Leaked Army Karbala Report Shows Iraqi Police Collaborated in Ambush on US Troops

USA Today has obtained the internal US Army investigation report on the ambush, kidnapping and killing of five US troops at a meeting with local officials in Karbala last January 20, and its findings are devastating.

A previously undisclosed Army investigation into an audacious January attack in Karbala that killed five U.S. soldiers concludes that Iraqi police working alongside American troops colluded with insurgents.

The assault on the night of Jan. 20 stunned U.S. officials with its planning and sophistication. ...

The information is contained in an investigative file made available to USA TODAY and authenticated by the Army. ...The investigation reveals several new details about the assault, including:

•Iraqi police suddenly vanished from the government compound before the shooting started.

•Attackers, evidently briefed on how U.S. forces would defend themselves, bottled up more than three dozen soldiers in a barracks and headquarters complex using a combination of smoke and fragment grenades and satchel charges to blow up Humvees.

•Gunmen knew exactly where to find and abduct U.S. officers.

•Iraqi vendors operating a PX and barbershop went home early.

•A back gate was left unlocked and unguarded.

It's worth noting that Army officials disclosed none of this when Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a former White House aide, briefed the press this month. Bergner failed to mention that an internal Army investigation had found that the Iraqi police the US troops are supposed to be training and cooperating with played a direct role in the ambush.

Instead, Bergner blamed Iran. "The Quds Force, an elite unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, helped plan and direct it with Iraqi militants, said Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a military spokesman," USA Today reports."The Quds Force, he said, supplied Shiite militias with weapons and up to $3 million a month in aid."

What would be Gen. Bergner's motivation for neglecting to mention the key findings of the military's own internal investigation of the attack?

Comments

And Bush/Cheney just continue calling their death for profits agenda a success in Iraq; and pro-life. The Republican pro-lifers and the previous and present Popes are total hypocrits as are the evangelical fundamentalists like Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and the rest of that group of killers for PROFIT.

Can we remember that, Let me say it once again, the death for profit Republicans, Catholic fundamentalists and the evangelical fundamentalists. All pro-death bedfellows.

Posted by: bob t on 07/14/07 at 9:33 PM Respond

Being a Catholic and belonging to a Catholic family for generations, I cannot but agree with bob t. It is a shame that our religious leaders have been basically silent before this monumental war crime. I dont't know about the Pat Robertsons, but the Pope should be out raising hell against the evil war party. This only shows how far from God those hypocrits are. However, there is more to this than meets the eye, methinks. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that those who are being killed are not Christians.

Posted by: Jaime Galarza on 07/15/07 at 1:08 PM Respond

There is suspicion, by the locals, that the attack was carried out or funded by "black ops" who want to prolong the war and the U.S. justification for staying. -- this is from a friend in Kerbala.

P.S. I also visited that city on my last trip to Iraq.

Posted by: charlie jacksonn on 07/25/07 at 9:06 PM Respond

thanks good post

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Posted by: marlll on 06/06/08 at 9:29 PM Respond