US: Coalition Soldier Killed, 2 Missing

BAGHDAD, Iraq Jun 16, 2006 (AP)— A soldier in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq was killed and two others were missing after an attack on a checkpoint southwest of Baghdad on Friday, the U.S. military said.

The attacked took place around 8 p.m. near the town of Yusufiyah, about 12 miles southwest of Baghdad.

"After hearing small arms fire and explosions in the vicinity of the checkpoint, a quick reaction force responded to the scene," a military statement said. "Coalition forces have initiated a search operation to locate and determine the status of the soldiers."

The statement didn't provide any other information and the U.S. military in Iraq couldn't immediately be reached.

Family hopes for missing soldier's return By MATT JOYCE, Associated Press Writer

Mon Jun 19, 10:26 AM ET

DALLAS - In his calls and notes from Iraq, Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca told relatives about his dangerous assignment at military checkpoints. His family is now hoping for the 23-year-old Houston soldier's safe return after learning he was one of two servicemen missing in Iraq after an insurgent attack.

An umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed in a statement Monday that it had kidnapped the two U.S. soldiers, but it did not name them. There was no immediate confirmation that the statement was credible, although it appeared on a Web site often used by al-Qaida-linked groups.

"I was 95 percent sure he was one of them," Menchaca's brother, Julio Cesar Vasquez, of Houston, told The Associated Press late Sunday. "I already had an idea because he was at a checkpoint."

U.S. officials said they were still trying to confirm whether the missing soldiers were kidnapped during the attack Friday on their checkpoint south of Baghdad.

White House spokesman Tony Snow, speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, said President Bush was being briefed regularly on the missing soldiers. Snow said "an al-Qaida related group has today issued something claiming responsibility, but there's no confirmation."

The military has said soldiers nearby heard small-arms fire and explosions, and a quick-reaction force reached the scene within 15 minutes. The force found one soldier dead but no signs of the other two. A farmer told the AP that two soldiers had been captured by seven masked gunmen.

Vasquez and other members of Menchaca's family said they were waiting for more information as the military searches for Menchaca and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore.

The Defense Department said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. All three soldiers were assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky.

Kay Fristad, an Oregon National Guard spokeswoman, said she had a brief conversation with Tucker's parents and they said he joined the military "to do something positive for the country."

Fristad said Tucker's family had been camping this weekend and only recently learned the news. She said they have asked for privacy and would not comment until Monday.

Former Madras Mayor Rick Allen, whom Tucker worked for at a gas station while he was a student at Madras High School, described Tucker as strong, street smart and mechanically inclined.

"He's a tough kid. Hopefully he's got the inner strength to make it through this ordeal."

Allen said he learned the news on television.

"It's just bizarre; it takes your breath away. Here's this kid who used to come and pump gas at your place and now he is clear across the world — held," Allen said. "And there's nothing anyone can do, except hope these people have compassion and let him go."

Menchaca's wife, 18-year-old Christina Menchaca, of Big Spring, Texas, said military representatives told her Saturday they were taking "every means possible to find him," she said.

"We're basically just watching the news because no one else knows anything about it, no one has heard anything about it," she said. "We're just going by what the news has to say."

Christina Menchaca said she married her husband in September and he deployed in October. The couple met through her brother, who served in the military with Kristian Menchaca.

"He enjoys being in the military," Christina Menchaca said of her husband, from whom she received an e-mail on Tuesday. "That's basically what he wants to do."

Kristian Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez of Brownsville, Texas, said she last heard from her son a few weeks ago. Along with asking for some treats from home, like Cheetos and cleaning wipes, the soldier told his mother he was working at a checkpoint.

"I'm a little bit nervous, and I cannot sleep," she said. "I worry about him."

Julio Vasquez said his brother joined the military last year and deployed to Iraq within months. He was attending a work-force training center when the Army recruited him.

