Mosul resistance attack reveals US disarray in Iraq

By Rick Kelly
22 December 2004

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Nineteen US soldiers were reported killed Tuesday by a suspected rocket or mortar attack on a major US military base just outside of the northern city of Mosul. A military spokesman reported a total of 24 dead, including contractors and Iraqis, although there have been conflicting reports on this figure. Approximately 60 others were injured.

The attack came as hundreds of troops were eating lunch under a large dining tent constructed of canvas and metal. Jeremy Redman, a Richmond Times-Dispatch reporter embedded with the troops, described what occurred: “The force of the explosions knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats. A fireball enveloped the top of the tent, and shrapnel sprayed into the men.... Scores of troops crammed into concrete bomb shelters outside. Others wobbled around the tent and collapsed, dazed by the blast.”

The attack represents the worst single incident for the US military in Iraq, eclipsing the loss of 17 soldiers in November last year, when two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed after they came under insurgent attack.

The latest strike by the Iraqi resistance has enormous ramifications, for both the US strategy in Iraq and the Bush administration’s political fortunes. It constitutes a devastating blow to the Bush administration’s Iraq strategy, which stands in disarray. If Iraqi fighters can penetrate and strike a US military base in broad daylight it is impossible to believe that any part of the country is secure.

While few details of the attack have yet emerged, the apparent sophistication and coordination of the operation indicates that the insurgents had inside knowledge of the base’s layout and soldiers’ schedule. If this was the case, it represents further proof of the US’s failure to marshal an Iraqi proxy force capable of suppressing resistance to the occupation.

All of this will inevitably exacerbate the political crisis faced by the Bush administration. There is an ongoing dispute in Washington over the future of Donald Rumsfeld. A number of prominent Republicans, including Senator John McCain, have called for the appointment of a new secretary of defense. Bush, however, has staked his credibility on the performance of Rumsfeld, and has expressed his full confidence in the management of the war.

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