The Forward Operating Base Marez bombing took place on December 21, 2004. Fourteen U.S. soldiers, four U.S. citizen
Halliburton
Halliburton Company is an American multinational corporation and the world's second-largest oil service company which is responsible for most of the world's fracking operations. It employs approximately 55,000 people through its hundreds of su ...
employees, and four Iraqi soldiers allied with the U.S. military were killed by a suicide bomber in a
dining hall
A cafeteria, called canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether in a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a schoo ...
at the
Forward Operating Base
A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may contain an airbase, hospital, machine shop, and othe ...
next to the main U.S. military airfield at
Mosul
Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...
.
Pentagon report
The Pentagon reported that 72 other personnel were injured in the attack carried out by a
suicide bomber
A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...
wearing an explosive vest and the uniform of the Iraqi security services. The Islamist insurgent group
Army of Ansar al-Sunna (partly evolved from
Ansar al-Islam) released an internet message taking credit for the attack. The bomber entered the mess tent and approached a large group of U.S. soldiers, detonating himself and killing 22 people. It was the single deadliest suicide attack against the US military in Iraq.
After attack
Weeks before the attack, soldiers from the base intercepted a document that mentioned a proposal for a massive "Beirut"-type attack on U.S. forces.
The reference was apparently to the
1983 Beirut barracks bombing
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The ...
in which 241 U.S. service members were killed. Following the discovery of the papers, commanders at the base — which is about south of Mosul and is used by both U.S. troops and the interim Iraqi National Guard forces — ratcheted up already tight security.
Ansar al-Sunnah said the suicide bomber was a 24-year-old man from Mosul who worked at the base for two months and had provided information about the base to the group.
[
The AP reported that the bomber was a twenty-year-old medical student from ]Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. A US Army report identified a different Saudi national as the suicide bomber and said he got help from Iraqi troops working at the base.[
]
The dead
* Fallen soldiers from 133rd Engineer Battalion (Maine); Sergeant Thomas Dostie of Somerville, Maine, Sergeant Lynn R. Poulin Sr. of Freedom, Maine
* Fallen soldier from 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment "Bobcats", Ft Lewis, WA); SSG Julian S. Melo
* Fallen soldiers from Deuce Four Infantry (1/24- Ft Lewis, WA); CPT William Jacobsen, SSG Robert Johnson, SPC Johnathon Castro, PFC Lionel Ayro
* Fallen Soldiers from C276 Eng (Virginia National Guard
The Virginia National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. It consists of the Virginia Army National Guard and Virginia Air National Guard. (The Virginia State Defense Force i ...
, West Point, VA); Sgt Nick Mason, Sgt David Ruhren
* Fallen Soldier from 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment; SSG Darren Vankomen
* Fallen Sailor from NMCB-7; Chief Petty Officer Joel Baldwin
* Fallen Soldier from US Army Intelligence and Security Command, Sergeant Major Robert Daniel Odell
See also
* Battle of Mosul - Iraq War
* Iraq War
The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
References
External links
Deadly Attack on U.S. Military Base
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
"A Few Unforeseen Things"
by Elliott Woods, Virginia Quarterly Review
The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...
, Fall 2008. Video interviews with the families and comrades of two victims of the attack.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forward Operating Base Marez bombing, 2004
Bombings in the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
2004 murders in Iraq
Terrorist incidents in Iraq in 2004
December 2004 in Iraq
December 2004 crimes in Asia
2004 building bombings
Suicide bombings in 2004
Building bombings in Iraq
Suicide bombings in Iraq
Mass murder in 2004
Mosul in the Iraq War
Improvised explosive device bombings in Mosul
Attacks on military installations in 2004
Attacks on military installations in Iraq
Mass murder in Mosul