From Holden:

Tanks for the Memories

Rummy’s admonition that “you can have all the armor in the world on a tank and a tank can still be blown up” proves devastatingly true in Iraq.

In the all-out battles of the 1991 Gulf War, only 18 Abrams tanks were lost and no soldiers in them killed. But since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, with tanks in daily combat against the unexpectedly fierce insurgency, the Army says 80 of the 69-ton behemoths have been damaged so badly they had to be shipped back to the United States.

At least five soldiers have been killed inside the tanks when they hit roadside bombs, according to figures from the Army’s Armor Center at Fort Knox, Ky. At least 10 more have died while riding partially exposed from open hatches.

March Madness

The Checkpoint Follies continue.

Head of the Iraqi basketball Federation was shot and injured by US occupation forces. According to Dubais al-Arabiya News Network, Hussein Amidi was targeted by US troops Tuesday night as he was on his way to Baghdad airport to fly to Jordan for participating in the West Asian basketball Championship. Also in the shooting the driver of Amidi’s car lost his knee. No explanation has yet been made by US troops in this regard.