"He wanted to go infantry," Julio Vasquez said. "We were telling him the dangers that infantrymen had, but that's what he wanted to do."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_soldiers;_ylt=ArVnupRq5PXCBpqDbvHtsBis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Missing US troops in area where many live in fear By Michael Georgy

Sun Jun 18, 8:56 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers missing in Iraq since Friday disappeared into a lawless al Qaeda stronghold where residents describe being terrorised by unknown militants.

Military helicopters and divers are combing the rural Euphrates river area south of Baghdad for the troops who went missing after an attack on their checkpoint near the town of Yusufiya killed another U.S. soldier.

Most people in the Sunni Arab region resent the presence of the U.S. troops. But even if they wanted to help the two soldiers, doing so could be fatal.

"We live in fear. Gunmen always go to people's houses asking about who works for the Iraqi army or police or the Americans," taxi driver Abdullah Jassim told Reuters by telephone.

"If they find out you have any ties with the Americans or the Iraqi government they will certainly kill you."

Yusufiya is in an area some Iraqis call the "Triangle of Death" for its frequent attacks by insurgents who carry out bombings, shootings and kidnappings as part of a campaign aimed at toppling the Shi'ite-led, U.S.-backed government.

It has been one of the most difficult areas for U.S. troops to root out rebels because of the landscape. The triangle lies on a direct route from the guerrilla bastion of Ramadi, which offers a steady supply of fighters and weapons.

And its numerous orchards, complicated network of canals from the Euphrates and thick grass offer ideal hiding places.

Residents say bearded Iraqi militants as well as foreign fighters, believed to be al Qaeda militants, have become more and more powerful in the area.

"We try not to go out too much. When we go to the market we do it very quickly," said Jassim.

In their traditional flowing Arab robes with checkered red and white headdresses or wide black pants and shirts with black ski masks, insurgents freely roam the streets, residents say.

People don't know who the bearded militants are. They think most are Iraqi but are afraid to ask.

"We cannot say anything to these people. We are afraid that if we open our mouths they will just shoot us," said local council employee Muhammad Amaar. "They do what they want and no one dares question them."

Iraqi army troops and police are especially vulnerable. Their convoys are often ambushed or blown up by roadside bombs along the main road through the triangle, one of the most dangerous in Iraq.

Police officials said it's not an environment the two U.S. soldiers could likely survive if they fell into the wrong hands.

"We still don't know their fate. But these people kill anyone associated with the Americans," said a police official in Yusufiya, who asked not to be named for his safety.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=2&u=/nm/20060618/ts_nm/iraq_missing_dc

7 U.S. Troops Wounded Looking for Comrades

Jun 19, 7:47 AM (ET)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military said Monday that seven American troops have been wounded, three insurgents have been killed and 34 detained during an intensive search for two missing American soldiers.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Iraq, said fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and dive teams had been deployed to find the two men. The men went missing Friday during an attack on their checkpoint in the volatile Sunni area south of Baghdad that left one of their comrades dead.

"We have surged intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms and employed planes, boats, helicopters and UAVs to ensure the most thorough search possible on the ground, in the air and in the water," Caldwell said in a statement issued Monday.

He did not comment on reports that the two men had been seized by insurgents, saying only that they were listed as "duty status and whereabouts unknown." He said seven other U.S. service members had been wounded in action during the search efforts that began Friday night.

The Defense Department identified the missing men as Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore. It said Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed in the attack. The three were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

Caldwell said more than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were participating in the search.

"While searching for our soldiers, we have engaged in a number of significant actions against the anti-Iraqi forces," he said, adding that three insurgents had been killed and 34 taken into custody.

He also said the military had received 63 tips and had launched 12 cordon and search operations, eight air assaults and 280 flight hours were logged.

"Approximately 12 villages have been cleared in the area, and we continue to engage local citizens for help and information leading to the whereabouts of our soldiers," he said, without elaborating.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060619/D8IB8TSG3.html

Is the Insurgency on the Rebound? - TIME

The attack on an American checkpoint in Yusufiyah, a volatile town south of Baghdad, has sparked an intensive search by about 8,000 American and Iraqi soldiers. A U.S. military spokesman said Sunday that four raids had already been conducted in the area and that the U.S. would "use every resource available" to find them. An Iraqi working for TIME who attempted to enter the area was turned back at a U.S.-Iraqi checkpoint.

