Marines uncover bomb factory

US marines told today how they killed one suicide bomber and discovered a suicide bomb workshop in the Sunni Muslim bastion of Fallujah, apparently run by Iraqis and foreigners.

The building, found on Thursday when marines chased a sniper, provided new evidence of the growing role of Iraqis in suicide bombings, the marines said.
(snip)

"There was an open storage area and a living room. There were four belts packed with explosives," said Lance Corporal James Walter, one of the men who discovered the arsenal in Fallujah's southeastern industrial sector.

A box of old US military uniforms were also found, issued by the US Army's 82nd Airborne, said Lieutenant Colonel Brennan Byrne.

http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,9256726%255E1702,00.html

"four belts packed with explosives"

hmm.

Can nobody just deliver the facts to the best of their ability? No need for absolute impartiality. Just a reasonable attempt to narrate the events of the day without undue bias or hidden agendas.

As it is, I'm left scratching my head. What does this discovery really mean? Search me. I only know what I read in the newspapers.


On Edit: Typos. A sure sign it's past my bedtime....

""There was an open storage area and a living room. There were four belts packed with explosives," said Lance Corporal James Walter, one of the men who discovered the arsenal in Fallujah's southeastern industrial sector."

A "closet" in a living room is dubbed a factory?

n/t

must be the WMD's the shrub was looking for?

Suicide bomb belts found in Iraq

By Lourdes Navarro in Fallujah

April 12, 2004

AMERICAN troops have discovered US military uniforms and suicide explosive belts in an insurgent cache hidden in a house, raising concerns of a new rebel tactic of slipping close to the troops and blowing themselves up.

Marines yesterday examined a house discovered three days earlier where two suicide belts were found. The new search revealed three more belts and a carton with "82nd Airborne" stamped on the top that was full of US Army-issued desert fatigues, said Lt Col Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

The discovery of the house was first reported on Thursday, after troops shot and killed two men who approached their positions and were found to be wearing two more belts bearing plastic explosives and metal for shrapnel.

"The body bombs were a big deal. No one wants to have their guys blown up," Byrne said after the further search yesterday.

Byrne said the discovery suggested attackers intended to use the uniforms to get close to Marine positions, then set off their explosives. Also found in the house were several Iraqi identification cards.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9265006%255E1702,00.html

It seems like the kind of development that they would prefer to keep under wraps. Unless it is part of a propaganda effort, to demonize the people of Fallujah (suicide bombers, foreigners, just like 911). This also provides a rationale for not taking prisoners (they could be booby trapped).

The report is rather confusing - they mention finding a couple of explosive filled belts in a living room, then say they estimate that 15-20 people were working in this 'factory'.