Communicating Arts - Main Web SiteReuters reports 2 dead, 38 wounded in evening mortar attacks on the sprawling surrounds of Al-Faw Palace, AKA "Camp Victory" or "Camp Liberty" about five miles north of Baghdad. [4]
Known as the "Water Palace" [1], the compound has been made a military headquarters and U.S. base assisting in the defense of the Baghdad International Airport.
Dan's Photo World seems to have pictures of facilities damage up at http://www.adanglassworld.org/Coppermine/thumbnails.php?album=7, but they have not been captioned for date (right-clicking up "Properties" says the files were made today; "mouse-over" on the thumbs suggests August 6). A check with the proprietor of the site: "The pictures are actually several years old. early 2005 is the closest I can get to a date, but I know they were taken when terrorists attacked the camp in force." Let's take them as examples of the physical damage mortars do.
With some dependence on the specific technology applied, mortar range may creep as low as 50 yards or sail as far as 1100 meters. [5]
The violence in contemporary small wars has been predominantly "hit and run". It's been put together in basements, garages, and nondescript rooms, conveyed using two feet or four wheels, and orchestrated to last between seconds and minutes, and it has made each of the world's Islamic conflict zones as much or more about ferreting out private relationships as about "discovering" enemy in the field.
(tbc)
1. "Al-Faw Palace." Wikipedia. As experienced October 11, 2007.
2. "Will's Iraq Photos: Mortar Attack Damage." Dan's Photo World. October 11, 2007.
3. "Baghdad International Airport." GlobalSecurity.Org, as read October 11, 2007.
4. "Attack on U.S. base in Iraq kills 2, wounds 38." Reuters, October 11, 2007.
5. "Commando and Special Operations Mortars": http://www.angelfire.com/art/enchanter/mortars.html, as read October 11, 2007.
Correspondence and Permissions: James S. Oppenheim
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