The insurgent group's claim that it is holding Tucker and Menchaca, soldiers in the 101st Airborne Division, could not be verified. The statement, posted on a website, did not include video, photographs or the men's names. But the Mujahadeen Shura Council is a powerful and well-established insurgent group with a track record of backing up its rhetoric.

If the men are indeed in the hands of insurgents they are not only in serious danger but also likely to be used as pawns in an insurgent propaganda campaign. Publicly, at least, the U.S. and the Iraqi government have appeared to seize the initiative this month. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki named ministers to the country's top security posts; al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi perished in an American air strike; and a series of raids in and around Baghdad preceded the high-profile deployment of tens of thousands of troops in Baghdad. More

Soldier Killed

Mass. Soldier Killed In Iraq

Babineau Leaves Behind Wife, 3 Children

UPDATED: 6:50 pm EDT June 19, 2006

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A Springfield family is mourning a soldier who was killed in a checkpoint attack in Iraq this weekend.

NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that Army Spc. David Babineau, 25, leaves behind a wife and three children.

Babineau was driving a Humvee that was ambushed three days ago in Yusufiyah, Iraq, in an area known as the Triangle of Death. His two teammates are missing.

"It is really sad for his family and his friends," said Babineau's high school classmate Gladys Franco.

Babineau graduated from Springfield's Science and Technology High School in 1998.

"I just recently found out that it was David. It's just really sad to hear a classmate and a young person passed away. He was someone with so much potential," Franco said.

Mary Jane Cook taught Babineau for two years and said his class of 150 students was a small, close-knit group. The class of 1998 was the first class to graduate from the high school.

"They did everything together. They planned everything together. Being the first graduating class, they started the traditions here at Sci Tech. They were all very friendly, very close," she said.

Babineau's mother said his tour of duty was originally scheduled to end in May, but he was kept on for a second tour.

"Several of our students have gone into the military and it is very sad to think that at such a young age he has passed away," said Cook.

Babineau's wife and children live near Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division.

"In the last will and testament of the class of 1998, he said he wanted to be a five-star general. So I guess he died doing what he liked to do," Franco said.

June 23, 2006, 2:42PM

HOUSTON SOLDIER

Three slain troops were left behind to guard bridge, military says
Inquiry to focus on why they were alone, a possible protocol violation

Associated Press

TIKRIT, IRAQ - Two missing soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found after a massive search had been left alone at a checkpoint near Baghdad while other vehicles in their patrol inspected traffic, a military spokesman said Thursday.

Soon after Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and another private vanished and another soldier was killed last Friday, one Iraqi told reporters that insurgents had managed to separate a three-Humvee convoy by opening fire and forcing two of the vehicles to give chase.

Other Iraqis told reporters that the vehicle carrying Menchaca and his two companions had fallen behind the convoy and was attacked by insurgents.

Those reports now appear to be wrong, said Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a U.S. spokeswoman in Tikrit.

Menchaca and the two other soldiers had been left with one Humvee to guard a hydraulic bridge at a Euphrates River canal about 12 miles south of Baghdad. When the Humvee was attacked by insurgents, others in the unit could not see the vehicle and were checking on their colleagues by radio, Martin-Hing said.

She said a focus of the investigation will be to determine why the three-man team had been left at the canal. Army protocols are designed to prevent such attacks.

"The investigation is going to look at whether proper procedures were followed," Martin-Hing said.

The bodies of Menchaca, 23, and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of Oregon were found late Monday in Yusufiya, a few miles from the attack scene, during a search by about 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops.

The bodies were sent to Dover Air Base in Delaware for DNA testing. The body of the third soldier, Spc. David Babineau, 25, was found Friday at the scene of the attack.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3994673.html

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