More information is surfacing about the Mosul suicide bomber:
“I am concerned about … copycat attacks,” said Brigadier General Carter Ham, the U.S. commander in Mosul where the bomber killed 18 Americans and three Iraqi National Guards on Tuesday in a pre-Christmas lunchtime blast at a crowded base mess tent.
[…]
He said the bomber probably wore an Iraqi uniform of the kind increasingly common on U.S. bases as Americans train local forces that they hope will allow them to go home.The blast creates a nightmare dilemma for troops battling insurgents bent on disrupting a January 30 election. They not only see increasingly sophisticated ambushes while on patrol but now also face a deadly threat to the bases where they eat and sleep.
[…]
It seemed possible the explosives and ball bearings were disguised as body armour.
To get an idea of how FOB Marez is run, see this post by Jeff Taylor at Hit and Run, who quotes a soldier describing the various services there, like what they call “Hajji Shops” run by Iraqis. While I was reading through blogs, I came across another soldier who adds this intriguing bit of information:
There are a lot more hagi shops here on Marez as well. Hagi is of course the nickname, derogatory or otherwise, for the Iraqis. There are barbers shops, tailor shops, gift shops, and miscellaneous overpriced stuff shops. They will sell you anything, and it’s all priced at about ten times its worth. The thing about the hagi shops here on Marez is that they aren’t run by Iraqis, most of them are Turkish. We have learned that there used to be Iraqis from Mosul that came into the FOB to work, but not anymore. Apparently the insurgents would target these civilians. So after a number of them were murdered and or decapitated, no one wanted to work here anymore. And so it goes.
All this to say that it seems more likely that the bomber had infiltrated the Iraqi National Guard. It’s a devastating blow for the US, not only because of the immediately apparent casualties, but in the wedge driven between the US forces and the Iraqis in the Guard. The trust level was hardly high in the first place and now every soldier will be wondering which Iraqi Guard will explode next. The news is full of US military commanders talking about how to tighten up security, but the reality is that tightened security isn’t possible without a change in mission. As long as the American exit plan is all about “training” Iraqi security the risk exists that the troops are exposed to resistance infiltrators. Background checks, etc. to “vet” trainees are next to useless in chaotic Iraq.