that as the basis for a LTTE to the Kalamazoo Gazette (my local newspaper)? If you desire, I could even just use it as is. Sorry if I seem eager to spread your words, but the wording is such that it's an easily understood concept to Joe Sixpack.

That's the type of message we need to spread- keep it simple, and give accurate analogies to the average person.

[hussar]

19. Reminds me of Northern Ireland

the tactics are getting very similar, expect more and homemade mortars too

[terrisel]

21. We knew, they didn't ?

I think they knew.

They suppressed the real intelligence reports. I think their strategy was to get in on the lies and the hype and the verbal attacks on the UN. They then planned to manipulate the UN and member countries into mopping up their messes and pacifying the natives while they "cleaned up" on oil and contracts and arms sales.

What they didn't know because of their hubris is that the UN and member countries were going to draw a line in the sand and not step over it until the war hawks burned themselves out.

I don't think they "misunderestimated" the Iraquis. I think they "misunderestimated" the rest of the world.

How many American contractor executives and middle managers are going to want to travel to the "safe" Green Zone this week?

I would imagine that the contractor firms are offering big life and disability insurance packages to their new hires.

[Unknown Known]

25. Exactly and I think this is what will do the bushies in

There's gold in them thar hills, but they can't get to it because the situation is not stabilized - too dangerous. Even the oil companies have been complaining about it. And the damn Iraqis keep blowing up the pipelines (or is it the Iraqis? Who knows?).

BushCo has found themselves in a royal Catch-22. They can't get the place stabilized, but they can't let the UN come in because they'd have to kiss off all that business. And the longer they wait in hopes it will stabilize, the worse it gets. They keep digging themselves into a bigger hole.

What to do? What to do?

[wabeewoman]

48. You have hit the nail on the head

Unknown Unknown. There is no easy way out and they can't seem to bully the situation into their control. I believe in their arrogance they thought they would control the situation. Wonder who will visit Iraq next?? I vote Cheney....

[leftchick]

23. Hey colin, the Iraqis are not shocked either....

from another related BBC link..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3215137.stm

Hotel attack Divides Iraqis...

<snip>It is a big target... I am not surprised they did it while (US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul) Wolfowitz was here," said a Mansour resident who did not give his name.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

26. You've got to wonder what kind of intelligence the Iraqi resistance...

is getting. From what I have read about this attack, it seems that the missiles were targeted at the same side of the building as Wolfowitz's room was located, and on top of that the rockets hit between the 3rd and 11th floor. Wolfowitz was staying on the 12th.

Is this just a remarkable coincidence, or did the attackers know exactly where Wolfowitz was staying, but their aim was off?

Is it possible that the Iraqi resistance is gaining very valuable intelligence from some insider?

[KeepItReal]

28. PNAC/Neocon chickens coming home to roost?

Lets see...both Saddam and former Mujahedeen/Al Qaeda (if they are even in Iraq now) we both foster-parented back in the day by the same C.I.A. that Bush & Co. are now calling incompetent.

But our guys would never stoop so low as to facilitate some "dead enders" taking a potshot at their #1 detractors...A.K.A. Wolfowitz et al.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. The CIA might not...

...but I wouldn't put it past BushCo. (Tinfoil hat time... :tinfoilhat: ) Think of it: sacrifice one high-ranking government official to boost those all-important domestic poll numbers by goosing the "America Uber Alles" crowd. After all, how DARE those Godless heathens over there off one of our senior officials! And if this time didn't work, we'll just KEEP sending high-ranking officials over there until they get lucky! (Memo to Condi: Get these guys some better targeting equipment.)

Okay, hat off. I'm out of tin foil anyway. Just thinking out loud.

[Devils Advocate NZ]

47. I'm thinking more along the lines of Chalabi...

Consider this: While Iraq remains in chaos, there can not be elections, and it is pretty clear that Chalabi would lose an election and thus his power in Iraq. By preventing stability, and thereby preventing the normalisation of Iraqi politics through elections, Chalabi keeps his hands on the purse strings via the Governing Council from where BILLIONS of dollars has gone missing.

Could Chalabi be feeding intelligence to the resistance both to keep control, and also to gain allies for when the US finally leaves?

[Buns_of_Fire]

58. I wouldn't put it past HIM, either

After all, he was apparently the one feeding the US questionable information through Judith Miller (slate article) to help get this whole mess started in the first place. So could this be Chalabi's "Plan B" to make off with as much as possible? I don't know that he really expects to garner any local allies (I don't know that he'd CARE one way or the other, if he can scarf up enough money) -- but I would think that he'd be taking the chance of pissing off his US benefactors (not BushCo, who apparently just LUUUUUUUUV him, but the CIA) in the process...

[Devils Advocate NZ]

59. Perhaps "allies" is the wrong word - "partners in crime" may be better..

Here is what I am thinking: As long as Chalabi continues to provide up to date intelligence on security measures (such as proposed operational targets) and troop movements, the resistance will not interfere with his theft of US money (after all, it's not Iraq's money that is being stolen) and will hit the occasional target that Chalabi nominates.

In fact, as long as Chalabi keeps the resistance happy, they won't stick a rocket up HIS arse.

[dArKeR]

54. struck yards from his (Wolfowitz) room on the 12th floor - MG

The attack at 6am killed a US army colonel, and injured 18 others, including a British Treasury official. Wolfowitz, one of the authors of the war to remove Saddam Hussein, was visibly shaken by the attack, which struck yards from his room on the 12th floor. An Iraqi governing council spokesperson told the Guardian it had been "a near miss".

