Mortars Hit U.S. Military Post in Iraq

http://home.bellsouth.net/s/editorial.dll?pnum=1&bfromind=2214&eeid=5083625&_sitecat=1505&dcatid=0&eetype=article&render=y&ac=3&ck=&ch=ne&rg=blsadstrgt


Suspected Sunni-Arab insurgents hit a U.S. military post in eastern Baghdad with two mortar rounds Sunday, setting it on fire, police and witnesses said.

A large cloud of black smoke could be seen rising above the Baladiyat area of the capital area at about 3 p.m., but the U.S. military said it could not immediately confirm that its forces had been targeted.


-snip-

Police Capt. Mohammed Abdul-Ghani said it was not known if any casualties had resulted from the attack because the post was closed to Iraqi security forces. Residents in the neighborhood confirmed the post was hit, speaking on condition of anonymity out of concern for their own security.
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makes me think of all the times a mortar went into the green zone but they said no damage was done.

as if the mortar went in, landed gently and didn't explode.

black smoke means something was damaged

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2006/11/26/ap/headlines/d8lks8h00.txt

Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a U.S. military spokesman, confirmed that "indirect fire rounds" had landed in the vicinity of the coalition forward operating base, but he refused to describe the results of the attack, saying that would allow "the enemy" to assess its effectiveness.

He said the strike was launched from just outside nearby Sadr City, the Shiite slum where more than 200 people were killed on Thursday in an attack by Sunni Arab insurgents using car bombs and mortars.
No casualties were reported by Bleichwehl or by police Capt. Mohammed Abdul-Ghani, who said Iraqi security forces didn't have access to the U.S. military post.....

It's a mess. They need to come home.

please explain and thank you

Revetments:

http://www.usna.edu/naoe/courses/en420/bonnette/revetments.html

Jersey Barriers:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/bridgerail/br054106.cfm

nt

from RPG/mortar/car bomb damage. They work as blast shields, in essence. Jersey barriers are common fixtures on our nation's highways to help with traffic flow.

See that metal fencing behind the a/c in this picture? That's an old-school revetment:




This is a concrete revetment:


F-15D Eagle aircraft sits in a revetment
1990's -- A 1st Tactical Fighter Wing F-15D Eagle aircraft sits in a revetment during Operation Desert Shield. Four Patriot surface-to-air missile launchers are deployed in the background.

You could hit a fuel line and get black smoke, hell, you could hit a 55 gallon oil drum full of greasy rags and get black smoke. And we don't know if the propellant in the mortar had fully expended when it impacted.

We know nothing, really, because they aren't telling us anything.

Here's a jersey barrier deployed in the sandbox. You see these all over the US as well, on highways to route traffic, in front of buildings to prevent 'terra rammings' with car bombs. They're handy because you can move them with a forklift fairly easily:

learn something new every day