Not a rocket attack?

CNN.com is reporting that the FBI may have evidence that yesterdays attack may not have been rockets but and IED placed INSIDE the tent.

Check this:

"KUWAIT CITY (CNN) -- Investigators in Iraq are looking into whether an explosion that killed 22 in a mess hall was caused by a bomb placed inside the tent or by a mortar or rocket attack from outside"

www.cnn.com...

Man o man things are getting ugly. If this is true, do need need to start segragating US and Iraqi peronel? And if thats the case, can we even continue to fight together? Ouch...

[edit on 22-12-2004 by skippytjc]

It seems alot of the witnesses remember hearing what sounded like a rocket or missle noise approaching. But with events such as the rape and killing of the 17 year old Iraqi boy the other day, it would not surprise me if some would want revenge for such acts. SO, I would not rule out a bomb being planted at this stage.

there is a hole in the roof and its bended inwards...what more proof do you need

Its a tent. Bending inwards roof says nothing. Its fabric. Here is some more info:

abcnews.go.com...

Can you do me a favour and post a link of picture of the roof. I have not seen it yet.

Thanks

Here is one pic of the roof. REMRMBER: Its a TENT!!!

Thank you for the picture. You are right about the roof of a tent folding back in, does not rule out a bomb in any way.

I don't know why but I assumed it would look somewhat more destroyed. I would have expected to see more devastation by something that killed 22 people.

When George W. Bush speaks on behalf of the insurgency effectiveness in Iraq, I can only think of one thing.

The tons of missing Iraqi weapons and ammunition which was stolen from Saddams base.

The Bush admin is in very deep doggy do-doo with the messy situation in Iraq. The world's most powerful military has been unable to stop suicide bombings on the 10 miles of highway from the center of Baghdad to the airport. How do they expect to protect the oil wells and the thousands of miles of pipelines?

The attacks on oil interests could go on for years even after US occupation leaves.

Mission Failed Mr. Bush!

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at an afternoon news conference that the explosion, which killed 22 people and wounded 69 others, appeared to be a suicide attack. "At this point, it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker," he said, adding, "I assure you that everything possible is being done to get to the bottom of what happened and to take the appropriate steps so that we can prevent future attacks of this nature."

As far as I'm concerned the ONLY "appropriate steps" that should be taken, is for the US TO GET OUT of Iraq NOW !!!!!!!!!!! There is no way for them to protect our Troops from this sorta thing when they don't and can't tell who's who when it comes to the terrorists or the Iraqi soldiers.

For it to be a bomb would involve quite a bit of work and by an inside suicide bomber (not to mention getting through security). The odds are STRONGLY for it being a rocket attack.

Furthermore, most witness accounts have a rocket sound then the explosion (and by guys who know full well what they sound like).

Originally posted by Gazrok
For it to be a bomb would involve quite a bit of work and by an inside suicide bomber (not to mention getting through security). The odds are STRONGLY for it being a rocket attack.

Furthermore, most witness accounts have a rocket sound then the explosion (and by guys who know full well what they sound like).

Rumsfels and Richard Meyers say it was likely a suicide bomber and the group that carried out the attack said it was a suicide bomber so there's a good chance that's what it was.

BBC
Gen Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters "an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker" was the most likely cause.

Military officials are saying that ball bearings were used so that's another good indication of a suicide bomb.

NavyTimes
Military officials in Iraq on Wednesday said shrapnel from the explosion included small ball bearings, which are often used in suicide bombings but are not usually part of the shrapnel given off by rockets or mortars.

www.granma.cu...


This is also reporting more dead. This is horrible. Does anyone have any information about the base that was struck, and who is stationed there? I cannot beleive that there would be the ablity to get a device like that in a mess in a US Army installation.


I only hope that this does not

1. Happen again quickly
2. Turn out to be a US soldier, sympathetic to insurgents

Someone please try and defend the Iraqis plight now. Merry Christmas...

Article also supporting the suicide bomber theory and another detailing lack of security/protection at the dining tent.

Suicide bomber blamed for Mosul attack

"At this point, it looks like it was an improvised explosive device worn by an attacker," General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at a Pentagon news conference.

The dining hall explosion happened while hundreds of troops were eating lunch yesterday at Forward Operating Base Marez near the northern city of Mosul. Military officials initially cast doubt on the idea that a suicide bomber had been the cause, saying a 122 mm rocket was the likely cause.

Myers declined to say what evidence showed the attack was a suicide bomb rather than a rocket attack.

Military officials in Iraq today said shrapnel from the explosion included small ball bearings, which are often used in suicide bombings but are not usually part of the shrapnel given off by rockets or mortars.

Poor security leaves American bases vulnerable

In a horrifying way, the explosion that tore apart the giant tent that served as a dining hall at an American military base near Mosul was neither unusual nor unexpected.

Soldiers at forward operating base Marez, south of Mosul, already had described in emails to their families their unease about the vulnerability of the dining hall - a long, high tent pitched atop a concrete pad.

Easter Sunday was particularly bad, as Adam Szafarn, a 23-year-old specialist with the Maine National Guard, told his family.

"There was just round after round after round," his mother, Sheila Szafarn, said on Tuesday, recalling that her son and other soldiers spent much of that day in concrete bomb shelters.

Her son emailed her after Tuesday's attack to say he was safe, but his mother remembered earlier messages about the dining tent. "He doesn't like going to the dining hall because of the lack of safety," she said. "It's a soft building."

Thanks to a plentiful supply of mortars and rocket-propelled grenades and a lack of US troops to patrol the perimeter of forward bases, Iraqi insurgents are able to strike with relative ease.

[edit on 22-12-2004 by cargo]