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US Deaths in Iraq Approach 4,000
MSM apparently frustrated by pace of deaths as it is interfering with the release of pre-written Pulitzer Prize material so badly that they may have to go back and change the facts again to make the speeches seem current. Democratic lawmakers are dragging out dusty speeches originally timed for release last July and are running into similar problems. They are complaining that all the rework to tone down their doom and gloom speeches is a diverting taxpayer pork that could be better spent buying votes in future elections.A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers north of Baghdad on Saturday, pushing the U.S. death toll in the five-year conflict to nearly 4,000. Two Iraqi civilians also died in the roadside bombing, which occurred as the Americans were patrolling an area northwest of the capital, the U.S. military said in a statement. Two of the soldiers were killed in the blast and the third died of wounds, the statement said. The soldiers were assigned to Multinational Division-Baghdad, the statement said, but gave no further details. The latest deaths brought to 3,996 the number of U.S. service members and Pentagon civilians who have died since the war began on March 20, 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Rocket or mortar fire killed one U.S. soldier and wounded four others Friday south of Baghdad, the military said. With the war entering its sixth year, President Bush paid tribute Saturday to America's fallen service members, saying in his weekly radio address that they will "live on in the memory of the nation they helped defend." Speaking for the Democrats, however, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey called on Bush to "face the reality" in Iraq and "tell us the truth" about the cost of the conflict as America is struggling with a faltering economy and mounting casualty tolls.
However, U.S. military commanders have been careful to point out that security gains are fragile and that major violence could erupt abruptly. Much of the progress has been due to a move by thousands of Sunnis to abandon the insurgency and join pro-U.S. defense groups - known as "awakening councils." Another was a cease-fire called last August by firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the feared Mahdi Army militia.
"Initial reports suggested the attack may have been a Sons of Iraq checkpoint," the military said, using a term for the armed U.S.-backed groups. "The incident is currently under a joint Iraqi-Coalition Force investigation." A local official of the U.S.-backed group said the attack occurred about two hours after American soldiers stopped at the two checkpoints to meet the Sunni fighters. "They asked us general questions like: 'Have you gotten your IDs?' and 'Do you need anything?' and then they left," Sabbar al-Bazi told The Associated Press. "Two hours later, after I had gone home, I heard two explosions, probably caused by two missiles, and machine-gun fire from a helicopter." Lt. Col. Dhiya Mahmoud Ahmed, an Iraqi military officer in charge of security in the area, said he told the Americans after the attack that he had been aware of the friendly checkpoints for two days. AP Television News footage of the aftermath showed awakening council members loading bodies into a pickup. Their faces were masked and they wore bright yellow vests - apparently to identify themselves for U.S. forces as members of friendly groups. Bloodstained rocks and bits of flesh could be seen around the checkpoint. Posted by: gorb 2008-03-23 |
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