The Silent Warriors
Special forces are having an outsize impact in Iraq
Meanwhile, on the road to Khazir in northern Iraq, a very different operation was underway. Hearts and minds don't need to be won here--but firefights do. On one hillside last week, lying in newly abandoned Iraqi foxholes, small groups of soldiers scanned the horizon through the scopes of their assault rifles. At first glance they were indistinguishable from the peshmerga beside them, wearing the same desert camouflage and passing binoculars between them. But these are what the Kurds call their American "guests." They are special forces soldiers who have trained them and who are fighting by their sides.
Iraqi soldiers withdrew from these positions the night before after days of being bombarded along this front line outside Mosul. It seemed, then, that this would be an easy advance, but it became the first real battle between coalition forces and Iraqis on the northern front.
The attack came without warning. Bullets whistled by, fired by Iraqis who had retreated to a position less than a mile away. Two Americans, pinned down, shot back alongside the peshmerga, while calling for close air support. Half a dozen mortar shells rained on the hillside.
More than half an hour passed, then suddenly, the aggressive roar of F-18 Hornet jets sounded overhead. One swooped in and let loose a bomb that whistled down and pounded into the ground with a burst of fire and a puff of smoke. "Hey, it took a while, but it came," said one American, as loud cheers erupted from the peshmerga. They were shushed, so the radios could be heard. "Anything south is the enemy, over." "Roger, you have Iraqis on the run, two more positions to be taken out." "Every bomb hit target, four vehicles destroyed and 30 personnel killed, over."
As more special forces and peshmerga arrived, the airstrikes continued, pounding Iraqi positions and their trucks speeding around the village ahead. Still, the Iraqis did not give up, and mortar shells continued to explode near the peshmerga and their American guests. During a lull in the fighting, one American had a lunch of tomatoes and bread with the peshmerga. "The peshmerga are awesome. Some have been fighting all their lives, but they share everything they have," he said.
The soldiers stayed in the foxholes all afternoon, calling in strikes. "The Iraqis keep trying to mass for an attack," explained one, sitting in a foxhole surrounded by communications equipment. "Egypt Tango, Egypt Tango, this is Talon, over." The voice on the other side crackled back. "Roger, copy. Four trucks destroyed, 50 KIA, and one mortar position so far."
Then came the counterattack. Iraqi soldiers sneaked through the fields, hoping to encircle and ambush the Americans. Returning fire, the Kurds and Americans seemed at first bewildered by the strength of the Iraqi resistance in the face of nonstop bombardment. Then two special forces soldiers stood to one side and consulted in low voices. One walked away with a no-nonsense stride, as if this would be the end of the enemy. The other called after him, "Have fun storming the castle!"
With Bay Fang
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