Was Wolfie *possibly* the target?

[Uli]

I get a kick out of how the attack is reported on both cnn & fox. For me it would be the most obvious assumption and I could only think that the reason they don't say it outright is that they wan us to believe that the terrists are really stoopid.

[las.vegas.lynn]

Wolfowitz Escapes Deadly Baghdad Strike
October 26, 2003 11:54 AM EST


BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a daring strike, insurgents attacked the heart of the U.S. occupation Sunday, unleashing a barrage of rockets against the Al Rasheed hotel, where U.S. officials live and where visiting Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying. Wolfowitz escaped, but an American colonel was killed and 15 people were wounded.

Scores of American officials fled the hotel in pajamas and shorts after the 6:10 a.m. assault, in which a rocket battery on a timer, wheeled into a nearby park, hit the hotel with eight to 10 missiles. Holes pockmarked the Al Rasheed's modern, concrete facade, and windows were shattered in two dozen rooms.

Wolfowitz, who appeared shaken as he addressed reporters at a convention center across the street where most officials fled, vowed the attack would not deter the United States in its mission to transform Iraq.

"There are a few who refuse to accept the reality of a new and free Iraq," he said. "We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of them."

The bold strike from nearly point-blank range once again pointed up the vulnerability of even heavily guarded U.S. facilities in Iraq, where American forces sustain an average of 26 lower-profile attacks daily. Wolfowitz was wrapping up a tour to assess ways to defeat a stubborn six-month-old insurgency.

The slain American was a colonel, Wolfowitz said, without identifying him. That would be one of the highest ranking U.S. military officers killed in the Iraqi insurgency. Since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1, 109 U.S. soldiers have been killed by hostile fire.

The 15 wounded included seven American civilians, four U.S. military personnel and four civilians from other nations, the U.S. military said. One Briton was among the wounded.

Army Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the commander of the 1st Armored Division, which is responsible for Baghdad security, said the attack probably took a couple of months to plan.

"No doubt it required some reconnaissance and some rehearsal ... some time to weld this apparatus together (and) probably a rehearsal to pull this into position," Dempsey told a news conference.

Calling the makeshift device "clever," he said the launcher was disguised to look like a portable generator and contained a set of tubes with 40 pods to contain missiles.

He said about eight to 10 missiles - 65mm and 85mm - hit the hotel, and 11 were still in the launcher when U.S. troops examined it. He said he did not know how many missiles were fired but missed the Al Rasheed.

The launcher also was booby-trapped, and troops had to defuse explosives in the wheel wells before they could move it, Dempsey said.

He added that he did not believe Wolfowitz was the target of the attack. Instead, he said, it was timed to discredit the U.S. opening of a key bridge over the Tigris River and the lifting of a nighttime curfew in the capital - both in honor of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which starts here Monday, and because of U.S. military assessments of improved security in Baghdad.

Asked if he still stands by those assessments, Dempsey answered, "Absolutely."

The Al Rasheed, which houses civilian occupation officials and U.S. military forces, is the downtown Baghdad district at the heart of the U.S.-led administration of Iraq, about a mile from the palace housing the coalition headquarters and the offices of interim Iraqi Governing Council.

The attackers drove the launcher to the edge of a park just 500 yards southwest of the hotel and quickly fled. Rockets suddenly ignited within the trailer, apparently on a timer, flashing toward the nearby hotel. Their impact resounded across central Baghdad.

Several security guards saw the attackers deposit the trailer and - thinking they were abandoning a stalled car - approached right before the missiles fired. At least three were injured by ignition blast, Iraqi police said.

Wolfowitz, expressing "profound sympathy" for the victims, said danger persists in Iraq "as long as there are criminals out there staging hit-and-run attacks."

