NAJAF, IRAQ: A US soldier aims his M16 assault rifle from his tank at militiamen loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr in Najaf's al-Jadida al-Talat area, 200m south of the shrine of Imam Ali, 19 August 2004. US forces are engaged in intensive battle with militiamen as they move in on the shrine. The Iraqi government said an offensive against Shiite rebels in Najaf would be launched within hours unless Sadr publicly disarms, after charging him with trickery. "The Iraqi government has laid down conditions that Moqtada Sadr must promise in a press conference not to resort to violence in the future and that the Mehdi Army is to be dissolved," Minister of State Kassem Daoud said. AFP PHOTO/Saeed KHAN (Photo credit should read SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)



He's not an Israeli and its an Abrams

Heres a picture of the tank from the same series of news photos that ran that day:

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Looks like a M1A2 TC, judging by the hatch behind his head, and the non-ring-mounted M2HB in front... I can't think of another US vehicle that has a 50cal that's not ring-mounted, mounted in front of a hatch... what about an M-88? Or M113 except that I know the 113 has a round hatch, and IIRC so does the 88. The M1 commanders hatch has always had a distinctive shape. And there are no M113s in Iraq, IIRC...

U.S. soldiers block off access during a raid at Haifa street in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Sept. 29, 2004. Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops arrested six suspected terrorists operating on Baghdad's bloodied Haifa Street on Wednesday.



An Iraqi boy walks past a U.S. army armored vehicle during clashes between U.S. troops and Iraqi insurgents at Haifa Street in central Baghdad, September 29, 2004.