wholagun
11-08-2003, 05:41 AM
TIKRIT, Iraq (CNN) -- Hours after six U.S. soldiers were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter was apparently shot down, U.S. forces pounded the area near Saddam Hussein's ancestral home of Tikrit with bombs and mortar shells.
Two F-16s flew low over the marshy area and dropped at least two 500-pound bombs near where the helicopter crashed, CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson reported from Tikrit, 110 miles (175 km) north of Baghdad.
Dozens of artillery shells, mortars and howitzers rained down on the area, Robertson said, beginning late Friday and going into early Saturday. (On the Scene: Nic Robertson)
"We're showing a little bit of force tonight and we've got lots of tools at our disposal," said Col. James Hickey of the 4th Armored Division in Tikrit.
The U.S. military said that while its investigation into Friday's Black Hawk crash is "inconclusive," it believes the helicopter was shot down -- possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade.
"We do believe it was brought down by ground fire," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, Commander 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division, said investigators have determined that a surface-to-air missile was not used.
"But that does not rule out a rocket-propelled grenade," she said, adding that "the results of the investigation are inconclusive" and "we never rule out any possibility."
Two Black Hawks were flying along the marshy banks of the Tigris River near Tikrit when witnesses said one was struck by enemy fire.
The helicopter, carrying passengers from the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul to the 4th Infantry Division headquarters in Tikrit, smashed into the ground and a trail of black smoke billowed into the sky.
Pentagon sources said the lead helicopter -- the one not harmed -- was carrying a two-star general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Romig, the Army's top lawyer.
Romig, the Judge Advocate General of the Army, is not based in Iraq. He was visiting Iraq on an undisclosed mission. CNN is told he is safe.
A successful attack on a two-star general could have given anti-U.S. insurgents a morale boost.
A near-miss occurred October 26 when Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spent the night at the al Rashid hotel the same night it was hit by rockets. (Full story)
It's impossible to know whether Iraqi insurgents were aware of the high-ranking officials in either incident.
Still, sources said Friday's incident raises troubling questions about whether insurgents knew of the general's whereabouts. Details of his trip were never released publicly.
Black Hawk crash among other violent incidents
The crash comes a day after a somber memorial service for 15 U.S. troops killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down Sunday in Fallujah in an apparent missile strike. A 16th soldier died Thursday of injuries suffered in the attack, the Pentagon said.
The Defense Department said the soldier, Sgt. Paul F. Fisher, 39, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at a hospital in Germany.
On October 25, rocket-propelled grenades took down a Black Hawk near Tikrit, wounding one soldier.
In further violence Friday, assailants ambushed a U.S. military convoy in the northern city of Mosul, killing one soldier and wounding six, according to the Coalition Press Information Center and the 101st Airborne Division.
Rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire hit the 101st convoy at about 7 a.m. (11 p.m. EST Thursday), a spokesman said.
Also Friday, a U.S. soldier sustained injuries when assailants launched two rocket-propelled grenades at a military convoy in Baghdad, slightly damaging the two U.S. Humvees, eyewitnesses told CNN's Matthew Chance.
Since the war began, 394 U.S. troops have died. Of those, 255 have died after President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1. Thirty-four American troops and one Polish soldier have been killed in the first week of November.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1.
The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP said that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
Turkish troops in Iraq not a sure thing
Turkey won't send troops to neighboring Iraq to help U.S. forces -- at least not in the near future, a source with the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.
This comes after the Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it will review parliament's decision last month to authorize the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed the issue by phone Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
There has been strong opposition in Iraq to a troop deployment by some neighboring countries as well as ongoing conflicts between Turkey and the Kurds, who live in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
Turkey particularly is concerned over any Kurdish secessionist aspirations. (Full story)
CNN's Dana Bash, Jamie McIntyre, Nic Robertson, Matthew Chance and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/08/sprj.irq.main/index.html
Two F-16s flew low over the marshy area and dropped at least two 500-pound bombs near where the helicopter crashed, CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson reported from Tikrit, 110 miles (175 km) north of Baghdad.
Dozens of artillery shells, mortars and howitzers rained down on the area, Robertson said, beginning late Friday and going into early Saturday. (On the Scene: Nic Robertson)
"We're showing a little bit of force tonight and we've got lots of tools at our disposal," said Col. James Hickey of the 4th Armored Division in Tikrit.
The U.S. military said that while its investigation into Friday's Black Hawk crash is "inconclusive," it believes the helicopter was shot down -- possibly by a rocket-propelled grenade.
"We do believe it was brought down by ground fire," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, Commander 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.
Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division, said investigators have determined that a surface-to-air missile was not used.
"But that does not rule out a rocket-propelled grenade," she said, adding that "the results of the investigation are inconclusive" and "we never rule out any possibility."
Two Black Hawks were flying along the marshy banks of the Tigris River near Tikrit when witnesses said one was struck by enemy fire.
The helicopter, carrying passengers from the 101st Airborne Division headquarters in Mosul to the 4th Infantry Division headquarters in Tikrit, smashed into the ground and a trail of black smoke billowed into the sky.
Pentagon sources said the lead helicopter -- the one not harmed -- was carrying a two-star general, Maj. Gen. Thomas Romig, the Army's top lawyer.
Romig, the Judge Advocate General of the Army, is not based in Iraq. He was visiting Iraq on an undisclosed mission. CNN is told he is safe.
A successful attack on a two-star general could have given anti-U.S. insurgents a morale boost.
A near-miss occurred October 26 when Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spent the night at the al Rashid hotel the same night it was hit by rockets. (Full story)
It's impossible to know whether Iraqi insurgents were aware of the high-ranking officials in either incident.
Still, sources said Friday's incident raises troubling questions about whether insurgents knew of the general's whereabouts. Details of his trip were never released publicly.
Black Hawk crash among other violent incidents
The crash comes a day after a somber memorial service for 15 U.S. troops killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down Sunday in Fallujah in an apparent missile strike. A 16th soldier died Thursday of injuries suffered in the attack, the Pentagon said.
The Defense Department said the soldier, Sgt. Paul F. Fisher, 39, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died at a hospital in Germany.
On October 25, rocket-propelled grenades took down a Black Hawk near Tikrit, wounding one soldier.
In further violence Friday, assailants ambushed a U.S. military convoy in the northern city of Mosul, killing one soldier and wounding six, according to the Coalition Press Information Center and the 101st Airborne Division.
Rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire hit the 101st convoy at about 7 a.m. (11 p.m. EST Thursday), a spokesman said.
Also Friday, a U.S. soldier sustained injuries when assailants launched two rocket-propelled grenades at a military convoy in Baghdad, slightly damaging the two U.S. Humvees, eyewitnesses told CNN's Matthew Chance.
Since the war began, 394 U.S. troops have died. Of those, 255 have died after President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1. Thirty-four American troops and one Polish soldier have been killed in the first week of November.
There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1.
The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but the AP said that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher.
Turkish troops in Iraq not a sure thing
Turkey won't send troops to neighboring Iraq to help U.S. forces -- at least not in the near future, a source with the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Friday.
This comes after the Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it will review parliament's decision last month to authorize the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed the issue by phone Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
There has been strong opposition in Iraq to a troop deployment by some neighboring countries as well as ongoing conflicts between Turkey and the Kurds, who live in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq.
Turkey particularly is concerned over any Kurdish secessionist aspirations. (Full story)
CNN's Dana Bash, Jamie McIntyre, Nic Robertson, Matthew Chance and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/11/08/sprj.irq.main/index.html