A day earlier, only hours after the deputy secretary left the 4th Infantry Division base at Tikrit, north of Baghdad, a division helicopter crash-landed after insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade near the base. The Black Hawk pilot managed to maintain control after the hit and crash-landed, said division spokeswoman Maj. Jossyln Aberle. One crewmember was injured, she said. Two persons with the RPG launcher were captured, she said.

Also Sunday, a soldier from the 4th Infantry Division died Sunday from a non-hostile gunshot wound in the town of Baqouba, northwest of Baghdad, the military said. A total of 348 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the invasion was launched March 20.

An Iraqi police commander, who refused to give his name, said the attackers, in a white Chevrolet pickup, drove down a main road passing a few hundred yards from the hotel and stopped at the edge of the city's main Zawra Park and Zoo. Security guards of the new Facilities Protection Service spotted the activity.

"We approached him (the driver) to tell him to move the car. When he saw us, he fled," one of the injured guards, Jabbar Tarek, said at a nearby hospital.

As Tarek and others approached, the rockets fired off from the blue trailer, police said. Tarek said the guards weren't armed, or "I would have fired on him."

Later Sunday morning, U.S. soldiers could be seen removing at least two 3-foot-long rockets from the trailer.

"There is no guarantee we can protect against this kind of thing unless we have soldiers on every block," said Lt. Brian Dowd of Nanuet, N.Y., a 1st Armored Division reconnaissance officer at the scene.

Barely a mile away, the road crosses the Tigris River at the 14th of July Bridge, which U.S. authorities reopened Saturday for the first time since the city fell to American troops in April.

Iraqi security guard Dafer Jawad, 28, said that from the convention center he saw projectiles flying toward the hotel.

"There was a whooshing sound," he said. "One landed in the front of the hotel. I saw very heavy white smoke in front of the hotel.... Many people started rushing across from the hotel into the Convention Center."

The hotel also was attacked Sept. 27 with small rockets or rocket-propelled grenades, causing only minimal damage.

U.S. officials had warned that "Islamic extremists" planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack against an unspecified hotel in the city's Karrada district used by Westerners. But the warning did not specify a target, and the Al Rasheed is not in that district.

A car bomb on Oct. 12 against the Baghdad Hotel, also used by U.S. officials, killed eight people, including the bomber, but security measures prevented the vehicle from reaching the building before it exploded.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2003 Associated Press.

With noone guarding the Iraq munitions depots (there aren't enough guards to go around) these guys can build this stuff.

This whole thing is such a sham. I'm surprized Woofie was even staying in Bahgdad. Don't they usually stay overnight someplace else? But hey, they are so secure they don't even need to give guns to the natives hired are security.

I think I know who the stupid people are.

I bet the Bush fool is praying for a "filter" on this one! Can these clowns do anything right? Just leard that there have been two additional explosions in Baghdad---is this any way to treat beloved liberators? And where the hell is this god who is supposed to be on our side???? If he/she doesn't get his/her act straight, Ashcroft will scream, "traitor!"

Whats a traget?

[Monte Smith]

A bold attack. The enemy is diabolical. But it takes more than that to kill Wolfowitz. Requiescat in pace to the colonel, though.

[gonzo]

and here i thought we were talking about eddie munster's werewolf doll.

[walto]

"But it takes more than that to kill Wolfowitz."

What are you suggesting here, Monte? A silver bullet? A spike through the heart? Kryptonite? The color yellow?

[Uli]

[Gary Sisco]

No way to know. And, as for me, no way to care. He's been talking fire and brimstone for long enough. If he caught some shrapnel, it wouldn't be like he's a Quaker stretcher bearer or something.

[RBS]

Originally posted by Scott Dolan
Whats a traget?

A big store, Scott. Like Wal-Mrat.

[Gary Sisco]

Another question: Why *wouldn't* he be a target? If I were on the receiving end of his endless calls for jihad, I'd target him, for obvious reasons. Who wouldn't? War's war. There are always at least two sides and therefore as many perspectives. This one has many more than two sides, all but one of which have plenty of reason to want him dead.

