Forward Base Falcon casualties in Iraq

Since the beginning of the confict in Iraq, there have been frequent  reports that seriously wounded American military who have been flown out of Iraq to Germany and other hospitals, and if they died, even in transit,  their deaths, as long as they did not occur while in Iraq, are not reported in the official ones issued as having been casualties there. Can anyone provide evidence that this may not the case?

The coffins of our dead sent to the US are not allowed to be photographed on arrival, which might provide   a source of  evidence.

There are also some 150,000 (this may be a high or low estimate) private contractors in Iraq, including former American military , who are engaged in operations with the regular military who have had many killed and wounded.    

I have not found adequate coverage  in the major US media  of the attack and casualties suffered at Forward Base Falcon , although it was reported widely elsewhere.

This one seems typical of the US major   media coverage:

Militia attack ignites U.S. ammo dump in Iraq By Ross Colvin
Wed Oct 11, 2006

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Militiamen firing mortars detonated a U.S. ammunition dump in Baghdad on Tuesday night, sparking a barrage of explosions that continued to shake the capital on Wednesday morning, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Residents said the blasts were reminiscent of the aerial bombardment of Baghdad that preceded the U.S. invasion of        Iraq in 2003.

A mortar round fired from the Abu Dsheer area of southern Baghdad caused the fire in an ammunition holding area in Camp Falcon, a forward operating base for U.S. troops, that ignited tank, artillery and small-arms ammunition, the spokesman said.

"Intelligence indicates that civilians aligned with a militia organization were responsible for last night's mortar attack," said Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington, spokesman for the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.

Withington said there were no reports of casualties among soldiers on the base or Iraqi civilians in neighboring districts.

He did not identify the militia organization but residents of Abu Dsheer, a mostly Shi'ite area in the Sunni district of Doura, told Reuters the Mehdi Army militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was a growing presence in the area.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of a number of militant groups operating in the country, had earlier claimed responsibility for the attack in a Web site posting.

The fire, which erupted at about 10.40 p.m. (1940 GMT), sent flames and showers of sparks into the night sky and triggered dozens of explosions that shook buildings several kilometres away in central Baghdad.

"The fire is still smouldering and rounds are continuing to cook off," Withington said. Three battalions are based at Camp Falcon, along with Abrams main battle tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Strykers.

The troops are part of Operation Together Forward, a major operation to quell violence in Baghdad in which U.S. and Iraqi troops have been sweeping through selected city districts to root out insurgents and sectarian death squads.

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A search on Google found a number of more complete  reports. One , in addition to a description of the attack, provided a list of casualties.

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_news&Number=295002651#Post295002651

...Late on the evening of October 10, 2006, Iraqi resistance groups lobbed mortar and rocket rounds into the immense ?Forward Base Falcon,? the largest American military base in Iraq, located 13 km south of the Green Zone in Baghdad. In addition to accurate mortar fire, Grad and Katyusha rockets were also used. ...

Over 300 American troops, including U.S. Army and Marines, CIA agents and U.S. translators were casualties and there also were 165 seriously injured requiring major medical attention and 39 suffering lesser injuries 122 members of the Iraqi armed forces were killed and 90 seriously injured members of same, were also evacuated to the U.S. military hospital at al-Habbaniyah located some 70km west of Baghdad....

re: Insurgent attacks on Forward Base Falcon on 10-11 October, 2006

Official Casualty List

[From U.S. military hospital at al-Habbaniyah located some 70km west of Baghdad.

 U.S. medical personnel at al-Habbaniyah initially stated that the US military hospital at the massive American-occupied air base there had begun to receive dead and wounded personnel. The military hospital in al-Habbaniyah, the largest in occupied Iraq, was opened on 12 May this year in response to sharply rising (and redacted) US casualties.

List compiled and effective as of 11 Oct 06 at 2300:...
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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 11 October 2006.  Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.

Wednesday, 11 October 2006.

·       Nine huge transport planes ferry American casualties to al-Habbaniyah airbase from devastating Tuesday night Resistance strike on US Falcon arsenal, indicating heavy American losses.  US claims "no casualties," but Iraqi regime evacuates 90 injured puppet troops to ar-Ramadi hospital.

