2 suicide vests found in Green Zone

[maddezmom]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - Two suicide vests were found unexploded in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, a military spokesman said Sunday, less than a week after a rocket attack killed two Americans in the vast central area.

U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Mark Fox said the vests were found Saturday and the matter was under investigation.

"It reflects the nature of the security challenge that we're facing," he told reporters, without giving more details.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070401/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_green_zone

[DRoseDARs]

1. Oh Lord, here we go. It was bound to happen sooner or later...

NOW can we get our people out of Iraq? :shrug:

[jamesinca]

2. The troop surge did not work

all of those extra people and they managed to put not one, but 2 of these things in the so called heavily fortified "green zone". They can't even secure the walled in compound. Nothing against the troops, it is all about the bad idea they are being forced to implement.

[Eugene]

3. That makes the 4th major Green Zone security breach, at least.

The Iraqi government is supposedly overhauling Green Zone security
with plans to hire an unnamed foreign security company.

Last week: Hit on Iraqi Official Seen As Inside Job - AP

[SquireJons]

4. If they have infiltrated the Green Zone...

Then the end of this bloody fools errand will soon be here.

[Vinca]

5. Not to worry. John McCain is speaking to the country from Baghdad

in a couple of hours. Maybe he'll tell us his intinerary and which model RV they'll be touring the countryside in. Hope he takes lots of photos for the folks at home. Party on, John. If you say it's safe, it must be so.

[rebel with a cause]

24. Haha. Saw him there while channel surfing

Stopped long enough to see what was happening. My son looked at the screen and said without a second thought. "Feeling safe now are you John? Show us how you can take a walk out in those neighborhoods."

I thought it was funny that when the correspondent, a English woman I believe, in Baghdad ended her report and they came back to the woman in the news room, this talking head said something like "Thank you, but lets not forget that a lot of good news is coming out of Iraq also these days." I said a few four letter words as I went back to channel surfing.

[Henny Penny]

6. Strange that a suicide vest would not have someone inside to

detonate it....

Now does anyone have a link to the story about the translator who kept getting calls from the US military about his location?

[Nickster]

7. The vests could have simply been left as a message to the inhabitants of the Green Zone. n/t

[rman]

8. Question is, who left them there.

[Henny Penny]

15. Precisely. We do not know who made these devices and for

what purpose.

Where they prepared by insurgents for use in the Green Zone?

or

Where they prepared in the Green Zone for use against Iraqis?

[rocktivity]

16. Or maybe the vests were CREATED by "inhabitants of the Green Zone!"

Are there soldiers THAT desparate to get out?

:scared:
rocknation

[rebel with a cause]

26. If they were made inside the green zone

I would guess it was done by private contractors for propaganda pruposes. Why? (may be their way of thinking) to get the people back home all worked up about them Iraqis not respecting our war zone and trying to hurt our boys and girls. Bush needs a little fear to get his ratings up and this war backed a little more.:mad:

[dansolo]

20. Wouldn't exploding them be a more effective message?

What this tells me is that someone *INSIDE* the Green Zone is making these vests.

[Nickster]

21. Remember, terror is primarily about the psychological effects. If you can't get a bomber in, you can

leave material that would send the message that you can, or might be able to. Just leave the security in the Green Zone running in circles.

[rman]

28. Theoretically the vests could have been smuggled in,

by insurgents in disguise, and then the mission was abandoned.
This does however raise the question how they got past security. Inside help would make that a heck of a lot easier.

Having the vests also explode would reflect even worse on Green Zone security - this might well be a good compromise between scaring people and making the US army look bad.

[Forkboy]

30. Sometimes it's freakier to know someone COULD kill you but didn't.

[CueST]

23. Sounds more likely

that they were leave-behinds. Cache.

[Eugene]

10. This may be how the previous bomber got his vest.

Deputy PM Zubaie was nearly killed there by one of his own
body guards, his own cousin. Since security is treated as
jobs for the boys, there are probably more insiders ready
to strike.

Sneak the vest in and wait for the inside man to put it on.

[kaal]

9. My question , maybe they originate from the green zone?

It's easy to assume they were smuggled into the green zone.

Why would the suicide bomber take them off instead of heading to his target before capture to detonate him self.

[annabanana]

12. Clearly, there is an "inside" man. .

Probably a lot of them..

BTW, Are any of our intrepid Congressmen and Women over there right now?

[brentspeak]

13. Uh, no

[Buzz Clik]

11. Surge II: Put so many troops in the Green Zone that there's no room for anyone else.

[DemoTex]

14. Stockpiling for a Tet-like offensive?

I think so.

[Olney Blue]

17. How did it get past security?

[rman]

19. It's easier to get past security, if you have inside help.

Inside job is always easier than an outside job.

[Olney Blue]

22. Exactly what I was thinking, rman.

[Tin Man]

18. The insurgents/vests were just staging for the right "high value" target to come along

Hey, these "dead-ender" guys are pretty smart... Here's what they're doing:

Don't waste your GreenZone suicide attacks on indiscriminant targets, because once you've played that card, it's gonna get alot harder to repeat in the future - much better to wait for a high-value target. And when high-value guys (like US politicians) are in the house, security at GZ gates goes way up (as well as the liklihood of getting caught trying to smuggle weapons through the checkpoints). So the strategy was/is pretty clever: smuggle the weapons during times of relatively low security concerns, and stage them for use at a later time when the "right" target(s) is present.

I wonder how many other vests haven't been found?

[truthisfreedom]

25. My question is: Why did the military reveal this?

What's their objective?

[rebel with a cause]

27. See post # 24 for answer to this

although it was written about if the vest were made inside the zone, it works here as well. To get support for the war.

[Supersedeas]

29. Nothing to see here - Senator McCain sees progress everywhere