- LSA ANACONDA, Iraq -- This
sprawling supply base on a dusty stretch about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad
is officially known as a "logistical support area." Some of the
thousands of soldiers and contractors who endure daily mortar and rocket
attacks have another name for it: Mortaritaville.
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- At least six soldiers and contractors have been killed
and nearly 100 wounded here since April. There have been about two attacks
daily since July. Three weeks ago, a young airman lost his legs and his
right hand when a mortar shell slammed into the base.
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- Officers here say Anaconda, the largest support base
in the country with 22,500 U.S. troops and 2,500 contractors spread over
15 square miles, is also the most frequently attacked. But there is no
indication the soldiers will get help.
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- Brig. Gen. Oscar Hilman, commander of the 81st Brigade
Combat Team, an Army National Guard unit from Washington state whose mission
is to operate the base, has asked for 500 to 700 more soldiers to provide
more patrols. But he said his requests were denied.
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- "We asked twice," Hilman said. He said he was
told "there are no additional forces" and that U.S. soldiers
are needed elsewhere.
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- The 81st's top enlisted man, Sgt. Maj. Robert Barr, said
soldiers are frustrated and that he often hears the question: "Why
aren't we stopping it or killing their guys who are doing it?"
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- While the 81st Brigade provides security inside the concertina
wire fence that surrounds the base, the task of protection outside the
wire falls to the soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, part of the
1st Infantry Division, which is based in Tikrit. The division has been
part of the effort to take back Samarra, and those units, too, are stretched
thin.
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- Hilman said he requested more forces through the 13th
Corps Support Command, which is responsible for Anaconda as well as all
other multinational supply and transportation facilities throughout Iraq.
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- Maj. Richard Spiegel, a 13th Corps spokesman, confirmed
that Hilman put in a request for more troops and that the request was endorsed
by the command's top officer, Brig. Gen. James Chambers.
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- But Chambers "is not the approving authority--the
request went to Multi-National Corps Iraq headquarters," which assesses
troop requirements and makes the final decision, Spiegel said. The request
was turned down, he said. He declined to provide details of the decision.
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- The Air Force will not base its cargo planes here because
it's considered unsafe, said one officer at Anaconda, who requested anonymity.
Pilots drop off their cargo with the engines running and quickly take off
again.
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- Officers said attacks are not interfering with the supply
flow--the thousands of tons per month of spare parts, fuel, clothing and
food. "I call [Anaconda] the life support of the theater" of
operations, Hilman said.
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- Over the past month, tall concrete slabs have been put
up at Anaconda to protect the sleeping areas from shrapnel. Mortars and
rockets have landed near the 81st Brigade's operations center, the mess
hall and a mosque.
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- Gallows humor has surfaced among some of the soldiers.
The base store is selling T-shirts that picture a soldier looking skyward
and the words, "Mom I'll call when the mortars stop."
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- On Thursday morning, two mortars landed near the south
gate, but there were no injuries. Just before dinner, a plume of smoke
rose outside the fence from another explosion.
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- Seated at a long table in the mess hall, Sgt. Charles
Rhoade of Havre de Grace, Md., said, "You can never tell where they're
coming from."
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- One officer, who requested anonymity, said some Air Force
mechanics and pilots volunteered to patrol outside the base's fence to
stop the attacks. "They're fed up," he said. But it would take
about 20 days to train them in basic infantry tactics and weaponry. "They've
got other jobs," the officer said.
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- Hilman recently set up an operations center to try to
stop the attacks. Soldiers monitor huge television screens that show live
video from cameras in the guard towers and from airborne drones. They are
designed to pinpoint the locations of the attackers and quickly dispatch
helicopters and troops.
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- Still, the mortars and rockets strike at all hours.
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