Donkey Island
More than a week after German magazine Der Spiegel ran an article about it and more than six weeks after the battle itself, the Washington Post writes a long article about the Battle of Donkey Island. One the night of June 30, 2007 American forces engaged a large, determined group of al Qaeda suicide bombers attempting to infiltrate Ramadi. A small, routine patrol by soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor Regiment encountered two large semi-trucks loaded with about 70 heavily armed al Qaeda fighters, More than half of the men wore suicide vests. The resulting desperate battle showed that al Qaeda is finding Anbar an increasingly hostile place to try to operate.
About 200 yards from the canal, Stark's Humvee crested a small dirt berm, and his driver, Spec. Kevin Gilbertson, saw something odd: two large semitrucks parked just to the left of the road ahead.
"I wonder what they're doing?" Gilbertson called to Stark. Then they spotted a few men fleeing across the field to the south and accelerated toward the trucks.
Stark recalled that he turned and to his disbelief saw clustered behind the trucks — only a few feet away — at first 10, then 20, then as many as 70 heavily armed men.
"Traverse left, open fire!" he yelled instinctively to his gunner. Startled, Pfc. Sean Groves unleashed a rapid burst from his M240 machine gun.
In the same instant, the insurgents returned a barrage of fire with AK-47 assault rifles, heavy machine guns and hand grenades. Bullets shattered the ballistic glass on Stark's Humvee, breaking the driver's window and cracking the windshield like a spider's web. Shrapnel tore into Groves's face and hands. He dropped down inside the vehicle. Gilbertson jumped into the gunner's sling, and Groves took control of the Humvee, now limping with two flat tires on the left side. Stark tried to radio the two vehicles behind him but had lost communication.
"Red 8, what the hell is going on?" Sgt. 1st Class Feliciano Young, the platoon sergeant in the next Humvee, recalled shouting into the radio, using Stark's call sign. There was no reply.
It is a long article, but an important one. When it was all over, 11 Americans were wounded and two were dead. But an estimated 32 al Qaeda fighters had been killed and a major attack that had been carefully planned for a very long time was completely thwarted.
U.S. commanders said the battle was a major defeat for al-Qaeda-affiliated insurgents, showing how hard it is for them to operate in Anbar, where they face an increased U.S. troop presence and rejection by the Sunni population.
"Al-Qaeda is on its back foot," said Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. "They have largely lost Anbar province."
But U.S. officers in Ramadi say it is only a matter of time before al-Qaeda in Iraq strikes again.
"We're still expecting attacks similar to this one," said Maj. Andrew Wortham, the 1st Brigade Combat Team's intelligence officer in Ramadi.
Soldiers who fought in the battle say they feel extremely lucky to have happened upon the insurgents — and to have survived. They're concerned that if U.S. forces leave, the insurgents will return and easily kill local police and officials. "I worry about pulling out of this area early. If we do, these guys are dead meat," Lauer said.
The Post ends the story, predictably, on a down beat. But the fact is that it is becoming harder for al Qaeda to operate in Anbar - but it is becoming increasingly easy for them to die there. And the soldiers know what would happen if the US suddenly withdraws from Iraq - even if many of our politicians pretend not to.
