Word: commando
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...facing down Ansar al-Islam, the diehard terrorist group based in Kurdish-controlled Iraq that the Americans believe is linked to al-Qaeda. "There are three or four isolated pockets of Ansar on very high ground. We're closing in on them from everywhere we can," says an American commando named Mark, who declined to give his rank or surname. All Saturday afternoon the Ansar fighters rain down sniper and machine-gun fire from a craggy peak high above the Americans. From the flat plains about two miles below, pro-American Kurds return artillery fire...
...facing down Ansar al-Islam, the diehard terrorist group based in Kurdish-controlled Iraq that the Americans believe is linked to al-Qaeda. "There are three or four isolated pockets of Ansar on very high ground. We're closing in on them from everywhere we can," says an American commando named Mark, who declines to give his rank or surname. The fire coming down from the craggy peak is torrid. Machineguns rattle from above. Ansar snipers pin down troops, their rounds pinging off rocks and buzzing past heads. In return, Kurdish artillery fires in from the flat plains about...
...peaks. The area, near the town of Halabja, has always been a redoubt: it is full of deep caves and secretive routes for escape and supply (nicknamed "rat-lines") across the rugged frontier with Iran. "They're ex-filling across the Iranian border," says one Special Forces soldier, using commando lingo for "escaping." For despite the acumen of Ansar's snipers, the peshmerga offensive had succeeded and hundreds of Kurdish troops-along with about 100 American commandoes-advanced into the terrorist stronghold. "My perception is that Ansar's delaying action was not as effective as they thought it would...
...however, the battle for Halabja seemed inconclusive. President Bush last week referred to the destruction of Ansar's base as one of the war's important early achievements. But it may be a limited achievement. In Halabjah, U.S. Commando Mark says, "A lot of the senior cadre fled a long time ago leaving a fanatical hardcore to stay for the last stand. They had little intention of surviving." The Americans blasting away at the holdouts recognize this and lament past opportunities lost. "This is my second time in northern Iraq," says a Special Forces soldier. "I should be in Tampa...
Should war with Iraq break out, it would begin with bombing, commando raids and armored columns pushing north from Kuwait. A second wave of soldiers, including Murray, would follow, fanning out across Iraq on a different mission. Their principal tasks: to win over the Iraqi people by handing out emergency humanitarian aid, and to unearth Saddam's presumed stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. These soldiers would be operating in a lawless, battle-scarred landscape in which civilians would be fearful and shell-shocked but might have information about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) concealed from U.N. inspectors. And they...