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=22633

[loudnclear]

27. Once again, Saddam didn't lie: there are no WMDs and, as he promised,

American soldiers would be dying in the streets of Bagdhdad...the people of Iraq will not allow US to take over their country without a fight. And it won't be the Republican Guard that was paid off by the US and scampered like puppies during the invasion. It will be the PEOPLE of Iarq.

[truthisfreedom]

33. hmm. ok, saddam didn't lie, but bush did. hmm. well, now that we've

started down this path, we're gonna free these people if it's the last thing we do. unfortunately, it seems to be the last thing a lot of Americans are doing these days.


at some point them media has to mention to the American public that bush could have decided to spend this kind of money on the US, to fix things up here, focus on protecting our economy and keep our jobs from flowing overseas in a never-ending quest for corporate profiteering, shifting this "patriotism" cry

from a false

"patriotism is doing what the administration says, which is basically war as a way of life forever"

to the true

"patriotism is seeing to it that the future of America is bright by doing the right thing for our people today, which includes requiring corporations to take actions that build our economy steadily, not destroy it by falsifying accounting, hiding profits offshore to avoid taxes, stealing from employees using the stock market and by eliminating retirement accounts, and sending jobs overseas until there is no place for the blue-collar workers to go anymore."

it's all a timing thing. bush could have chosen to use sensible timing to try to correct the madness that has been taking over our country, but he chose the way of war machinery and oil machinery... why? in an effort to prove that he CAN get elected... without that money coming in, he won't have his "war chest" for the election. you see, he wasn't elected the first time, and if he isn't elected next year, ne never will have been elected. the ultimate embarrassment... to go down in history as the most manipulative, beholden, unelected fraud of a president America ever had.

[sushi]

35. No, I'm not at all shocked

I'm amazed that the leaders are shocked. What does that tell us about them?

[kalian]

37. I find it shocking that they're shocked....

no really.
Where are these morons living? What news do they read? Do they
actually believe that things are all peaches and cream over there?

:wtf:

[Malva Zebrina]

38. I read this and cannot believe it

Powell could not believe it because the US did not expect it? I mean, that is really very comforting and it is most really laughable. More and more I am convinced that Powell is below average in intelligence and has really no redeeming qualities that will enable the US to extricate itself from this quagmire. Maybe he is on drugs also. He is simply repeating what he has been told to say like a mannequin. He is malleable and Bush operative know it. That is really laughable and it is quite sad, as our soldiers die there and are attacked daily--I am incensed when I keep getting that image of the little boy Bush all dressed up in his military costume, walking and strutting, military helmut in hand, genitals in full display on the deck of the USS Lincoln, because he neglected to disengage the straps as is the normal thing to do in order to walk comfortably, and it enrages me that we have this idiot of a crass, smirking, cowardly man, killing people in our name without concern--as he and his dumb, insipid, fat assed wife go galavanting around the world, toasting and being toasted and enjoying the luxury of it all on our dollars.

[roguevalley]

39. I was sitting in a restaurant this morning and looking out at my town

thinking about what I would do to protect it and the people
in it, a large number that are my relatives. I would fight
too, as hard as necessary, as long as necessary, as stealthily
as necessary against any invading and occupying force.

I don't know why people don't get it that anyone will protect
their country, their town, their house, their family and
friends. It boggles the mind.

Powell is an idiot. He's a man raised and schooled in the
military and unlike Wesley Clark is unable to think. They all
need to go to jail, the bastards.

[saigon68]

46. as he and his dumb, insipid, fat assed wife

He is a War Criminal and a cowardly deserter.

[0007]

40. It appears that the US had no other

information except what Ahmed Chalabi fed us and we all know now we were dealing with a fraud.

[davhill]

42. A Chickenhawk No More

Now that he has been under enemy fire I guess we'll have to stop calling him a chickenhawk. Maybe this will give him a whole new propective on war and the American Empire.

[TheLastMohican]

52. Like giving him a taste of his own medicine?

It is difficult to do cheerleading for the war when your butt is on the line.

P.S. But I enjoy the picture of Werewolf dodging rockets, he should need new baby pampers anyway.

[Solly Mack]

44. Who didn't expect it? I expected it.

"US Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that the US did not expect that American forces would face such intense and sustained attacks in Iraq."

Then that makes you one stupid General. Guess you rather look incompetent than admit you're a liar....

It's not just Shrub's lies killing our troops...it's your lies too.

[T Bone]

49. Powell admits

They have no freaking idea what to do now. :kick:

[Malva Zebrina]

61. well that is not surprising

Powell has no ideas at all until he gets his printed out talking points from Bush, or someone he is bound to obey.

[dArKeR]

51. Saddam had no bio/chem weapons they would be shooting them into the hotels

and US bases right now if he ever did have them. In my opinion. He could take out our entire high command in one blow if he did have them. That's why I believe the entire WMD story was a complete lie made up by the Bush team and purposely spread by the Ameircan Media Whores.

There must be an IP or our country will soon die in the face of other nations! We have to clean our own house and take responsibility for what Americans, The Bush Crime Family, have done to the people of the world. This is the only way we can regain our and their respect back.

[dArKeR]

55. All the news sources I see are calling this 'Ramadan Rampage'.

All the news sources I see are calling this 'Ramadan Rampage'. It seems to me there is more proof this was an attempt to target Wolfowitz.

Baghdad attack targets US hawk
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=22633

[Rose Siding]

57. Powell has gone off message

The Gen on cnn said the attacks appeared to be coincidental and that we are gaining ground in Baghdad. How to reconcile the two...:freak:

[ElementaryPenguin]

60. BFEE/PNAC Mob being routed in Middle East!!

THEY are losing big time!