"Just a few more tests, Jim."
Posted on 11/20/2005 1:14:17 PM PST by Moonman62
Edited on 11/20/2005 1:23:56 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight — some by their own hand to avoid capture. A U.S. official said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead.
Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in separate attacks over the weekend, while a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south.
In Washington, a U.S. official said the identities of the terror suspects killed was unknown. Asked if they could include al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to determine if he was killed."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
American soldiers maintained control of the site, imposing extraordinary security measures, a day after a fierce gunbattle that broke out when Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers surrounded a house after reports that al-Qaida in Iraq members were inside.
Three insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. soldier killed Sunday near the capital was assigned to the Army's Task Force Baghdad and was hit by small arms fire, the military said. The Marine, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, died of wounds suffered the day before in Karmah, a village outside Fallujah to the west of the capital.
Their deaths brought to at least 2,093 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In the southern city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed a British soldier and wounded four others, the British Ministry of Defense said. The ministry said 98 British soldiers have died in the Iraq conflict.
The U.S. military also said Sunday that 24 people — including another American Marine and 15 civilians — were killed the day before in an ambush on a joint U.S. Iraqi patrol in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad in the volatile Euphrates River valley.
According to the U.S. statement, the attack began Saturday with a roadside bomb detonating next to the Marine's vehicle, followed by a heavy volley of fire from insurgents.
"Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another," the statement said.
Meanwhile, four women were killed Sunday night when gunmen stormed their home in a Christian district of eastern Baghdad, police said, adding that valuables were stolen and the motive for the attack appeared to have been robbery.
The latest deaths occurred at the end of a violent three-day period in which at least 140 Iraqi civilians died in a series of bombings and suicide attacks — most targeting Shiite Muslims.
The victims included 76 people who died Friday in near-simultaneous suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques in Khanaqin and 36 more killed the next day by a suicide car bomber who detonated his vehicle amid mourners at a Shiite funeral north of the capital.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that commanders' assessments will determine the pace of any military drawdown. About 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq as the country approaches parliamentary elections Dec. 15.
The Pentagon has said it plans to scale back troop strength to its pre-election baseline of 138,000, depending on conditions. Rumsfeld said the U.S.-led coalition continues to make progress in training Iraqi security forces, which he placed at 212,000.
Rumsfeld also said talk in the United States of a quick withdrawal from Iraq plays into the hands of the insurgents.
"The enemy hears a big debate in the United States, and they have to wonder maybe all we have to do is wait and we'll win. We can't win militarily. They know that. The battle is here in the United States," he told "Fox News Sunday."
In Cairo, Egypt, Iraq's president said Sunday he was ready for talks with anti-government opposition figures and members of Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party, and he called on the Sunni-led insurgency to lay down its arms and join the political process.
But President Jalal Talabani, attending an Arab League-sponsored reconciliation conference, insisted that the Iraqi government would not meet with Baath Party members who are participating in the Sunni-led insurgency and attacking Iraqi and U.S.-led forces in the country.
"I am the president of Iraq and I am responsible for all Iraqis. If those who describe themselves as Iraqi resistance want to contact me, they are welcome," Talabani told reporters. "I want to listen to all Iraqis. I am committed to listen to them, even those who are criminals and are on trial."
Talabani made clear in his remarks, however, that he would talk with insurgents and "criminals" only if they put down their weapons.
In Baghdad, hundreds of Sunnis demanded an end to the torture of detainees and called for the international community to pressure Iraqi and U.S. authorities to ensure that such abuse does not occur.
Anger over detainee abuse has increased sharply since U.S. troops found 173 detainees at an Interior Ministry prison in Baghdad's Jadriyah neighborhood. The detainees, mainly Sunnis, were found malnourished and some had torture marks on their bodies. Sunni Arabs dominate the insurgent ranks.
The 400 protesters carried posters of tortured detainees, disfigured dead bodies and U.S. troops detaining Iraqis as they marched for a few hundred meters (yards) through western Baghdad.
Iraq's Shiite-led government has promised an investigation and punishment for anyone guilty of torture. Attacks against Shiite civilians by Sunni religious extremists have occurred throughout the Iraq conflict but spiked since the detainees were found last weekend.
___
Associated Press correspondents Katherine Shrader in Washington, D.C., Sinbad Ahmed in Mosul and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Kibbles and bits! LOL!! That's cute! I like that! LOL!!
Both families have had members volunteer samples. We got them from Jordanian and Saudi "sources," respectively.
I wonder if the Jordanians had anything to do with it.
Took a quick lurk over to DU. They only reported it 35 minutes ago. They're talking it down like
it won't make any difference,
He never did exist, he was made-up
blah, blah, blah.
Based on previous reports, there are likely many 2nd in command AQ to surrender to.
If the reports are true that the terrorists were all BBR, it will take a lot of "make-up" to make them presentable at their funerals!
And DU once again proves the adage that De-Nile is not just a river in Egypt.
The timing is interesting given Friday night's vote in the House.
From what I heard on fox when Brit Baer, Fox's Pentagon corespondent, was speaking is that several of the terrorists donned suicide vests and blew themselves up rather than be captured. I am hoping despite multiple detonations there may be enough if the head left to identify.
If any fingers remain that can be printed, that could work as well. Al-Zarqawi was in prison in Jordan and no doubt was fingerprinted.
Sad, speaks volumes about them; many of them are obviously hoping the news is not true....I hope they are wrong...
I suppose that will come as quite a shock to the Jordanian tribe and family that just disowned him.
I haven't put any faith in all the previous "We got Zarqawi"s...
This time... Hopefully.
Seems like it might very well be true, finally.
God Bless our troops, Whether this pans out, or not. At least there are SOME significant terrorist scum out of the game forever.
Capture him alive for what? We got Saddam two frigging years ago and he is responsible for the torture and deaths of millions and he and the leftist bare making a mockery of the judicial system. We are better off with this scumbag dead and a year from now he will be forgotten. No trials and no martyrs. Why does a lot of people here think that if he is dead it is because the Jordanians gave him up? Up until the bombings in Amman 80% of the Jordanians thought this piece of crap was a hero, Most likely an Iraq citizen turned him in or one of the prisoners the Iraqis lit up with electricity.
and give the bounty to them
Wouldn't it be ironic if the kind of interogation methods McLain wants to ban were used to obtain this information?
The DU's grip on reality has never been very good.
If true, the dems have lost a valuable ally.
______________________________________________
How true.
What this tells us, perhaps, is that there are a lot of Arabs in a lot of Arab countries that are supporting this "insurgency".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.