[Monte Smith]

Originally posted by walto
"But it takes more than that to kill Wolfowitz."

What are you suggesting here, Monte? A silver bullet? A spike through the heart? Kryptonite? The color yellow?

Something along those lines.

[Noj]

Terminator: What's wrong with Wolfie? I can hear him barking.

T2000: Wolfie's fine, John. Wolfie's just fine.

[Gary Sisco]

Takes nothing more than a tiny little sliver of hot steel. That's all. Like anyone else. Anyway, there's one of his lives. I'll bet he stays out of Iraq for the duration. Any takers?

People go out easily and quickly. You wouldn't believe how quickly, sometimes. I looked over once after shit seemed to have calmed down and the guy next to me as dead as dead. I hadn't known he was even hit. Never heard a sound (but the ambient intense noise). He probably never did, either. Was the spookiest moment of my life, I hope. It's all a roll of the dice. Wolfodimwitz was lucky at just the right moment. Nothing more.

[Monte Smith]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco
Takes nothing more than a tiny little sliver of hot steel. That's all. Like anyone else. Anyway, there's one of his lives. I'll bet he stays out of Iraq for the duration. Any takers?

I'll bet he's back next quarter. What are we betting?

[Gary Sisco]

I'll bet you a Jackson.

[Monte Smith]

Yer on, Sisco. I assume we're talking Andrew and not Tito.

[Gary Sisco]

You assume correctly, sir.

Might I ask "next quarter" of what?

[Monte Smith]

Wolfowitz has promised to visit Iraq on a quarterly basis. Let's be fair to me and say he means one visit per quarter. (After all, you're asserting that he's out of Baghdad "for the duration.") So I'll say Wolfie is back in Iraq by the end of March.

[Gary Sisco]

Alright, Monte. We have a bet.

[Monte Smith]

Easy money! ...Assuming Wolfowitz keeps his job.

[Gary Sisco]

Or lives.

[Monte Smith]

I got confidence.

So Bush has more blood on his hands--he asked for it when he said "bring 'em on." What a colossal, callous idiot this man is.

[lynn]

Will he have to spend the night and not run away to some other country to sleep?

I'm betting he had to change his briefs after this one. Has this guy ever been in a live fire situation, desk jockie that he is?

I also agree with Gary on the many perspectives of this conflict. These guys are fighting a war against an occupying army. This will continue until we actually leave. Many thanks to Bush and his crusaders for christ and american capitalism.

[Al in NYC]

Gotta aim a little higher next time...

[Monte Smith]

Cheering on the enemy, Al? Don't stoop.

[Al in NYC]

Who's the enemy here Monte? No Iraqi has ever done shit to me, or Wolfie either I would bet, until now. But Wolfie is personally responsible for hundreds if not thousands of Iraqi deaths, and is at the forefront of those sucking billions of dollars out of our lagging economy to pay for this foolishness. Foolishness that is likely to only bring more death to those who didn't ask to be in the way of this fire in the first place, and more terrorism to our shores. Frankly, short of Saddam himself, Wolfowitz, and his mad imperial mission, are more my enemy than any Iraqi.

And you notice we didn't "get" Saddam either... much like this attack, we only managed to kill off a bunch of people standing a bit too close to where we thought he was. Too damn bad folks always seem to miss the REAL war criminals. They always missed ol' Henry, and last I heard Osama's still out there walking the desert despite all of the other folks who caught that lovely "daisy cutter" shrapnel we're all so proud of.

[Monte Smith]

Early, unverified reports are that it was Syrian nationals who were behind these attacks, Al. They have one perp in custody. I'm sure no Syrian has ever done shit to you, either.

[Al in NYC]

No, not unless you count the Syrian guy who owned the candy store on the corner when I was a kid and slapped me on the wrist when he caught me trying to shoplift some Now and Laters. But then he didn't call my mom either, and for that I was eternally grateful...