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Mission 4 - Overview
Samarra Bank Heist, Part 2

US forces from the 1st Battalion, 66th Regiment and the 4th Infantry Military Police repel two simultaneous ambushes led by Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen soldiers. The attacks take place while coalition convoys carry out a massive currency swap on opposite ends of the city. 46 insurgents are killed.

Using small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, the enemy attacks military convoys in what appears to be a well-planned attempt to stop the delivery of new Iraqi dinars. If successful, the Fedayeen hinder the progress the new currency symbolizes for Iraq. They launch their attack from a nearby mosque. Coalition forces face the dangerous scenario of placing both innocent bystanders and religious icons at risk. The attack comes at a time when US Joint Chiefs of Staff are stressing failure is not an option in the war against terrorism and falls just days after the arrival of President Bush’s Thanksgiving Day morale visit. Successfully replacing old dinars with those not bearing the image of Saddam Hussein is seen as a crucial catalyst for a new Iraq.

Major General Thomas L. Wilkerson (ret.) joins Kuma News once again to share insight on the ambush at the Al Mulya bank. He talks of post-war transitions and the United States’ role in Iraqi stabilization. The mission itself shows how both Fedayeen militia and Iraqi civilians create chaos in the streets and what can happen when enemy forces unleash a barrage of AK-47 and RPG fire from all sides.

This is Part Two of the Samarra currency exchange mission. In Part One, coalition troops fight off insurgents at the Samarra bank across town. There they encounter a barricade and are ambushed with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Here at the Al Mulya bank, the battle begins with guerilla forces striking from a nearby mosque and surrounding US troops with unrelenting firepower.