[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 79 (Monday, May 14, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H4917-H4918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              WHAT HAPPENED ON OCTOBER 10, 2006, IN IRAQ?

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call for an explanation and a 
full accounting from the Department of Defense concerning an attack on 
Camp Falcon last year. This much is not in dispute: Under cover of 
darkness on October 10, 2006, Camp Falcon, America's largest military 
base in Iraq, which is 10 miles south of Baghdad, was attacked by 
insurgents, and the base was shelled with mortars and rockets. An enemy 
round struck an ammunition store which triggered massive explosions and 
huge fireballs that lit up the night sky in Baghdad.
  News footage and amateur video were shown on television in the Middle 
East, and a BBC reporter described the explosions as immense. In the 
days following the attack, U.S. military officers in Iraq repeatedly 
said that the damage would not degrade U.S. military capacity and that 
the attack did not injure or kill anyone at the base.
  In a briefing on October 12, 2006, Major General William Caldwell 
told reporters, ``Very fortunately, no coalition forces or Iraqi 
security forces were injured, nor civilian casualties that anyone is 
aware of at this point. We lost some munitions, but took no personnel 
casualties.'' That is the official line for the military.
  But the questions are beginning to surface as to whether the official 
line is the truth. It was brought to my attention yesterday during a 
meeting in my congressional office with Mohammed al Deeni, an 
independent member of the Iraqi Parliament. He came to the U.S. to talk 
with Members of Congress about the realities of life in Iraq. At my 
invitation, other Members of Congress joined me in this face-to-face 
legislative exchange of information. They heard what I am about to 
share.
  During our meeting, I asked Mr. al Deeni if Iraq was so unstable that 
a terrorist attack could claim a large number of Americans in one 
attack. As many of us remember, that is what happened in 1983 when a 
massive terrorist truck bomb struck and killed 241 U.S. Marines in 
Beirut. I wanted to know if such an attack was possible in Iraq. 
Without hesitation, Mr. al Deeni said such an attack had already 
occurred. He said--and others are saying online--that the attack on 
Camp Falcon killed 300 Americans, wounded another 200 Americans and 
killed or injured another 200 Iraqis.
  The Pentagon says there were no casualties. But a member of the Iraqi 
Parliament and others claim there were significant casualties. Which 
story is true? Satellite images, aerial photographs, videos and written 
accounts that purport to be firsthand can be found online. I will enter 
into the Record a list of some of these sites so that people can see 
for themselves.
       Internet sites which contains video, photographs, or 
     written accounts of the attack on Camp Falcon on October 10, 
     2006:
       http://www.cawa.fr/destruction-du-camp-americain-falcon-
explosions-d-armes-a-l-ua-et-ou-d-armes-nucleaires-tactiques-
article00913.html.
       http://www.dailymotion.com/related/966319/video/xkpjv_base-
falcon-irakexplosion-nucleaire/1.
       http://abutamam.blogspot.com/2006/10/no-reported-
casualties-at-camp-falcon.html.
       http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2006/10/al-rashid-falcon-
military-bases.html.

  Here is one excerpt from a site written after the attack by French 
journalists: ``Nine big carriers marked by the Red Cross sign 
transporting the dead and injured were seen by journalists . . . 
Silence still wraps the whole event from the side of the American 
military as well as the Bush administration, since there remains only a 
few weeks before the legislative elections, with a public opinion more 
and more against the war.''
  This happened just before the last elections, and it is unclear as to 
what happened. I don't know if these stories are credible. But these 
reports cannot be ignored. If we lost hundreds of U.S. soldiers and 
other Americans in one attack, Congress and the American people have a 
right to know about it.
  I looked at the videos and the aerial photographs, and the damage 
appears quite extensive to buildings and military vehicles like tanks. 
Perhaps American soldiers and others miraculously escaped injury. That 
would be very good news. Or perhaps we don't know what really happened 
on the night of October 10, 2006 in an insurgent attack on Camp Falcon.

[[Page H4918]]

  The Pentagon should open all of its files to independent journalists. 
I call for a full accounting as soon as possible. Some are saying 
there's a cover-up in the military. I say it's time to put all the 
evidence out in the open.

                          ____________________