U.S. Uncovers Vast Hide-Out of Iraqi Rebels

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 4 - American marines have discovered an elaborate series of underground bunkers used recently by insurgents in central Iraq, with heavy weapons, a kitchen and fresh food, furnished living quarters, showers and even a working air-conditioner, the military said Saturday.

The bunkers were built into an old rock quarry north of the town of Karma, an insurgent stronghold in Anbar Province that lies near the city of Falluja. The bunker system is 558 feet by 902 feet, nearly equal to a quarter of the Empire State Building's office space, making it the largest underground insurgent hide-out to be discovered in at least the past year, if not during the entire war, said Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool, a spokesman for the Second Marine Division.

The military said the bunkers were discovered Thursday around 5 p.m. as part of continuing anti-insurgency operations being conducted in Anbar, a center of the Sunni Arab resistance and an arid province that stretches to Iraq's western border. In the past three days, troops with the Second Marine Division found more than 50 caches of weapons and ammunition in the province. Twelve were discovered in the immediate area of the rock quarry, Captain Pool said in an e-mail interview.
"Marines were out patrolling and looking for weapons caches, when out in the middle of the desert they see a lone building," he said. "They went to go and check it out. In one room there was a large, chest-style electric freezer. The marines moved it and found the hidden entrance to the underground quarry system."

"I can tell you that it is the largest underground system discovered in at least the last year," he added.
Near the building, marines also found evidence of a rifle-training range, including many casings from assault-rifle rounds.
No one was in the bunkers at the time of the raid, Captain Pool said. But the fresh food in the kitchen indicated that insurgents had been there recently. The underground lair had been in use for some time, he said, and was built from one subsection of the quarry.

In one part of the hide-out, troops discovered machine guns, mortars, rockets, artillery rounds, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, a video camera, night-vision goggles and fully charged satellite phones, Captain Pool said.
The marines were still uncovering "new finds" on Saturday night, the captain said, making it too early to tell exactly what the bunkers were used for or who inhabited them.

The insurgents had apparently installed the creature comforts of home within the hide-out. The complex included four fully furnished living spaces, two showers and an air-conditioner, the military said. Temperatures in the deserts of Anbar can approach a scorching 130 degrees in the summertime.

No one should be surprised. Cave, bunker, and tunnel dwelling are hallmarks of the efforts of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein as well as others throughout history. Some more recent come to mind. Think of Hitler's bunkers from WWII, the tunnel networks of the Viet Cong, perfect for offense and defense.
In the 1960s Osama bin Laden visited the U.S., showing particular interest in the area around Tuscon, Arizona. America's vast desert Southwest is similar parts of the Middle East. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that caves, tunnels could be full of contraband and munitions awaiting use in a uprising of insurgents here in the homeland. Decades went by before Americans started to notice in earnest the entry of vast numbers of illegal entrants. Did they come empty handed? We don't know for sure.

Millions have come across the borders. Not all of them Mexicans or even Central Americans looking for work. There have been Chinese and others. Most recently a smuggling ring that specialized in Iranians was discovered. There is evidence that other Middle Easterners have also come across the border as they left behind telltale items and the Border Patrol and others have reported stopping people that spoke Arabic rather than Spanish.

The world press regularly reports on how easily one can enter the U.S. over the southern border. Day and night they are photographed and videotaped as they stream across the border. The undermanned and underfunded Border Patrol can do little to stop it while politicians seem to be sitting on their hands.

While you read about the Iraqi stronghold, think about what's out there in the Southwest.