·       Remains of US Falcon arsenal described as "burned out wasteland with no buildings."  US helicopters continue to dump water on site Wednesday to extinguish last flames.  Puppet officials estimate US losses could exceed US$1 billion.  Iraqi puppet army orders two regiments to move to southern Baghdad to fill gap left by decimated American troops.

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The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the village of al-Bu Mar'i, which overlooks the US base, as saying that they could hear warning sirens wailing and saw US helicopters flying in over the facility.

Nine huge American transport planes unload casualties from devastating Resistance strike on US Falcon Base in Baghdad just before midnight Tuesday, indicating heavy American losses.

In a bulletin posted at 2am Makkah time before dawn Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported its correspondent in al-Habbaniyah as saying that the US military hospital at the massive American-occupied air base there had begun to receive dead and wounded personnel from the devastating Resistance rocket assault on the US Falcon arsenal in the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah.  Just before midnight Tuesday, the Iraqi Resistance fired barrages of Katyusha and Grad rockets into the arsenal, the largest such facility in occupied Iraq, causing the ordnance to begin to explode.  Western news reports stated that the blasts continued for hours lighting up the nighttime sky over Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported at that hour that three huge US transport aircraft emblazoned with the red cross had flown into the base, and casualties were being unloaded and sent into the hospital at the al-Habbaniyah base, located some 70km west of Baghdad.

Later, in a dispatch posted at 2:45am Makkah time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that two more huge transport planes had arrived in the US-occupied al-Habbaniyah airbase, 70km west of Baghdad carrying casualties from the devastating Resistance assault on America's Falcon Base in the US-occupied as-Saqr (Falcon) Forward Base in Sukkaniya located in the southern Baghdad suburb of ad-Durah.

The al-Habbaniyah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the village of al-Bu Mar'i, about 2km from the US-occupied air base, as saying that as of that time, a total of five enormous transport planes had flown into the base emblazoned with the red cross.  The transports came in under fighter escort, the fighter planes remained aloft circling al-Habbaniyah as the transports set down.

The witnesses said that the US occupation forces illuminated the base – something they do not normally do – as swarms of American helicopters prowled the skies around the area, trying to prevent Resistance rocket attacks.

Then in a dispatch posted at 5:15pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at 7am Wednesday morning the last of a total of nine huge transport planes had landed at the US-occupied al-Habbaniyah airbase, site of America's largest military hospital in the country, during the night.

The al-Habbaniyah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the transport planes continued to land and take off all night and into Wednesday morning ferrying back and forth under fighter escort from Baghdad loaded with dead and wounded Americans.

The correspondent reported eyewitnesses as saying that the aircraft did indeed fly into al-Habbaniyah from Baghdad.  The huge transport planes arrived over al-Habbaniyah with fighter escort and then would break away from the warplanes land at the airfield and then take off again after about 20 minutes.

A source in the Iraqi puppet army told Mafkarat al-Islam that the US forces transported more than 90 Iraqi puppet troops to hospital for treatment after the blasts began to shake the southern part of the city.  This number was confirmed by Dr. 'Umar 'Abdallah ar-Rawi of ar-Ramadi Hospital who told Mafkarat al-Islam that "90 wounded Iraqi troops were brought to us late in the night." He indicated that the Americans requested his hospital to clear a wing for them and they did so.

Residents of al-Habbaniyah agreed that nine massive transport planes arrived at various times during the night and into the morning bringing casualties to the US military hospital at the base.  The first three planes arrived at 1am local time, witnesses said.  The fourth plane landed at about 1:30am, then a fifth about 10 minutes later.  Then at 3:30am two more large transports arrived at al-Habbaniyah airbase, and the last two transports were seen coming in at 7am local time Wednesday morning.

Although the nighttime curfew is usually lifted at around 6am each morning, the correspondent reported that US forces only opened the roads and lifted the automobile curfew in al-Habbaniyah at 8am Wednesday morning.

In its announcements regarding the attack, US officials denied that the attack on the arsenal caused any casualties at all.  Mafkarat al-Islam observed, however, that the landing of nine massive transport planes carrying US casualties was an important indicator that the number of Americans killed or wounded in the Resistance assault on Falcon arsenal was very substantial.

The new American military hospital in al-Habbaniyah, reportedly the largest in occupied Iraq, was opened on 12 May this year in response to rising US casualties.