ianstone
10-04-2010, 04:02 PM
Battle Raises Questions on Iraq Security Readiness
by Kelly McEvers
October 4, 2010
The U.S. military has claimed that Iraqi forces are ready to handle their own security as American troops withdraw from the country. But the commander of U.S. troops during what's being called the "Battle of the Palm Grove," says glaring mistakes were made during this fierce three-day battle with insurgents in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.
The fight, waged in a remote grove of palm trees, involved hundreds of Iraqi soldiers, U.S. ground troops and American fighter planes dropping two 500-pound bombs from F-16 fighter planes.
Lt. Col. Bob Molinari, with the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii, says the troubles in the palm grove started when local residents reported that insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida had assembled there to build bombs. An Iraqi commander led a unit of Iraqi soldiers in to investigate.
http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2010/10/04/iraqoperations.jpg?t=1286217197&s=2 Enlarge (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);) AFP/Getty Images Iraq army soldiers and commandos show off their anti-terrorism skills at a camp in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sept. 26, three weeks after the official end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2010/10/04/iraqoperations.jpg?t=1286217197
AFP/Getty Images Iraq army soldiers and commandos show off their anti-terrorism skills at a camp in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sept. 26, three weeks after the official end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
Molinari says Iraqi commanders from a total of seven different units showed up at the scene. Even the minister of defense was there. Molinari says too many commanders meant no coherent plan of action.
Iraqi soldiers were sent into the grove, in single file, each headed by an officer, Molinari says. The insurgent snipers would simply take aim at the officer who was leading each column.
"It was a matter of, as soon as the officers went down, the [Iraqi soldiers] went to ground. They didn't know what to do next," Molinari says.
Molinari says the Iraqi soldiers fled from the palm grove and requested American firepower. So the Americans employed bombs, mortars, grenades and special forces. But the enemy only hid in drainage ditches, waited, then came out again, shooting.
In all, five Iraqis were killed and 13 were wounded. Two Americans were wounded as well. By the second night of battle, the Iraqis ordered a full retreat from the palm grove.
After the battle, Molinari and the Iraqi commander in Diyala decided to set up a month-long training session based on what went wrong in the Battle of the Palm Grove. The training is taking place in another palm grove that was once a vacation home for a commander in former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's army.
On the first day of training, Molinari's men draw diagrams of how soldiers should move in diagonals, not straight lines.
Iraqi Lt. Gen. Tariq Abdul Wahab Jassim acknowledges that Iraqi soldiers made mistakes in the battle of the palm grove and asks what to do differently next time.
Molinari responds that the Iraqis should have sent just one platoon with one commander. And, he says, the Iraqis should never have given up their ground.
"Once the fire-fight starts, you do not break contact with the enemy," Molinari says. "You continue to focus on him, and if you can not maneuver, other forces come in. Until he's dead."
I basically had to take an appetite suppressant and I had to say, 'No. If I send you out there, you will probably eliminate the threat. But that's not the mission. The mission is to get them to do it.'
- Lt. Col. Bob Moliari
After the question-and-answer session, Molinari's men move into the trees to demonstrate how it's done. A loudspeaker simulates how a message would be sent to civilians to evacuate the area before the fight begins.
American soldiers fire blanks at a simulated enemy target. The unit's spokesman, Maj. Gabe Zinni, says this is the kind of training that any American soldier would receive before going into combat.
"These are ... fundamentals," he says. "Absolutely."
In other words, if the enemy is hiding in a densely wooded area and shooting at you, advance on him and keep firing at him, while more of your men sneak around and attack him from the side or from behind.
In the end, it turns out that only four or five insurgents were fighting in the Battle of the Palm Grove.
And despite the efforts of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers, about 50 American soldiers, and massive firepower, the insurgents eventually got away.
Back at the base, Molinari says he simply wasn't going to put his men on the front lines.
by Kelly McEvers
October 4, 2010
The U.S. military has claimed that Iraqi forces are ready to handle their own security as American troops withdraw from the country. But the commander of U.S. troops during what's being called the "Battle of the Palm Grove," says glaring mistakes were made during this fierce three-day battle with insurgents in the eastern Iraqi province of Diyala.
The fight, waged in a remote grove of palm trees, involved hundreds of Iraqi soldiers, U.S. ground troops and American fighter planes dropping two 500-pound bombs from F-16 fighter planes.
Lt. Col. Bob Molinari, with the 25th Infantry Division based in Hawaii, says the troubles in the palm grove started when local residents reported that insurgents affiliated with al-Qaida had assembled there to build bombs. An Iraqi commander led a unit of Iraqi soldiers in to investigate.
http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2010/10/04/iraqoperations.jpg?t=1286217197&s=2 Enlarge (http://javascript<b></b>:void(0);) AFP/Getty Images Iraq army soldiers and commandos show off their anti-terrorism skills at a camp in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sept. 26, three weeks after the official end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2010/10/04/iraqoperations.jpg?t=1286217197
AFP/Getty Images Iraq army soldiers and commandos show off their anti-terrorism skills at a camp in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sept. 26, three weeks after the official end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
Molinari says Iraqi commanders from a total of seven different units showed up at the scene. Even the minister of defense was there. Molinari says too many commanders meant no coherent plan of action.
Iraqi soldiers were sent into the grove, in single file, each headed by an officer, Molinari says. The insurgent snipers would simply take aim at the officer who was leading each column.
"It was a matter of, as soon as the officers went down, the [Iraqi soldiers] went to ground. They didn't know what to do next," Molinari says.
Molinari says the Iraqi soldiers fled from the palm grove and requested American firepower. So the Americans employed bombs, mortars, grenades and special forces. But the enemy only hid in drainage ditches, waited, then came out again, shooting.
In all, five Iraqis were killed and 13 were wounded. Two Americans were wounded as well. By the second night of battle, the Iraqis ordered a full retreat from the palm grove.
After the battle, Molinari and the Iraqi commander in Diyala decided to set up a month-long training session based on what went wrong in the Battle of the Palm Grove. The training is taking place in another palm grove that was once a vacation home for a commander in former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's army.
On the first day of training, Molinari's men draw diagrams of how soldiers should move in diagonals, not straight lines.
Iraqi Lt. Gen. Tariq Abdul Wahab Jassim acknowledges that Iraqi soldiers made mistakes in the battle of the palm grove and asks what to do differently next time.
Molinari responds that the Iraqis should have sent just one platoon with one commander. And, he says, the Iraqis should never have given up their ground.
"Once the fire-fight starts, you do not break contact with the enemy," Molinari says. "You continue to focus on him, and if you can not maneuver, other forces come in. Until he's dead."
I basically had to take an appetite suppressant and I had to say, 'No. If I send you out there, you will probably eliminate the threat. But that's not the mission. The mission is to get them to do it.'
- Lt. Col. Bob Moliari
After the question-and-answer session, Molinari's men move into the trees to demonstrate how it's done. A loudspeaker simulates how a message would be sent to civilians to evacuate the area before the fight begins.
American soldiers fire blanks at a simulated enemy target. The unit's spokesman, Maj. Gabe Zinni, says this is the kind of training that any American soldier would receive before going into combat.
"These are ... fundamentals," he says. "Absolutely."
In other words, if the enemy is hiding in a densely wooded area and shooting at you, advance on him and keep firing at him, while more of your men sneak around and attack him from the side or from behind.
In the end, it turns out that only four or five insurgents were fighting in the Battle of the Palm Grove.
And despite the efforts of hundreds of Iraqi soldiers, about 50 American soldiers, and massive firepower, the insurgents eventually got away.
Back at the base, Molinari says he simply wasn't going to put his men on the front lines.